Sobrato adding a third office building on Julian Street

As a sign of the times, Sobrato is finally confident enough in the Downtown office market that they are planning to finish off a project that was started 16 years ago. The River Corporate Center was always envisioned as a three-building campus--in fact, the parking has already been built for the third building. The dotcom crash put this project on hiatus leaving only two mid-rise buildings completed.

Building #3 will be located at 353 Julian St. and clock in at 190,000 SQFT. The six-story building has upgraded amenities over what was originally envisioned (also a sign of the times). The roof will have an impressive terrace and garden with a view of Downtown San Jose and the ceiling heights for each floor have been increased.

Sobrato plans to build this on spec, meaning it is going up even without a tenant. Given its proximity to Downtown and the future Diridon megatransit hub, it is only a matter of time until its floors fill up. Downtown vacancy for "Class A" space is also 13.4%, an eight year low. Clearly the area is getting traction with companies, a trend that I hope will continue for a long time to come.

Source: SVBJ

Playful People Productions Presents: Starmites

"Starmites" is the story of Eleanor, a teenage girl who falls into the word of her favorite comic book, and discovers her destiny. Along her journey she is drawn into the conflict between Shak Graa, the “creep of chaos” and the Starmites, a group of wise-cracking superheros, along with their heart throb captain Space Punk. Eleanor (who is really the pre-ordained savior of the Universe) learns that only she can save the Earth from destruction! Together they must fight Shak Graa and the Banshees, strong women who protect the world’s most fearsome weapon,  and their leader the flamboyant Diva.

Playful People will be putting their own punk/glam rock touch to this show which is one of the most exciting and  hilarious musicals to come off Broadway in years. Nominated for six Tony Awards, this sci-fi rock musical is one no audience member should miss!  

"Starmites" features an eclectic pop rock score by Barry Keating, a book by Barry Keating and Stuart Ross, and is most appropriate for audiences 7 and up.

Our shows often sell out prior to the show weekend. Be sure to buy your tickets early, you won’t want to miss out on this fantastic production. 

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theatre, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126

 

Show Times:

Friday, April 29th - 7:00pm

Saturday, April 30th - 11:00am, 3:00pm and 7:00pm

Sunday, May 1st - 11:00am, and 3:00pm

Friday, May 6th - 7:00pm

Saturday, May 7th - 11:00am and 5:00pm

Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net

$12 attendees 12 and up, $8 children 11 and under,  and $6 Children’s floor seating

 

Tickets at the door (30 minutes prior to curtain)

$15 attendees 12 and up, $10 children 11 and under, and $6 Children’s floor seating

 

Founded in 2010, Playful People Production’s mission is to provide a quality, caring environment where children, teens and their families can have positive theater experiences. We strive to involve all family members in the many aspects of on stage and backstage theater in a safe and fun environment and offer participation in theatrical productions, classes, summer stock and camps for ages 3-93.

Saturday Stats: our traffic still sucks

Shocker, our traffic is still terrible. At least we are slightly better off than four US cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Seattle. So while you are crawling at 1mph on 101 during peak rush hour, just keep telling yourself it could be worse.

Below is a list of the 20 US cities with the worst traffic in 2015. To see the global list, hit the source link at the bottom.

1. Los Angeles, 41%
2. San Francisco, 36%
3. New York, 33%
4. Seattle, Wash., 31%
5. San Jose, 30%
6. Honolulu, Hawaii, 29%
7. Miami, Fla., 28%
8. (tie) Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Chicago, Ill., 26%
11. (tie) Houston, Texas and Boston, Mass., 25%
13. (tie) Atlanta, Ga.; San Diego; and Tampa, Fla., 24%
16. (tie) Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Baton Rouge, La., 23%
19. (tie) Nashville, Tenn.; New Orleans, La.; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nev., 22%

Source: SVBJ

The San Jose Blog is changing its name to....................................... The San Francisco Bay Area Blog

It's time for a big change! For nearly seven years the focus of this blog has been on development, events, and culture in San Jose proper. We've decided to expand our horizons and the scope of this blog to encompass the whole Bay Area, especially San Francisco! Hyper-local is out, generic is in.

Next week we'll be changing our name to "The San Francisco Bay Area Blog." We think getting the word San Francisco in there will do wonders for traffic to the site and create more opportunities to focus on grittier posts--we're talking crime, homelessness, cold weather, and extreme gentrification.

Check out the draft version of our new logo below!

Sources: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
(For more April Fool's posts click the links above)

2nd Story Bakeshop now serving organic baked goods in Downtown San Jose

A fancy new bakery has just opened up at 138 E. Santa Clara Street, one block away from the San Jose City Hall. 2nd Story Bakeshop specializes in a variety of organic baked goods using locally sourced ingredients. One of the co-owners has "a particular obsession with long-fermented, naturally leavened, hearth baked breads, and enjoys adding whimsical combinations of ingredients to flavor them." I think that sentence alone shows that this isn't your run-of-the-mill bakery.

