Park View Towers design refresh

One of the oldest San Jose high-rise projects in the develop queue is getting a slight makeover and redesign. Park View Towers consists of three buildings that wrap around a historic church adjacent to St. James Park. Originally the church was going to be moved, which could have severely damaged the once dilapidated building. The latest plans keep the old church building where it is and feature more traditional looking buildings that better blend in with the area. The original design featured mostly glass like Axis. The lowrise building with townhomes has also gained a floor with the design revision.

The area around St. James Park could certainly use more residents to help revitalize the area. Hopefully the changes will help the project move along faster.

Source: SVBJ

Content 10.3 (Perform) Pick-up Party

San Jose's top cultural publication is hosting a release party on June 21st to celebrate issue 10.3 (Perform). As usual, subscribers get a free drink ticket if they pick up their issue at the party. In addition to networking with some of the folks featured in the magazine, there will be several musical performances and local artwork on display. Please see below for more information.

Content Magazine Pick-Up Party 10.3

Thursday, June 21st
6pm–7:30pm SVLaureate Awards Presentation
7:30pm–10pm Content Magazine Pick-Up Party
Mexican Heritage Plaza
1700 Alum Rock Ave, San Jose
 

We are excited for this issue's Pick-Up Party to be part of SVCreates' SVArts event held annually to present the SVLaureate awards that honor exceptional achievements in the arts and contributions to the cultural life of Silicon Valley.

A formal SVLaureate awards program, emceed by KQED's Michael Isip, will be followed by the Content Magazine Pick-Up Party, which celebrates the release of Issue 10.3 "Perform" and honors the SVLaureate recipients along with other featured creatives.

Issue 10.3 featured artists displaying their work at this event will include Pancho Jimenez, Joel Slayton, and Jeremiah Kille, and there will be musical performances by Ziggy, San Jose Jazz High School All Stars, and Ashlee Vivo. The entire evening is an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate the cultural vibrancy of Silicon Valley.

Free entry for all Content subscribers, 10.3 features, and 10.3 contributors, and former SVLaureate recipients includes 1 guest, plus 1 complimentary drink ticket. Use the code Content2018 to reserve your tickets.

Thank you event partners: School of Arts & Culture, Wylder Space, Clandestine Brewing, Mutari Chocolateand San Jose Jazz.

New 20-story office tower proposed Downtown

Development proposals are continuing to roll in! The latest one comes from developer JP DiNapolis Cos. who spent $11.5 million for two vacant office buildings at 200 Park Avenue last week. Their plan is to build a 20-story office tower with a grand total of 740,000 SQFT of office space. The project would also include 1,200 parking spaces that would be shared with the Hyatt Place next door.

The general area could be completely transformed within a few years. This tower would rise on the same block where Insight Realty is planning Museum Place, an epic mixed-use development with residential, hotel, office space, retail, and an expansion of the Tech Museum. Across the street a 24-story residential tower is also proposed at City View Plaza and a block away Adobe is planning a fourth office tower that would double its employee count.

If everything goes according to plan, the new office tower will be under construction by the end of 2019.

Source: SVBJ

More info on the new San Jose Light Tower

The campaign to build a new iconic Light Tower in San Jose is still going strong. This would be a re-imagining of the innovative 237 foot-tall Light Tower that was built Downtown in 1881 and some believe inspired the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The team behind the tower is now raising $1.25 million to fund site selection and host a design competition later this year.

The location was original targeted for Plaza de Cesar Chavez, but there are now several other possible locations including:

• St. James Park
• Guadalupe River Park - Discovery Meadow
• Guadalupe River Park - Arena Green
• Diridon Station

Plaza de Cesar Chavez actually offers the least amount of space for the tower, which could include all sorts of tourist amenities ranging from cafes and gift shops to an observation deck. If everything goes according to plan, it could open as soon as 2022.

The best part is that the tower will not burden San Jose tax payers--it would be the single largest gift the city of San Jose has ever received.

Source: SVBJ

Downtown San Jose BART Station renders

Now that the construction methodology has been finalized for the BART subway in San Jose (single bore), let's have a quick look at the stunning station that is being planned for Downtown San Jose. To call the current design "open" would be a serious understatement. From the lowest point you can look up to the ceiling 145 feet or so above. The layout is modern and welcoming with high tech flourishes throughout. Check out the renders below of what will become one of the most iconic stations in the BART network.

Source: Robertee from the San Jose Development Forum

SubZERO 2018

The 11th annual SubZERO festival kicks off tonight! Several blocks in San Jose's SoFA District will be shut down for live music, art, food trucks, and culture. The event is runs from 6pm to midnight both today and tomorrow and you can see the full list of participants over here.

San Jose Crane Watch is up to 97 major projects

The Silicon Valley Business Journal has a great development map which you can access here. There are now over 97 major development projects, most of which are centered around Downtown San Jose. These include office, residential, hotel, health car, education, retail, and mixed-use projects that were either proposed or are actively under construction. The project has to be at least 100,000 SQFT in size to make it to the map (that means the pipelines has well over 10 million SQFT of projects).

Some of the latest additions include a 19-story, 220 room hotel tower on Santa Clara Street and a 500,000 SQFT mixed use project in North San Jose. Learn more and check out the map using the source link below.

Source: SVBJ

Downtown San Jose Scavenger hunt template

The San Jose Economy Blog has a guest post by a Cohesity employee that created a team-building scavenger hunt. I love this idea. It's a great way to get local employees more familiar with Downtown--and there are many hidden treasures to discover in the area. Below was their list that you can use as a starting point for your own scavenger hunt. Check out the full post with more details over here.

Items to find:

• Life-sized board game
• Bear that belongs in the snow
• Wolf on top of a street
• Sensing WATER installation
• Giant tank full of sharks
• Little piece of Italy
• Barbershop inside of a square
• Find a Burning Man female sculpture that inspires peace
• Sculpture worth 200,000 coins
• Permanent iron hat
• Giant dome that is in the center of a hall
• Statue with two track runners
• Silver girl walking a silver dog
• Red tree with no leaves
• Amusement park that opened in 1961
• Plant across the street from a cemetery – find the center circle

Good Deeds to Perform:

• Take a picture with a stranger and tell them to have a great day!
• Give a flower to a stranger.
• Throw a piece of trash from the street into a trashcan or dumpster.
• Help someone in need, a random act of kindness.