Solar4America ice rink expansion

This is an old story, but is still worth sharing. The Solar4America ice rink where the San Jose Sharks practice, will be doubling in size over the next few years and will soon become the largest ice rink on the West Coast.

At 180,000 SQFT, the building is one of just eight facilities in the US to have at least four NHL regulation-sized ice rinks. The $150 million expansion would add a staggering 200,000 SQFT.

The new space would have an additional community rink, a competition rink for the San Jose Barracuda, and a new practice facility for the Sharks.

If everything goes well, then construction will begin at the start of 2020 and be complete by the end of 2021.

Source: Enterprise-Record

Viva Calle 2019 Part 2 - "Parks to Roses" on Sep 22nd

Rain and hail may have put a damper on the first Viva Calle this year, but that is not going to happen again in late September. Thankfully we have not one but two Viva Calle's this year.

During Viva Calle SJ, miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, run, bike, or skateboard down the streets of San Jose. Viva Calle features multiple activity hubs which are basically festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. For part 2, the activity hubs will be at Backesto Park, Arena Green, and the Municipal Rose Garden. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at all three hubs. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores. Last year over 100,000 people attended the event.

Viva Calle 2019 "Downtown and Eastbound" takes place on Sunday, September 22nd from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end as it's not a race. However, it appears that for the first time ever there is also a new 5K at 8am.

You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!

Garden at the Flea

It has been quite a while since I have been to the San Jose Flea Market. I had no idea that they built out a full-blown craft beer garden featuring local beers and a food truck park. There is also a stage for live music in the beer garden. These are here to stay even with the major new developments being built around the new Berryessa BART station.

There is an impressive list of events at "Garden at the Flea" which include concerts, pro wrestling, and the 8th Annual Taco Festival of Innovation (Aug 31st). To see all of the programming, head over here.

Tom McEnery is reviving Manny's Cellar

Former San Jose mayor Tom McEnery is bringing back a beloved and famous (infamous perhaps?) bar in the basement of the Fallon House called "Manny's Cellar." The bar was often visited by city elites and has quite a bit of history behind it. The Fallon House itself is a historic building across the street from the San Pedro Square Market and the Peralta Adobe--San Jose's oldest building.

The new bar would try to preserve the history and character of the former bar, and would have a period-appropriate aesthetic. I'm picturing a speakeasy similar to Haberdasher in SoFA.

The project would also benefit History San Jose as there would be a new docent program for the historic buildings and they would receive 10% of the net profits from Manny's Cellar 2.0.

Tom McEnery also wants to see if the Fallon House and Peralta Adobe could be opened to the public without charging for admission. Both are some of the most historically significant buildings in California and he wants as many people as possible to see them.

What a great way to re-purpose an area that has been used for storage for the past 25 years and help activate a historic building!

Source: San Jose Spotlight

Urban Catalyst building a 170-room hotel

Developer Urban Catalyst is planning a 170-room business hotel at 491 W. San Carlos Street, just a couple blocks away from the Children's Discovery Museum and Discovery Meadow. This will be very close to the future Google campus as well, which goes to show how that project is already transforming and expanding the Downtown San Jose landscape.

The initial design for the eight-story hotel is not inspiring, but it will help fill a desperate need for rooms near Downtown San Jose. For all of the details, hit the source link below.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose's most dangerous streets

A study was recently completed by 1Point21 Interactive and Henshaw & Henry, PC to find the most dangerous streets in San Jose. Five years of data was sourced from the California Highway Patrol's SWITRS database to compile the number of crashes, injuries, severe injuries, and fatalities at various intersections in San Jose. Over that period, there were 8,000 intersection-related crashes in San Jose, which sadly led to 10,118 injuries and 103 deaths.

The most dangerous regions are Alum Rock, Central San Jose, and South San Jose. Of those, the intersection of McLaughlin and Story is the most notorious, followed by Almaden Expressway and Blossom Hill. Capital Expressway and Ocala Avenue was third on the list.

To see the full study, head over here.

Verizon bringing 3,400 employees to San Jose

San Jose's Coleman Highline looks like it will be fully leased before construction is over. Verizon Communications will join Roku in leasing generous amounts of space at the property. Verizon is grabbing 640,000 SQFT across multiple buildings, which is enough for 3,400 employees. 2,400 of those will be coming from an existing campus in Sunnyvale.

Coleman Highline will eventually have 1.75 million SQFT of space across eight office buildings, two hotels, and retail spaces. Project completion is scheduled for 2021.

Source: SVBJ

Lew Wolff helps move along a 19-story hotel project

Lew Wolff, one of the key developers responsible for the Fairmont San Jose, is now in talks to purchase a 19-story hotel project next to the Hotel DeAnza. The deal is expected to close in September and would bring the project much closer to becoming a reality.

This would likely be a trendy brand catering to young professionals that do not want to rent cars (there will be no on-site parking). It also features some really nice amenities like a rooftop restaurant and bar.

San Jose is in desperate need of more hotel rooms to support local companies and events. New hotel projects like this and the cantilevered Tribute Hotel can't come soon enough.

Source: SVBJ