Airbnb coming to Downtown San Jose

Another popular Bay Area company is making San Jose their home away from home. Airbnb is opening their first Silicon Valley office at 333 W. San Carlos Street. In an appropriate move for a sharing economy company, they are taking up about 50 seats from the 1,344 desks WeWork offers in the building. However, Airbnb is looking for a more permanent South Bay location in 2020, which hopefully won't be far from this office.

For more info, click the source link below!

Source: SVBJ

Souresseau News: Women at Work

This week's history video is about women in the workplace, starting with an 1860's photo of two San Jose female ranchers. While we still have inequalities in the workplace even today, it appears that there were more opportunities for women in San Jose many decades (or even a century) ago that I would have assumed.

To watch the two minute video, click here.

San Jose is the hottest housing market in the US

For the second year, Zillow has declared San Jose to be the hottest housing market in the country. High-salary tech jobs are continuing to drive prices and sales sky high. Currently there are 3.9 job openings for every 100 people in San Jose, giving us the highest rate of job openings of all large US metros. Combine that with the highest salaries in the US, and it is no surprise that our real estate market is still blazing hot.

There are some early signs of cooling. Population growth has slowed and inventory is creeping up. However, for now it's a really good time to be a home owner in San Jose based on Zillow's analysis.

Source: SVBJ

Souresseau News: Gateways and Arches

This week's history video is about San Jose's gateways and arches. Did you know that San Jose once had a welcome gateway for visitors near the Basset St. station on North First Street? Or that after the electric tower fell, the city built a gateway with an electrified San Jose sign?

To watch the two minute video, click here.

ShowPlace Icon is San Jose's new flagship movie theater

I'm a big fan of movies and was devastated when my favorite theater--Camera 12 shut its doors. Finally there is a new movie theater in San Jose that has enough character to fill those shoes and elevates the movie watching experience to the next level.

ShowPlace Icon is a 10-screen movie theater spanning two floors and 60,000 SQFT in Valley Fair Mall. All 1,474 seats are reserved loungers with electric footrests and heaters. Their largest theater is a 281 seat ICON*X premium large format room with a 4k laser projection and Dolby Atmos sound. What really made Icon stand out for me was the VIP section upstairs for those 21 and over. Up there you will find surprisingly good craft cocktails, an adult take on Icee's with flavors like "Frozen Margarita," a great food selection, and bacon popcorn. The whole floor looks like a lounge and has comfortable seating throughout. After entering their largest movie theater from the VIP section, you'll soon realize you are on a private balcony where you can continue to enjoy your fancy beverages and food. This is a great design that I hope others will copy.

I was fortunate to get a media preview of The Upside (great movie by the way). The seats were at least as comfortable as the recliners at CineArts or Cinemark Mountain View. The food and drink are for sure the best you can find in any South Bay movie theater. The video and sound quality were exceptional, we're talking IMAX-level. I also like the finishing touches throughout the theater like photos of San Jose and portraits of actors born in the Bay Area.

You can reserve a seat now at www.shoplaceicon.com. Prices are in line with other theaters and I highly recommend checking them out.

San Jose ranked fastest-growing city in the world, 2019-2035

As we already know, San Jose has one of the best performing economies anywhere. That does not seem destined to change anytime soon based on a new report from Oxford Economics. They are predicting that San Jose will have the fastest growing urban economy in the world over the next 16 years.

If the 3% GDP growth rate is correct, that means our economy will be 50% larger by 2035. The growth rate dwarfs San Francisco but would still not put us anywhere near New York or Tokyo in total economic contribution. However, those cities have much larger populations to work with. We do have the highest GDP per capita in the United States, which contributes positively to salaries and investment.

For more info check out the link below.

Source: SJ Economy Blog

Souresseau News: Signs

This week's history video is about San Jose signs. As you'll see in the video, the mid-century trend was neon. It would be amazing to restore the few signs from the video that are still around to their original glory.

To watch the two minute video, click here.

Orchestria Palm Court

Jordan from Searchlight San Jose has written about one of my favorite hidden gems in Downtown San Jose -- Orchestria Palm Court. This is undoubtedly one of the most unique restaurants in the Bay Area and is well worth a visit. It's part museum, part entertainment, part time-capsule (all the way down to the restrooms), and in-and-of-itself a solid restaurant. They even have a soda jerk bar!

Click here to read the post.