San Hauntse: Mysteries of San Jose

Manuel Ávalos and Carmen Sánchez have teamed up to host San Hauntse, which is "the only actively running podcast that seeks to document every haunted place and urban legend of the San Jose area." I'm blown away at how much content there is on the site (and I love the logo). 

I still remember hearing the San Felipe Road urban legends as a kid, not to mention the many Winchester Mystery House stories. Manuel and Carmen go in depth into the history of many famous San Jose landmarks and popular stories. It's entertaining and well produced, check it out over here!

Large-scale art is featured on new Regional Wastewater Facility building

Artwork and murals are now abundant throughout Downtown, but other parts of San Jose are getting artistic love as well. A now Cogeneration Facility in San Jose features a massive artwork installation with lights to brighten would could be a bland industrial facility at night.

It's a nice touch that serves as a reminder that we shouldn't have to settle for cookie-cutter buildings anymore in San Jose. We're a global city, it's time to start looking like one!

For more info on the art by Buster Simpson, click here.

Urban Catalyst replacing Garden City Casino with a large mixed-use project

The former Garden City Casino and Harry's Hofbrau area in West San Jose is going to get a significant overhaul. Urban Catalyst would like to build a mixed-use project combining office space, residential, a senior living complex, and a hotel.

Each of these four elements would have it's own dedicated building. Along Saratoga you'll find the office building and hotel. The offices would clock in around 300,000 SQFT across nine stories. The hotel would have 175 rooms, with suitability for both for short and long-term accommodations (I think this will mean two hotel brands sharing the same back-of-house resources and staff). One really neat feature is a rooftop deck above the hotel lobby (or lobbies) with the swimming pool and amenity space.

The residential building will house 425-450 apartments across eight stories. A separate senior living and memory care facility will have 165 units.

This seems like quite a nice proposal. The only element missing is retail--it would be great to see some restaurants and stores on the ground floor of all the buildings. However, Santana Row and Valley Fair are less than a mile away so this is not as critical for this particular area.

Source: SVBJ

Google Mega Campus Updates

Google has received unanimous approval from the planning commission to build its massive campus around Diridon. The final step is City Council approval on May 25th, which is all but assured at this point. 

The overall scope of the is staggering--it's the largest proposal in history for Downtown and perhaps all of Silicon Valley. The first phase alone includes 4.17 million SQFT of office space, 3,130 homes, and several new community plazas. That phase is just HALF of the project. Even more impressive, developers will get the opportunity to build up to 6.4 million SQFT of office space, 7,000 housing units, and 536,000 SQFT of retail around Google's project. Collectively, the area will be called "Downtown West."

Building heights will range from 170 feet o 295 feet. Construction on city streets and infrastructure is slated for 2022 and will take until at least until 2031 to complete the entire project. When complete, this will be Google's largest campus in the world.

As a side note, Google has also promised $200M in community benefits if the Downtown West plan comes to fruition. This includes homeless services, job opportunities for local residents, five acres of new parks and trails available to all, and affordable housing.

Sources: SVBJ, SVBJ(2), Urban Catalyst

South FIRST FRIDAYS

South FIRST FRIDAYS are coming back to life! Last month was a success with plenty of socially distanced traffic venturing into several venues in and around SoFA. This month new works will be featured at Anno Domini, Art Ark Gallery, Citadel Art Gallery, KALEID (I love their new space at 320 South First), Machu Picchu Gallery of the Americas, the SoFA Market, and San Jose Jazz. To see the full list head over here.

While you're in the area don't forget to check out SoFA's newest restaurants featuring small plates and craft cocktails: Petiscos by ADEGA and The Good Spot.

May 2021 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The latest addition of Downtown Dimension is now live. Below is a summary of the content this month.

The MAY Downtown Dimension is now available for download.
 
This month's newsletter highlights:  

• Details of Google's agreement with the City of San Jose were unveiled.  Community benefits total $200 million overall, including $150 million for housing education and jobs training.  Small business will also get support, and at an SJDA meeting, a Google representative shared where the first shovels are likely to go into the ground -- and in just a few years from now.
• The Downtown San Jose Farmers' Market is moving to the block of South First Street between San Salvador and William streets. OPENING DAY:  MAY 7.  Fresh produce and artisan items will be available each Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. We're counting on a good turnout -- see you there.
• Groundwerx's employees of the month put up some large numbers when it comes to their core efforts cleaning the sidewalks, and removing trash and graffiti.
• The MOMENT shops on San Pedro Street have proven successful locally as a retail destination and now, thanks to attention by The Knight Foundation and Gehl, are gaining national attention.
• Al Fresco dining will continue in San Jose at least through Dec. 31.
• Five new businesses have opened in recent months.  Today, see you at the Good Spot in SoFA, which is having its Grand Opening.
• Three more businesses -- Hoge Fenton, CreaTV and Poor House Bistro -- are announcing moves and all are staying downtown.

