Inside Samsung's HQ in San Jose

The Wall Street Journal recorded a brief tour of one of San Jose's most unique buildings.The Samsung North American HQ is actually two towers connected by bridges, with tons of open spaces and hanging gardens. At any location in the HQ, you are never more than one floor away from outdoor spaces. The building may look nondescript on the outside, but the tour shows how interesting and well-designed the structure actually is.

As an added bonus, their cafeteria is open to the public so you can go check out the architecture for yourself. You can find the Wall Street Journal video tour.

Source: jawz from the San Jose Development Forum

Bill.com is moving from Palo Alto to San Jose

Bill.com was the 2nd largest Bay Area tech IPO last year and they have decided to make San Jose their new home. They are moving from Palo Alto to 132,000 SQFT at 6220 America Center Drive. This is an office complex in Alviso that also features three Marriott Hotels (including an Aloft) and HP Enterprise's Headquarters.

They are nearly tripling their space from only 48,200 SQFT at 1810 Embarcadero. That means more jobs for San Jose at a fast-growing tech company whose shares are now public. Bill.com is currently worth just shy of $3 billion and employs over 500 people.

Source: SVBJ

Iconic Boeing 747s are coming to SJC

SJC has been able to handle the famous double-decker 747 for quite some time and has even accepted and handful of emergency landings when the weather has been bad at SFO. The reason why we haven't had regular service using double-decker 747 planes isn't because of the size of our runways or noise (common myths), it's simply because of demand.

Thanks to the astronomical passenger growth at SJC, we are getting our first route using a 747!  British Airways is swapping out the Boeing 787-9 for it's nonstop flight to London with a Boeing 747-400. This will add 60 additional seats to the flight. Generally the 2nd floor is business class seats in a 2+2 configuration.

Even though the flight will revert back to the 787 in late October, this is a great sign that our carriers feel confident enough that they can start expanding service and use the largest class of planes available (only the Airbus A380 is larger).

Source: SVBJ, SBJV (2)

Modera San Pedro Square Retail

The Modera apartment project in the middle of San Pedro Square is nearly complete, and it appears that they have announced their first two retail stores. Carbon Health and AT&T will take the two retail spots along North Almaden Avenue near The Brit.

This still leaves five spaces open, two directly on North San Pedro Street and three in a new Paseo that will connect San Pedro to Almaden Ave in the middle of the block. As this is one of our busiest districts, hopefully they will fill up quickly.

Source: Robertee from the San Jose Development Form

Santana Row future plans

A new Silicon Valley Business Journal interview with a Federal Realty executive reveals ambitious plans for new eateries and development at the Row. Over the next few years, 13 new restaurants are planned! In 2020, we'll see Momosan Ramen & Sake and a new Hot Yoga studio.

Some of the current retail spaces will be converted for other uses. For example, the two-story Urban Outfitters will be broken up into smaller spaces for new retail and restaurants.

Federal Realty also plans to break ground on a five-story building this year with 258 residential units at 358 Hatton Street. Across the street, they are gearing up for Two Santana West, an office building with 375,000 SQFT of office space.

It sounds like Federal Realty still has their foot on the gas even though the original development plan has been completed. The area is going to look quite different with these changes and the Valley Fair Expansion having their grand opening this year.

Source: SVBJ

Happy 2020 Everyone!!!

We wish all of the San Joseans and friends from neighboring cities out there a wonderful and prosperous 2020! We're officially in the future. Hopefully we will see our city grow in every way possible this year!

SJDA Year in Review 2019 + Flashback to 1989

We're closing out a strong year for Downtown San Jose filled with a multitude of new project announcements across every sector: residential, commercial, hotel, entertainment, and transportation. No one summarizes it better than Scott Knies from the San Jose Downtown Association. Below is his full presentation that highlights the most significant events of 2019 and touches on where we are going in 2020.

As an added bonus, you can also watch a SJDA video from 1989 to see how far we've come in the past 30 years.

Last Days for Santa Clara Valley Brewing

Farewell to venerable Santa Clara Valley Brewing. They're open today, but their last day will be tomorrow, Saturday, December 28.

Santa Clara Valley Brewing contributed much to the local beer scene, helping to elevate its status with recent medals at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival the last couple of years. Many of their beers were also named after local historic landmarks.

After announcing their closure last week, many local beer fans have been visiting the brewery and taproom to pay their final respects.

They are open today, 12-8pm, and their final day is tomorrow from 12-10pm.