2nd Story Bakeshop carries specialty loaves that change each week, cookies (dark chocolate and sea salt, honey wheat graham crackers, pear pie cookies, etc.), brandied-apple pecan crumbles, apple walnut cake, and their signature granola.

The bakery is open Tuesday through Friday from 6:30am-1pm. Since the hours are limited, if you can't make it to their Downtown San Jose location you can find their bread in Whole Foods on The Alameda or on Stevens Creek in Cupertino. They also participate in the Santa Clara Farmer's Market (Saturdays), Morgan Hill Farmer's Market (Saturdays), Los Gatos Farmer's Market (Sundays), Mountain View Farmer's Market (Sundays) and the East Santa Clara Street Farmer's Market (Wednesdays in the Summer).

For more information visit the 2nd Story Bakeshop website over here.

Source: Robertee from the San Jose Development Forum

Micro-apartments coming to West San Carlos Street

Could tiny apartments be a way to lower housing prices and quickly increase the housing supply in San Jose? Shad Design is planning to build 81 micro units on just 0.4 acres at 1470 West San Carlos Street (currently a used car lot). This area is halfway between Downtown San Jose and Santana Row, most commonly referred to as Midtown.

The plans call for three levels of apartments sitting on top of 7,200 SQFT of retail. Each floor would have 27 apartments. The units would each be 573 SQFT split across two floors--379 SQFT on the main level, 162 SQFT on a loft, and each come with a 32 SQFT closet. While small by San Jose standards, that is much larger than most micro-unit projects which can be as minuscule as 200 SQFT if you can imagine that. Ceilings will be 15 feet tall in the living room.

Rent will cost about 30% less than a typical San Jose apartment, yet these units will have a full kitchen, bathroom, and even a washer and dryer. It is an interesting project and I'm sure there will be substantial demand from young workers if this gets built.

Source: SVBJ

New San Jose-based real estate startup - Places.me

Places.me is a new Silicon Valley real estate site with a very slick user-interface. Their goal is to make it easier (and less expensive) to buy and sell homes.

The company founder, Manly Danh, was born and raised in San Jose. Both of his parents immigrated from Vietnam with $10 in their pockets, but eventually fulfilled the American dream with a home on 7th and Santa Clara. Founding Places.me wasn't something that Manly just wanted to do, it is something that he knew he was supposed to do.

The site has one of the coolest homepages I have seen and I love how San Jose locations are prominently displayed as a full-screen video (Santana Row, San Pedro Square, and Downtown high-rises are all in there). While I am not in the market for a new home, I have to admit that I spent the last hour searching for San Jose dream homes.

If you buy a home through the site, you will get 1% of the purchase price back. If selling a home, you pay a 3% commission instead of the standard 6%. In Silicon Valley, this translates to savings in the tens of thousands of dollars range--definitely something to think about.

Below is their inaugural blog post. Check out the site for yourself over here.


Hi there, neighbor!

So, about us — we’re a real estate startup based in San Jose creating an easier and faster way to connect home buyers and sellers. With over 90% of people using the internet as part of their research to buy or sell a home, we’ve built Places to bring buyers and sellers together in a platform that takes the hassle out of traditional real estate.

If you’ve ever bought or sold a home out in the wild, you’ve probably managed your transaction through an agent. And with the average sale to closing time starting at 4 weeks, the process can be pretty tedious and lengthy. The experience can make you feel like a number — it has for folks on our team who’ve been in the same boat. That’s not a great feeling when you’re talking about a transaction in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A new take on real estate

We’re trying a different angle. We want you to love the homebuying experience, start to finish. So we’ve built a data-driven platform that makes it easy to thoroughly and quickly research homes, get to know neighborhoods, and make offers quickly — without a traditional realtor. With new listings being added every day, and an average closing time of 10 days, you’ll be able to get a move on easily without all the usual rigamarole of traditional real estate. And we’re here for you every step of the way, so you can feel connected and in control throughout the whole transaction. Plus, buyers even get 1% back on their purchase price at closing, while sellers can save 50% on commissions — not too shabby, eh?

Let’s stay in touch

We’re just getting started, and we’ll be using this blog to keep you posted on what we’re up to. Stay tuned for the latest improvements to our marketplace, featured homes, stories from our local community, and more. And we want your feedback and ideas — so please, don’t be shy. Click those comment and share buttons, and let’s keep the conversation going!

Visit us at www.places.me

New SJSU student apartments are pending City Council approval

A 7-story, 86-unit apartment building has been proposed for the corner of E. Santa Clara St. and 11th St in Downtown San Jose. Given that it is two blocks away from the SJSU campus, it would be an ideal housing situation for college students. If it moves forward, there would a total of 171 beds in the building.

The project would also include 5,560 SQFT of retail on the ground floor and 5,700 SQFT of office space on the second floor. A restaurant was also mentioned as a possibility for the ground floor plaza. There would be a total of 67 parking spaces, far fewer than the number of students that would live in the building (some would say this is a positive--teach those young adults how to take transit, walk, or bike to get around).

The next step in moving the project forward is evaluation and approval by the City Council and the Planning Commission.

Source: TheRegistry, Robertee from The San Jose Development Forum