Enjoy the May edition.

Good Spot grand opening tomorrow, May 1st!

Another flagship restaurant is opening in SoFA across from Petiscos, the SoFA Market, and Haberdasher. The Good Spot is a modern gastro-lounge featuring a variety of tasty small plates and craft cocktails. 

I had a chance to preview it during their soft opening, and was really impressed with the quality of their food across the board. I tried the deviled eggs with crispy brussels sprouts, adobo wing lollipops, long life garlic noodles, sweet potato fries with spicy banana ketchup, and an avocado tostada with fried cheese. I'd recommend all of them, seriously. What was most surprising was how inexpensive the food was compared to similar quality restaurants in the Bay Area. I can't wait to go back and try more of the menu.

The team behinds the new restaurant comes from a solid pedigree. Good Spot owner, Thoi Trinh, was an executive at Chris Yeo Group which launched Sino, Straits, and Roots & Rye at Santana Row. Chef Timothy Luym worked at Poleng Lounge, SF Chickenbox, and Brew Coop.

While the interior is quite spacious (and open at 50% capacity), there is also a large outdoor patio in front of the restaurant right on First Street. I really hope they keep the outdoor space post-COVID as it really changes the dynamic of the street. Apparently there is also a 2nd floor that they could open in the future.

The grand opening featuring an assortment of VIPs is tomorrow, May 1st at 1pm. The ribbon-cutting will be followed by a Vietnamese lion dance at 2pm, then cocktail hour at 3pm, and finally dinner specials and a late night happy hour. The full press release is below and you can learn more over here.

SAN JOSE -- Owner Thoi Trinh and managing partners Sammy Sok and Ivy Li of Good Spot, 386 S. First St., promise good food, good drinks and good company at their new SoFA establishment, opening Saturday, May 1 at 1 p.m. in downtown’s SoFA District.

The gastro-lounge offers a unique small-plate menu and large selection of curated wines, beers, spirits and handcrafted and batched cocktails.  Cocktails include Dirty Old Man (rendition of a Japanese-style Old Fashion); Hangtime Cooler (refreshing, crisp, perfect for summertime); and Costa Rican Canopy (your sensual jungle experience).

Food-wise, popular favorites will include Adobo Wing Lollipops, Long Life Garlic Noodles and Chimichurri Hanger Steak.

Good Spot owner Thoi Trinh worked his way up from entry level to senior executive level for local and global hospitality brands. Most recently, he was Corporate Director for Chris Yeo Group, a pioneering Asian Fusion restaurant company, with endearing concepts such as Sino, Straits and Roots & Rye.

Chef Timothy Luym, recognized as a San Francisco Chronicle Rising Star chef, made his name at pioneering Asian street food restaurant Poleng Lounge and more recently led culinary operations for SF Chickenbox and Brew Coop. 

At Good Spot, the owners focus on the customer experience:

The set-up is divided into sections the owners describe as “a fine-casual dining section, a set of communal tables ready for an impromptu business meeting, a highly Instagrammable corner reminiscent of a busy sidewalk café,  and a lounge where big-city feels will sneak up on you when you least expect it.”

Their story on goodspotsj.com continues:  “Good Spot imagines a community junction where locals and visitors can gather in the neighborhood’s living room; a place where differences stay at the door, strong bonds become stronger, and new memories flourish.”

The owners intentionally created the Good Spot with an “ambition to both honor and respond to the unique character of the place that birthed it.  That is downtown’s South First Area -- or SoFA District -- a place with a history of glitz and entertainment that fell on hard times in the 1970s and ’80s and now the arts and cultural hub of Silicon Valley’s downtown.

Their On the SoFA outdoor lounge is open on weekends for now with an all-day happy hour.

Follow Good Spot on Instagram and Facebook @goodspotsj. Phone (408) 816-8841.

Good Spot’s Grand Opening ribbon-cutting event will be held at 1pm Saturday. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Councilman Raul Peralez, San Jose Downtown Association Executive Director Scott Knies will make brief remarks, followed by a traditional Vietnamese Dragon Dance. 

Breeze of Innovation chosen as San Jose's new Light Tower

Out of 963 submissions from 72 countries, Urban Confluence has a winner for their contest to design San Jose's next landmark. The submissions had to be inspired by the San Jose Light Tower, which was one of San Jose's most innovative achievements at the time. 

The lucky winner was Breeze of Innovation by Fernando Jerez and Belén Pérez de Juan of SMAR Architecture Studio. The design symbolizes people standing and working together and each of the rods in the images below are designed to sway in the wind to create a dynamic visual effect. The rods will also generate the power to illuminate the 200 foot-tall tower.

While it is difficult to see in the images below, there will be a conical void inside of the tower (in a shape similar to the original San Jose Light Tower) that will include multiple levels of walkways, a viewing platform at the top, exhibition space, and space for a café.

For more information on the ~$100 million project, head over here!