SoFA will never be the same if these 6 towers get built

Feast your eyes on two projects consisting of three towers each in Downtown San Jose's artsy SoFA district. I love how these proposals continue to get more and more impressive with natural elements and rooftop amenities.

The first five renders below are a joint residential venture between Urban Community and Terrascape Ventures with 386 units. Two towers would be around 420 S. 2nd Street and clock in at 12 and 22 stories plus 8,000 SQFT of retail in a public plaza between the buildings. This is where the Dai-Thanh Supermarket and Dakao Sandwich shop currently stand. A third 20-story would rise on 420 S. 3rd St. and replace an old apartment complex. At least two towers would have an outdoor rooftop deck and lounge with trees and plants. The entire project would be built using mass timber and cross-laminated timber and operate with net-zero carbon emissions.

The next five renders are Westbank's "The Orchard" mixed-use project at the very entrance of SoFA from San Salvador Street. The towers looks great, but the ground-floor retail looks phenomenal! Currently, most of this proposal covers what today is a giant outdoor parking lot.

If just one of these projects moves forward, it will transform the area. If both make it, it'll be a revelation. It would triple the amount of foot traffic on most days and likely turn SoFA into an even more thriving area than San Pedro Square or the Historic District.

Sources: SVBJ, Aphelion2100 from the SJ Development Forum

August 2021 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The AUGUST 2021 Downtown Dimension is now available for download.   This month's newsletter highlights:   Fan favorite J BOOG will headline the only Music in the Park event this summer. Mark your calendar for Aug. 27 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez Tickets are available.  Mayor and downtown councilmember make optimistic comments at Scott's Chowder House's second downtown grand opening. Promotion for SJDA's Chloe Shipp to director of public space operations. Sarah Billings takes over as street life manager Frank Chavez, Groundwerx's Employee of the Month, talks about the importance of cleaning downtown. San Jose Jazz Summer Fest joins Music in the Park and SV Pride and plenty of other events this month. Light rail to return this month. San Jose's Office of Economic Development releases federal and state loan numbers to San Jose businesses during the pandemic.

 

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2021

One of Downtown San Jose's largest events is back this week. San Jose Jazz's Summer Fest runs Friday to Sunday with multiple stages and options for every budget (including $5 streaming passes for one of the stages). The main stage will be centered in Plaza de Cesar Chavez but various events and the overall atmosphere will encompass large portions of Downtown San Jose. It will be a fun weekend to be in the area even if you are not attending the full event.

The full blurb is below and you can access the full roster and tickets over here.

Celebrate the Rebirth of “Live” at San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, August 13–15. One of the first significant live music events in the Bay Area in 2021, the Fest reclaims its place as "one of the world's great urban jazz festivals" (DownBeat Magazine) with a more compact footprint centered on the Sobrato Organization Main Stage in the Plaza de César Chavez. We'll bring you six stages with the same great vibe and a mix of international stars, emerging artists and local gems playing jazz, blues, R&B, New Orleans, Latin and more, including Grammy / Emmy / Academy Award winning artist Common, Latin jazz legend Pete Escovedo, fast-rising soul singer Judith Hill, funk powerhouse Morris Day and The Time, Latin urban party starter Ozomatli, Blue Note recording artist Kandace Springs and 70+ more.

Celebrating its 31st festival year in 2021, Summer Fest is an eclectic musical celebration that inspires family reunions, gathers old friends and brings music to every corner of downtown San Jose. Tickets and info at summerfest.sanjosejazz.org. 

ArtWalk SJ + STREET MRKT

This month, South FIRST FRIDAYS is supersized with the return of our annual summer street market. All art venues will be open for in-person visits from 5pm-9pm, as will the indie urban street market featuring over 50 artists, performers, and creatives. You can't miss it since the market will take over a chunk of SoFA. Of course there will be great food and drinks as well.

For more info head over here.

Participating Artists & Indie Creatives:

Atiso Garden

Delilah Bender

Bolo Vintage

Caesura

Calpulli Tonalehqueh Aztec Dance (7:30pm)

Calli Miquiztli

Arely Cardenas

Classic Loot

Content Magazine

Jhovany R De Ala

Sharon Deibert

Kirsten Dorsey

Ruben Escalante

Faerie Goatmother

Kristin Fjeldheim 

FUSE Presents

Mark Gomez

Cynthia Gonzalez

Hand in Hand Henna

Matty Heimgartner

Higher Fire Clayspace & Gallery

Christine Hofstetter

Maureen Holcomb 

Inside Out Clothing

KathyKay Shirts & Kimonos

Nao Kondo

David Krase

Le Joe

LGBTQ Youth Space

The Local Creative Show

Frankie McFly

Joe Mandrick

Jodi Mascarenas

David Mejia

Poet Mighty Mike McGee + Friends

Bruce Miles

More Más Marami Arts

Sean Nash

Jean-Luc Pedanou

Leslie Perez Designs

Petite Galleria 

Plant Theory

Poetry Center San Jose

Al Preciado 

Francisco Ramirez

Marilyn Roaf 

SJ Institute of Contemporary Art

Second Hand Hustle

South Bay Burners 

Stay Tuft Rug Co.

