Roku snaps up another 162,557 SQFT of San Jose office space

Roku, the popular video streaming tech company, is moving their headquarters from Los Gatos to a much larger space in San Jose's Coleman Highline. Currently they sublease 160,000 SQFT from Netflix, one of their initial investors. The new campus in San Jose will clock in at 735,000 SQFT across five buildings.

Roku has brown from 400 people at the end of 2015 to 1,111 employees just three years later at the end of 2018. That will make the company one of the top employers in the Downtown or Airport areas. Getting the HQ for another fast growing tech company represents a big win for San Jose.

The Coleman Highline is also planning further expansion to a grand total of 1.5 million SQFT along with two new hotels.

Source: SVBJ

Flicks and Grooves at History Park

History San José invites you to enjoy great movies and music under the stars during the Flicks & Grooves outdoor cinema and concert series in History Park. This year's outdoor cinema line up will showcase the quirky genius of director Wes Anderson the second Friday of each month. The Flicks & Grooves concert slate features an eclectic array of live bands to enliven your Friday nights on the Fire House Green. No movie or concert is complete without great food and beverage offerings. Each Flicks & Grooves event will feature a variety of local brews, wine, and food vendors. And of course, popcorn and local ice cream from O’Brien’s Ice Cream Parlor!

Cinema Dates

Friday, May 10th 7:30 pm (Moonrise Kingdom)Friday, June 14th 7:30 pm (Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) 

Friday, July 12th 7:30 pm (Rushmore)Friday, August 9th 7:30 pm (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Friday, September 13th 7:30 pm (The Royal Tenenbaums)

Friday, October 11th 7:30 pm (Fantastic Mr. Fox) 

Concert Dates

Friday, May 31st at 7:30 pm (Kiva Uhuru + Noop & Neens)

Friday, June 28th at 7:30 pm (Steely Nash + Q&A)

Friday, July 26th at 7:30 pm (Aki Kumar + DJs Albert Jenkins and Basura and Guests)

Friday, August 30 at 7:30 pm (Le Vice + Ian Santillano and the Housewarmers)

Friday, September 27 at 7:30 pm (Valley Wolf + Deseos Primitivos)
Friday, October 25 at 7:30 pm (Gene Washington and The Sweet Sounds + Rhythm  and Folk)

Outdoor Cinema
This year's outdoor cinema line up will showcase the quirky genius of director Wes Anderson the second Friday of each month. The beautiful and relaxing Fire House Green inside History Park serves as a perfect backdrop for the unorthodox filmmaker's cinematic gems including Rushmore, The Life Aquatic, and The Royal Tenenbaums to name just a few. Oscar-nominated Wes Anderson has created films that are bonafide cult classics resonating with audiences of all ages.

Outdoor Concerts

History Park will also be a destination for live music the last Friday of each month. The Flicks & Grooves concert slate features an eclectic array of live bands to enliven your Friday nights on the Fire House Green. The San Jose Jazz Boombox Stage will host hot acts curated by Needle to the Groove Records and Quynh Mai. Confirmed acts include Neo-Soul songstress Kiva Uhuru (May 31), Hip Pop outfit Steely Nash (June 28), the neo-Jazz stylings of Le Vice (Aug 30), Cumbia/Latin Rock crooner Valley Wolf (September 27) and many more acts to be announced.

May 2019 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The latest addition of Downtown Dimension highlights new Downtown development projects (including a 3.4 million SQFT three-tower project at CityView Plaza). Little Italy is finally getting their museum and cultural center, and as an added bonus there will be a speakeasy in the basement. Check out the full newsletter using the link below:

The MAY 2019 Downtown Dimension is now available at:

https://sjdowntown.com/wp_2016/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/DTDMAY2019.pdf

In this edition:

• What can the City and development community do to get more cranes in the sky?  Cranes, of course, symbolize construction of taller office and residential buildings.  Downtown San Jose has plenty of high-rise proposals, but getting them started at ground level is another matter.  Dimension presents the more popular ideas.
• A decade into its renewal, Little Italy continues to grow and prosper. Here's what's ahead in the near future for Little Italy.
• Downtown properties continue to change ownership.
• Businesses continue to grow, looking for more space for additional employees.
• SJDA's 100 days of events starts May 3 with the Farmers' Market.  In June, the Delfonics bring their smash hits of the '70s to Music in the Park.

Also for your information:

• Live and Local SJ supports live music in the center city.
• Traffic alerts keep up with lane and road closures and openings.
• Maps of downtown commercial property availability and development proposals.
• Boom City: SJDA's summary of new downtown building proposals and west side acquisitions, continues to be updated almost monthly...

Downtown Dimension is a leading source for information about downtown San Jose news, events and businesses.  Subscribe with a simple email to sjda@sjdowntown.com, subject line:  Subscribe.

