New mural near City Hall

The corner of Third and East Santa Clara Street has gotten a beautiful new mural commissioned by the City. Enso bar and nightclub was willing to host the mural and even prepped the wall for the artists. The whole process of painting the mural was captured in the short video below.

Source: SJ Economy Blog

The Icon

A Chevron gas station near City Hall is going to be transformed into a 20-story residential tower with up to 250 market-rate units called the Icon. Urban Catalyst just revealed the render below last week. The sleek tower features multiple balconies and 7,500 SQFT of retail on the ground floor.

This appears to be just one of 10 project Urban Catalyst is planning for Downtown San Jose. A hotel, senior living residence, student housing building, co-living development, and an office building are also in the works. It total, they are planning to add $1 billion in value to San Jose's core.

The source article includes an interview with Joshua Burroughs and it is well worth a read if you are a Silicon Valley Business Journal Subscriber.

Source: SVBJ

August 2019 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The latest addition of Downtown Dimension is now live. Below is a summary of the content this month: The AUGUST 2019 Downtown Dimension is now available at: https://sjdowntown.com/wp_2016/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DTDAugust2019.pdf In this edition: SJDA has a new event:  Brews + Bites.  Save the date:  Sept. 14.  A beer social in the Circle of Palms featuring favorite local brews, plus bites.  We'll add some music and other goodies. Coinciding with this event is Downtown Week, Yelp is working with SJDA to present Downtown Week Sept. 9-15 to celebrate Downtown businesses. August is full of events.  Biggest is the San Jose Jazz Summer fest.  We offer musical highlights. SJDA's August event schedule is heavy, with Music in the Park, City Dance, Starlight Cinemas and the Farmers' Market. We update all current construction activity in downtown San Jose. Welcome Tierney Yates, SJDA's new Partnership Manager.   San Jose Downtown Association has a public meeting August 9, 8-9:30 a.m. at San Jose Museum of Art.  Guest speaker is Police Chief Eddie Garcia.  Keep up with all that's happening downtown: Live and Local SJ live music Traffic alerts lane and road closures. Maps of downtown commercial property availability and development proposals. Boom City: SJDA's continuing summary of new downtown building proposals and west side acquisitions,  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. Copyright © 2019 San Jose Downtown Association, All rights reserved.

Downtown BART subway alterations

After the huge debate between whether to use a double or single bore subway systems for BART's expansion to Downtown San Jose, it appears there is still some controversy with the design. It was decided that the expansion would use a single bore, which would make it the first system of it's kind in the United States. The key benefit of the design is that we would not have to dig up all of Santa Clara Street and disrupt businesses and residents for years. It would actually be less expensive to build. The downside is that this segment of the BART system would be completely different than the rest of the network, and that would require extensive retraining of staff.

Now it appears that there is a compromise solution, and that is to increase the size of the tunnel from 45 feet to a massive 55 feet. By volume, that is about a 50% increase in size. This would allow the trains to run side by side like the rest of the network, but would increase cost and complexity.

It is actually an interesting proposal for me because the extra space above and below the trains could perhaps be utilized for another mode of transportation. It looks large enough for electric buses or even Light Rail. Perhaps, we could see a next generation Loop or Hyperloop system utilize those spaces. While it is clear San Jose needs to be fully connect to BART, we should also think about how we can leverage this project to support the future generation of mobility.

Source: SVBJ

Backyard San Jose

A new pop-up community space is coming to Fountain Alley in Downtown San Jose (35 S. 2nd Street). For three whole months, Backyard San Jose is turning a parking lot into a public space with cultural events, concerts, classes, and networking events. There will be something going on seven days a week.

Backyard San Jose is throwing a launch party on August 15th from 6pm to 9pm with music, food, beer, and wine.

