Kristi Yamaguchi Downtown Ice returns for 24th season!

Iconic outdoor ice rink open daily Nov. 15, 2018 - Jan. 12, 2019

SAN JOSE – Kristi Yamaguchi Downtown Ice will be front and center among downtown San Jose holiday attractions from Nov. 15 through Jan. 12.

Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic gold medal winner in women’s figure skating, will celebrate the opening of San Jose’s ice season with sponsors on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.

Yamaguchi adds her name to support the rink for the ninth time, and her Always Dream Foundation will again be a rink beneficiary.

This will be Downtown Ice’s 16th year in the Circle of Palms and 24th year overall.  More than 50,000 skaters and 120,000 of their friends are expected to visit the ice this season.  The rink generates more than $4 million in economic impact to San Jose.

As usual, the palms of the Circle of Palms will be lit with thousands of color-changing LED lights for skaters who pay one fee for unlimited skating time and skate rental.

Admission costs $18 for adults and $15 for children 10 years and younger.

Downtown Ice is presented by Alaska Airlines in association with Google, First Tech Credit Union and Swenson.

Proceeds from the Dec. 16 Santa Run Silicon Valley help support Downtown Ice.  Sign up at santarunsv.com.

During November, early December and after the holidays in January, Downtown Ice is open 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5 p.m.-midnight on Friday; noon-midnight on Saturday; and noon-9 p.m. on Sunday.  During the winter break, the rink is open 11 a.m.-midnight daily.  Special hours apply to the holidays. 

The rink phone number is (408) 610-4055.  Details are at downtownicesj.com.

Parking information is at http://parksj.org

Admission:

Children 10 & younger, Seniors and Military: $15

10 years & older: $18

Bring your own skates: $10

Cash, Paypal, Visa, Mastercard and Discover Card accepted. Admission includes ice time and rental skates (skate sizes range from toddler 8 to men's 15) 

Skate all you want (no in-and-out privileges). First-come, first-serve.

Address (starting November 16):  120 S. Market St., San Jose, CA 95113

Phone: (408) 279-1775 (SJDA); (408) 610-4055 (rink, starting Nov. 15)

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The San Jose Downtown Association (SJDA), established 1986, is a non-profit group of business and property owners working to improve the vitality and livability of downtown San Jose. SJDA advocates on issues that affect downtown business and property owners; enhances the image of downtown and attract new visitors through year-round marketing, public relations, and special events; and collaborates with its Property-Based Improvement District (PBID) for ongoing improvements to downtown’s cleanliness, security, aesthetics and delivery of services.

Verizon breaks ground on a new San Jose campus

The Coleman Highline will soon be home to a 640,000 SQFT tech campus for Verizon. The development is right next to Avaya Stadium and is conveniently close to both the airport, Downtown San Jose, and a future BART stop.

They are also in good company as Roku is moving their headquarters to the Coleman Highline project as well. At 730,000 SQFT, Roku made one of the largest investments in San Jose real estate this decade. Of course, these deals will be dwarfed by Google and perhaps others over the coming years.

Construction work on the Verizon buildings began two weeks ago and should be complete by 2021.

Source: San Jose Inside

Twitter is opening an office at Santana Row

Yet another tech giant is dipping their toes into San Jose. Twitter is leasing around 30,000 SQFT in Santana Row, which is enough for 150 to 200 employees.

This is leading to rumors that they are eyeing the massive 360,000 SQFT Santana West project across the street. That would make quite a nice second headquarters, similar to Splunk--one of their Santana Row neighbors. Eventually Santana West will have a million SQFT of office space which is plenty of room for a tech company to stretch out into.

Source: SVBJ

Santana Row Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 19th

SAN JOSE, Calif. – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Santana Row! Santa’s little elves are preparing for another bustling holiday season this year and excitement is in the air. First, mark your calendars for the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony which will take place on Tuesday, November 19 from 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.! This celebrated and well-attended event is FREE and open to all.

Gather family and friends for an evening of live music, costumed characters and more.  Festivities include digital photos with The Grinch, a character meet & greet, balloons and face painting, plus a special performance of The Nutcracker!

Experience the magic of the holidays as Santana Row lights up the night, coupled with a snow shower of confetti and more. The tree lighting main stage performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. in Santana Row Park with the lighting of the tree at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Head to Santana Row early on the day of the Tree Lighting Ceremony for a special Elf Scavenger Hunt through participating shops beginning at 3PM!  Pick up your scavenger hunt from the Santana Row Concierge. Visit each location and find the Elf that is hiding. Once you find the Elf, make sure to get a sticker from that shop or restaurant. Find all the Elf’s, return your scavenger hunt to the Santana Row Concierge and receive a special holiday prize! PLUS – one lucky person will win a $250 Santana Row Gift Card! *One winner will be selected and notified by Wednesday, November 20th. 

It’s a good evening to start your holiday shopping too.  Customers who spend $300 or more on Tuesday, November 19th will receive two tickets to San Jose Dance Theatre’s The Nutcracker.

The holidays are about so much more than just stockings and gifts, it’s a time of comradery and joy. A time for spreading love and sharing moments with those who mean the most. Come join alongside neighbors in celebrating holiday spirit as the 40-foot Christmas tree illuminates the San Jose sky.

For more information on the Santana Row Tree Lighting Ceremony, visit: http://www.santanarow.com/events/santana-row-elf-scavenger-hunt (no Tree Lighting event page on SR website to link to!). For additional information, text or call the Santana Row Concierge at (408) 551-4611.