BlueJeans moves HQ to San Jose

The popular video conferencing company BlueJeans is moving from Mountain View to the posh Santana Row flagship building at the very end of the row. They are upgrading from a 24,000 SQFT space to 40,000 SQFT in the same area where Splunk is headquartered. In fact, BlueJeans may have to bump up their salaries to keep their neighbor from poaching talent--Splunk has the highest median salary of any large company in the US.

It is an interesting move considering that their key competitor, Zoom, is also located in San Jose (Downtown). A few weeks ago Zoom became the must successful IPO of 2019 and the company is now worth over $16 billion. BlueJeans is smaller player but was worth $728 million four years ago during their last funding round. Who knows, they could be the next epic San Jose IPO.

Source: SVBJ

Santana Row opens new public plaza and 1,300 space garage

The capstone project at the very end of Santana Row is nearing completion, and two very important components of that project have just opened. First, a new 21,000 SQFT signature plaza is now open to the public. It features fountains, benches, a re-planted oak tree, and the beautiful landscaping Santana Row is known for. When the building is complete, there will be new retail stores wrapping around the plaza as well.

The second component is a much-needed 1,300 space parking lot, just north of the plaza. This should make parking at the Row much easier during those busy summer months.

Another nice perk of the garage is 50 (!) new EV parking stations, bringing the grand total to 134 at Santana Row. San Jose has one of the highest concentration of electric car owners in the world, so this is greatly appreciated.

Santana Row was the site of the very first Tesla store and there is a new amenity that I didn't really see announced anywhere. Last year, there were 0 Tesla Superchargers in San Jose. These are highly coveted since they charge 3 to 10 times faster than normal chargers. Today, there is not one but two Supercharger stations at Santana Row with a total of 36 stalls, making it one of the largest Tesla stations anywhere. Based on the press release for the new garage, they may get 25 more stalls in the near future since 61 Tesla stalls are referenced.

Downtown San Jose Farmers’ Market season begins May 3

The Downtown San Jose farmer's market is back tomorrow from 10am-2pm on San Pedro Street! Check out the full press release below.

Fresh produce, hot food, unique gifts available each Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at San Pedro Square

SAN JOSE - The Downtown San Jose Farmers’ Market, presented by Kaiser Permanente, will take place Fridays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. starting May 3 along San Pedro Street between Santa Clara and St. John streets.

The market includes fresh produce from California growers, fresh cut flowers, special gourmet foods and artisan booths full of clothing and crafts.  The energy of the market is lifted by live music, special food booths, San Pedro Square restaurants lining the street and thousands of downtown employees and residents who make the market part of their weekly routine.

The Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) recruits 25-40 farmers and the San Jose Downtown Association oversees the street closures and other vendors. The partnership dates back to spring 1993, when the market was originally located at First and San Fernando streets. This is the 27th season.

Admission is free.

For more, check PCFMA.org, the @PCFMA Facebook page and sjdowntown.com

The market continues each week into November. On average, 2,500 residents, office workers and visitors head to the Farmers’ Market.  Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable and washed bags.

Market partner Kaiser Permanente has teamed with the Downtown Association and PCFMA for nine years, educating attendees on healthful and “green” living that allow each individual to thrive.

In the spirit of thriving, many market shoppers walk to the market.  Those who drive can get parking validation for the Market-San Pedro Garage at the SJDA information table.  Visit www.parksj.org. Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) recommends riding light rail to the Santa Clara Street or St. James Street stations.  More at VTA.org.

Follow the Downtown Farmers’ Market on Twitter (@SJ_Downtown) and Facebook (/sjdowntown and /DowntownFarmers’Market).  The market website is https://sjdowntown.com/farmers-market-presented-by-kaiser-permanente/

About the San Jose Downtown Association:  The San Jose Downtown Association is a non-profit group of business and property owners working to improve the vitality and livability of downtown San Jose.  Established in 1986, SJDA programs more than 100 days of events each year.

Diridon Community Engagement Event: May 4 at SJ Museum of Art

The SJSU Master of Urban Planning Program is hosting an open house along with CommUniverCity to discuss how Diridon can be better connected to the rest of Downtown San Jose. In addition to some thoughtful discussion, the event has free food, activities, and entertainment and will take place this Saturday, May 4th from 10am to 2pm at the San Jose Museum of Art (also worth checking out).

You can RSVP over here.

Atlas Obscura - San Jose

Atlas Obscura is an interesting site that show unique or historical spots within a city. Their mission is "to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share." It is often used by travelers when planning trips to new places.

Atlas Obscura has a section for San Jose, but it has only 14 entries. This is compares to 168 entries for San Francisco or 324 for Manhattan. Heck, even Sacramento had 13 attractions listed. So what can we do about it? At the very end of the page, we can submit more suggestions for unique places and things to do in San Jose. Just head over here to see the current list and add your suggestions.

Hat tip to Kyle O'Dea for sending this in.