The list of partners and contributors to this project is impressive:

• ABM Industries
• Anno Domini Gallery
• BandWagon
• Be The Change Yoga
• Beyond Meat
• Children’s Discovery Museum
• Cinequest
• City of San Jose
• Code for San Jose
• Content Magazine
• Downtown Screen Printers
• Feather
• Fractal Flora
• Gray Area Art + Technology
• Good Karma
• Heroes Martial Arts
• Local Color
• MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana
• Meetup
• Omnipotent Studios
• Park Lab
• Paseo Prototyping Festival
• PATH Homeless Assistance
• Pink Sparrow
• Pop Kids Yoga
• Public Space Authority
• San Jose Come Up
• San Jose Downtown Association
• San Jose Improv
• San Jose Made
• San Jose State University Cadre Media Lab
• Silicon Valley Pride
• SOMA Streat Food
• SPRO Coffee Lab
• SPUR
• Swordfighting School
• The Get Down Dance Studios
• The People’s Table
• Universal Grammar
• Urban Community
• WebEnertia
• WeWork Labs
• ZERO1

For more details and to RSVP to their launch party (not required), head over here.

Source: Gillynova from the San Jose Development Forum

San Jose is the 3rd best city for startup companies

COMMERCIALCafe has crunched data from the 50 most populous urban centers to find the places that are best suited for entrepreneurs and startup companies. Dallas and San Diego took the two top spots, followed by San Jose, LA, and Houston, and Chicago.

San Jose was ranked first for tech education, tech education growth, and for the success of Kickstarter projects (36% of projects are funded). For tech employment growth, we were 2nd. We are also the seventh-most attractive city for millennials, which is counter to most stereotypes about the South Bay.

To see the full study, please head over here.

Santana West breaks ground on 350,000 SQFT office building

Now that Santana Row is wrapping up its final building, Federal Realty is setting their sights across the street with a new project called Santana West. The first phase officially broke ground last week and consists of an eight-story, 360,000 SQFT office building and a 1,750 space parking structure. Also, by breaking ground I mean there is already active construction on the site--it was not just a formality.

Federal Realty is trying to lease the whole building to a single tenant but is building Santana West speculatively without a tenant in tow. If all goes well, there are two additional phases that will bring the project to one million SQFT.

Unlike Santana Row, this is not a mixed-use development. In fact, there is no retail component at all--not even a coffee shop. The only likely public amenity in the project is the re-purposing of the Century 21 dome. This might seem like a missed opportunity, but two of the most successful retail projects in the United States are just across the street.

If everything goes according to plan, the building will be ready for occupancy in Q1 2021, less than two years from today.

"Endless Summer Fun at Santana Row"

San Jose shoppers’ paradise keeps summer alive this August with FREE community events, hot store opening set for September

SAN JOSE, Calif. – July 23, 2019 – Santana Row is keeping summer ablaze with a hot new store opening and free community events. Fitness studio Barry’s Bootcamp is getting ready to make its debut, but not before hosting a fun (and free!) pop-up event in Santana Row Park. This will come at the tail end of the scorching fun Santana Row’s calendar of events offers this August.

With locations across three different countries and a striking roster of celebrity clients, Barry’s Bootcamp has become the fitness junkie’s choice for getting in shape fast. On Thursday, September 12, from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., the San Jose community is invited to come see what all the hype is about with a FREE pop-up fitness event! This 2-hour class will take place in Santana Row Park, where guests can meet the team and experience the Barry’s Bootcamp “lifestyle” for themselves.

For those market-goers who enjoy shopping locally, Santana Row has got you covered with an array of options for August. Indulge your artsy side at Makers Market in the Park on Saturday, August 3, from 11:00 a.m. – 5 p.m. Stroll through the park as you shop handcrafted goods such as jewelry, ceramics, candles and more! Similarly, the Santana Row Farmers Market will take place each Wednesday in August from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Watch as the streets turn into a colorful marketplace offering organic produce, cheeses, herbs and beyond.

Santana Row’s calendar of events is also packed with FREE family fun this August. On Tuesday, August 13, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., the Mommy & Me End of Summer Party will offer DIY sunglass decorating, face painting, balloon art, story time and more. Soaring ahead, kiddos will become superheroes at the Kidrageous Super Fun Run on Sunday, August 18 from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Kids will get to run alongside real superheroes and unleash their powers at this annual event, benefitting Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Services.

Finally, for the petrolheads out there, Santana Row’s Cars & Croissants series will take place on Sunday, August 25 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Santana Row partners with 100|OCT to present this bi-monthly gathering for exotic car owners and enthusiasts.

Head to The Row for endless summer fun this August and September with unique, free events and community celebrations. Let the good times roll!