SJC's second lounge is now open

San Jose International has an amenity it has never had before--a second travel lounge! The Club SJC has been around for several years and has won a handful of international awards. It's located on the 3rd floor across from the international gates (Gate 15) and has a full bar, food, nice restrooms and showers, and even a great view. It just has one issue... it's doing so well that it is often very full.

The solution was to build a second "The Club SJC" in front of Gate A8. Ironically this is the same space as San Jose's only previous airport lounge, the American Airlines Admirals Club, which was only around when American had a hub in San Jose. Unlike the former Admirals Club, the new lounge is open to anyone for a fee ($39 per person I believe) and provides MUCH better amenities.

The food and snacks at The Club SJC are very good by lounge standards and there is an open bar for visitors with cocktails (bourbon and ginger-ale is default drink there). The new lounge has plenty of comfortable seats, an area with desks and power outlets for work, and a quiet/napping zone. I also found the service to be excellent when I used the lounge a couple weeks ago. There is no better place to hang out in SJC while waiting for your flight.

My only request, would be for them to build another lounge on the other side of the airport in the middle of the B gates. It's an especially long walk between the six temporary gates Southwest is using to either of the lounges. Even then, it's worth it for a snack, drink, and some relaxation before your flight.

If you want to get access to these lounges for free, I highly recommend the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. Every time you fly, you get access for up to three people into either of the San Jose lounge as well as lounges in just about any major airport in the world (SFO and Oakland included). It has a high annual fee, but you get annual perks easily worth double the fee even if you just travel two or three times a year. If you're interested, here is the link.

Source: SVBJ

KT Urban proposes a 1.15 million SQFT tower

A prolific developer is looking to transform a corner at Almaden and Woz way into either an office or residential project, or perhaps even a combination of both. They have a preliminary site development plan with three options for the 2.6-acre parcel:

1.) All-office: 20-story, 1.15 million SQFT office tower with 977,000 SQFT of net office space.
2.) Mixed-use: 27-story office ower with 500,000 SQFT of net office space and a 27-story residential tower with 300 residential units and 300 hotel rooms.
3.) All-residential: A 27-story residential tower with 750 units.

I'm most excited by option 2, but honestly any of these three would be an asset to the Downtown San Jose area. KT Urban is working to secure city approval by the fourth quarter of 2020 and there is no publicized target date for construction.

Source: SVBJ

Happy Halloween 2019!! + Halloween in the Park (Part XII)

Happy Halloween everyone, hope you have a blast tonight!

Usually in October we have a wish-list post for Halloween in the Park. The idea is to build on the momentum that Christmas in the Park brings to San Jose each year and create something of similar scale for the month of October with Halloween in the Park! A lot of the infrastructure such as wiring, lighting, and booths might even be able to be shared between the events. The goal would be to make Downtown San Jose the epicenter of October Halloween experiences.

Below you will find brainstorming ideas we have collected for this concept so far over the years. Please have a look and provide your feedback and suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

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The largest draw to Downtown San Jose for many years now has been Christmas in the Park. It has continued to grow year after year and brings in visitors from all over the Bay Area. It's economic impact is substantial and helps keep many Downtown businesses and restaurants alive.

What would you think about a similar event for Halloween? Picture Downtown lit up in orange and purple with elaborate Halloween displays assembled by local artists. Perhaps infrastructure could even be shared with Christmas in the Park (e.g. retail booths). A strong event in October would help maintain traffic between the summer months and Christmas in the Park. Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Animated Halloween Displays
• Created by local artists
• Analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
• Family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
• Halloween Lighting
• Orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
• May be possible to use new programmable LED lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button, allowing the lights to stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and reducing setup/take-down costs.
• Halloween Food
• Booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, pumpkin seeds, etc.
• Food trucks
• Trick-or-treating station - a free piece of candy to anyone wearing a costume any day in October (could also be used to hand out promotional flyers for Downtown events/businesses/resources)
• Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
• Artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
• Home decor/crafts like candles
• Light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
• Costumes
• Zombie/Halloween make-up station 
• Halloween-themed Carnival Games
• Pirates of Emerson and Candlelighters (Fremont) do a good job of providing family-friendly games themed around Halloween
• A handful of children's rides could also be added to the Paseo and reused for Christmas in the Park
• Interactive Art
• Subzero/ZERO1-style, but with a Halloween spin.
• Halloween-themed video game kiosks and/or arcades
• Pumpkins
• Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
• Pumpkin carving station for families. 
• Pumpkin carving contest.
• Costumed Entertainers
• Walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
• Haunts / Mazes
• Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the San Jose Convention Center tent, or at SJSU.
• Could partners with one of the established San Jose haunt providers such as Deadtime Dreams or The World's Largest Haunted House.
• Potential Events
• Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. time-frame)
• Zombie Crawl
• Dia De Los Muertos Events
• Halloween/Dia De Los Muertos Bike Party
• Horror Movie Trivia Contest
• Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)
• Costume Ball

Inspirations:

• Candle Lighters
• Pirates of Emerson
• The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze (photos below)

113-room hotel proposed on Winchester Blvd

A&Z Development LLC submitted a site development permit last month to build a six-story hotel at 1212 S. Winchester Blvd with 113 rooms and 78 parking spaces. This is located about a mile away from Santana Row and a mile from Downtown Campbell.

We are in desperate need for more hotel rooms in Silicon Valley, so this is coming at the perfect time. The proposed hotel would also feature a ballroom, restaurants, and bar.

Source: SVBJ