New flights coming to SJC

Thanks to COVID, we went from having the fastest growing airport in the country and 11 international flights to a ghost town with only six international flights, all to Mexico.

Our fortunes may be slowly changing, the first new international route since COVID has just been announced by Volaris. They are adding a new nonstop between Mexico City and SJC that will fly three times per week (Mon, Wed, and Fri). This is the first time we'll have a direct flight to Mexico City in about two years.

Below is our revised list of international flights:

As an added bonus, Alaska Airlines is adding a seasonal nonstop to the ski town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming on December 19th. This will be a twice-weekly flight until April and will be the first time this route has ever appeared at SJC.

Source: SVBJ, SVBJ (2)

Santana Row gym and nail salon now providing outdoor services

Santa Clara County may be in the "purple" zone when it comes to California COVID restrictions (the worst one), but that isn't stopping two Santana Row businesses from providing approved services outdoors. Both Barry's Bootcamp and Lavande Nail Spa are now open. Given that it will be at least 3 weeks before indoor gyms and nail spas are allowed in San Jose, these may be your best options.

Indoor restaurants are also off the table for at least 3 weeks, but Santana Row has shut down several streets to expand outdoor dining considerably. It's perhaps ground zero for some sort of normalcy in the South Bay. Many indoor stores have also reopened with a 25% capacity limitation.

Downtown San Jose mini-boom

San Jose Inside has an uplifting article about how Team San Jose rallied together 14 hotel owners to provide discounted rooms for fire victims and evacuees. These visitors are in return giving back to the local community. Despite the questionable air quality, restaurants along San Pedro and San Fernando Streets have been booming--giving a ray of hope to San Jose restaurateurs. Read the article over here.

As an added bonus, here is another San Jose Inside article about developers staying bullish on Downtown San Jose. Even with COVID19, many large-scale residential and office projects are still moving forward. Perhaps 2021 will be our year.

Valley Fair Open-Air Market

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Valley Fair has been closed for months, so they have gotten creative and launched an outdoor pop-up to allow some of it's tenants to continue operations. If you find it ironic that people are shopping in tents right in front of Valley Fair's shiny new (and deserted) $1.1 billion expansion, you're not the only one.

The outdoor market is open from 1pm to 7pm from Friday to Sunday in the Outdoor Plaza and North Valet Lot. Below are the list of participating retailers and eateries. The department stores are now fully open as well (masks required of course).

PARTICIPATING RETAILERS

• Athleta (Thursdays & Fridays only + the weekend of 8/21)
• California Pizza Kitchen: outdoor dining on their patio, adjacent to Forest Avenue (open 7 days a week)
• Champs Sports
• The Waffle Roost Food Truck (@thewaffleroost | Saturday's only from 12 - 3:30)
• Coach
• Cotton On
• Cotton On Kids 
• David Yuman
• Din Tai Fung: outdoor dining on their pop-up patio, adjacent to Forest Avenue (open 7 days a week) 
• Foot Locker 
• Fresh Society
• Haagen Dazs (open 7 days a week in the North Valet) 
• Hugo Boss
• Johnny Was (only Sat & Sun) 
• Kay Jewelers 
• Koja Kitchen Bar
• Levi's
• Lovesac
• MCM
• Mex Cal Taco Truck
• Pac Sun
• Pottery Barn 
• Quay Australia
• Rabbit Rabbit Tea 
• Salt & Straw (open 7 days a week on the plaza)
• Shoe Palace
• Talbots 
• UNTUCKit (open 7 days a week on the plaza)
• Young Art Lessons 
• Zales
• Zumiez

Source: San Jose Inside

Japantown mixed-use development proposal

Downtown San Jose receives most of the attention when it comes to dense high-rise development these days, but there are some interesting proposals outside of the area. For example, there is a new project on the table in Japantown that would include multiple towers on the area bound by Taylor Street, Miller Street, George Street, and North First Street. It would include a 210 foot tall tower with 244 apartments, 61,000 SQFT of office space, 5,560 SQFT of retail, and 731 parking spaces.

The project would also be right in the middle of the North 1st Street Local Transit Village Plan, which will hopefully accommodate thousands of new homes and jobs in the future. Currently the area houses a surface parking lot and a one-story office building. This would be a major upgrade for the area.

If all goes well this could be approved by the City Council later this year or in Q1 of 2021. It would then take at least a couple more years to build.

Source: SVBJ

A Bowling Alley is coming to Downtown San Jose!

If like me, you're craving new entertainment options amidst the COVID era... we have some good news. Believe it or not, a new bowling alley with cocktails and games is coming to the heart of San Jose on Santa Clara Street. Oh, and it's under construction as we speak!

If you're scratching you're head wondering where this could possibly go, it's being built in the two-story space formerly occupied by AFK Gamer Lounge. It looks like the Bowling Alley with four lanes will be in the basement along with a private dining area and the ground floor will feature vintage arcade games, pinball, pool, and karaoke.

The project is called San Pedro Social and you can learn more over here.

Source: jgordo32 from the San Jose Development Forum

Kebabery by Meso now open at Santana Row (pickup & delivery only)

Meso has become one of my favorite restaurants at Santana Row. Not only are the food and drinks consistently great, but they have gone above and beyond with their COVID policies. Tables are spaced out 15 feet apart across the beautiful plaza at the end of the Row with plenty of heat lamps (photo below). The ambiance and Mediterranean dining are on point. It feels like a two hour escape from reality where I'm not missing indoor dining one bit.

The owners of Meso have opened a virtual eatery, which means they share the kitchen with Meso and don't have any sit-down options. The food is only available for pickup and delivery. Featured are some of the key signature kebabs from Meso, including Impossible meat and swordfish kebabs, and several delicious sides like sweet potato with spiced honey harissa, hummus with lemon and extra virgin olive oil, and baklava for dessert.

It's a great casual alternative option, especially considering Meso is one of the higher-end options on the Row and it can get pricey.

The virtual restaurant is open every day from 11:30am to 9pm and you can use either DoorDash or UberEats for delivery.

Goodbye validation passes, City-owned Downtown parking lots now provide 90 minutes of free parking to all

We all knew that eventually parking fees would return to Downtown San Jose garages. Fortunately there is a new compromise that is a fair solution. The annoying parking vouchers that most people would forget to ask for are now gone. Instead everyone gets 90 minutes of free parking, regardless of where you go Downtown.

I love this idea as it make Downtown competitive with other places in San Jose that offer free parking. Want to check out that new flower shop on Santa Clara Street? No problem, now there is no need to hunt for cheap parking or validation. Just find the closest garage and walk to the store. If you need more time, it's just $1 per $15 minutes with reasonable caps on weeknights and weekends. For example, 2 hours of parking costs $2 and 3 hours is $6. Employees earning less than $20/hour also get a 50% discount on fees.

For more info on the changes, head over here.