Tochtli Wear

Willow Workshop Collective

Works San Jose

Zonkey Toys

In addition to neighborhood restaurants being open, we’ll have the 3 Brothers Kitchen and Road Doggs food trucks on site.

Beer Garden sponsored by LVL Uproar an independent brewery, gastropub and arcade now open in the SoFA District. Music provided by DJ Flipside Crew.

July 2021 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The JULY 2021 Downtown Dimension is now available for download.
 
This month's newsletter highlights:  

• With the pressure and stress of Covid somewhat relieved, downtown businesses are now on the road of recovery.  By the end of August, most of downtown's biggest entertainment venues -- including SAP Center and the Convention Center -- will be back in business.
• Remember to Dine Downtown July 1-18 at your choice of 26 downtown restaurants and cafes.  Enjoy chef specials, prix fixe three- and four-course menus or special drink-and-food pairings.
• SJDA also announces the return of Music in the Park and Starlight Cinemas this summer.
• Downtown property owners present the SoFA Pocket Park, a unique urban oasis featuring dog park and demonstration garden. Below, find some scenes from yesterday's opening.
• Bjarke Ingels' Serpentine Pavilion is headed to downtown San Jose.
• James Wheeler is feted as Groundwerx's Employee of the Month.

Unique office and housing tower could transform Downtown skyline

The word iconic gets thrown out a lot, but there is a proposal at 35 S. Second St. whose design would truly be iconic for the Downtown San Jose skyline. "Energy Hub" is a curvy office and residential tower that features multiple cutouts for trees and plants--not to mention a full living roof. Have a look at the second and third renders below to see how this concept looks in the context of other Downtown buildings. The change would be pretty dramatic.

The tower is actually two connected buildings that rise 21 floors. Retail and restaurants wrap around the ground floor, followed by residential space across 10 floors (194 units total), and topped with 314,000 SQFT of office space. There is also an atrium-like urban room on the ground floor accessible to the public. 

The roof is essentially a giant park with amenities for both residents and office workers. There are trees, hills, lounge areas, places to picnic, and even an full-blown running track. It has to be one of the most unique amenities proposed for the roof of any Downtown building (hopefully there is a pool or lake up there as well).

This proposal goes to show you don't have to have height in order to make a project stand out and change the entire landscape of an urban neighborhood.

Source: The Merc

Starlight Cinemas 2021

A staple of the Downtown San Jose summer entertainment scene is returning to St. James Park on July 21st. Four family friendly movies will play outdoors around 8pm on Wednesdays: "Up," "The Perfect Game," "Raya and the Last Dragon," and "The Karate Kid." The pre-show entertainment this Wednesday will include a balloon artist (goes well with the "Up" theme), kettle corn, a gift from the Children's Discovery Museum, and a performance by the San Jose Dance Theater.

This event is completely free and brought to you by the San Jose Downtown Association and several sponsors. Fore more information head over to the Starlight Cinemas page.

SAN JOSE - The San Jose Downtown Association is back with Starlight Cinemas, presented by First Tech Federal Credit Union. Get ready for free summer outdoor movies on four consecutive Wednesdays starting July 21 at dusk at St. James Park in downtown San Jose. 

Starlight Cinemas kicks off with "Up" on July 21 and "The Perfect Game" on July 28. Catch the new Disney movie, "Raya and the Last Dragon" on Aug. 4. We'll close off the series Aug. 11 with a classic, the 1984 version of "The Karate Kid."  (Note:  Karate Kid is rated PG )

Grab food to-go from a downtown restaurant and arrive an hour before dusk for pre-movie fun and games.  The pre-movie fun for the July 21 (starting about 8 p.m.) feature includes: 

• Balloon artist on site.
• Ball blower take-and-make kit for each child to take home, courtesy Children's Discovery Museum
• Kettle Corn, flavored popcorn and lemonade for sale
• Performance by San Jose Dance Theater

The movies are held in conjunction with the City's Viva Parks programming.

Check http://sjdowntown.com/starlight for more information

Park in the Third Street or Market & San Pedro garages. Parking is free for the first 90 minutes. ParkSJ.org. 

New single from San Jose Band, Love District: "Feels like Home"

Four members from San Jose that fell in love with post-punk and new wave have just released a rockin new single. Their style is reminiscent of The Cure, The Smiths, and New Order with their own spin. 

The new single is entitled "Feels Like Home" and it's about life in a dense city where you can feel alone and at home at the same time. That's all the more poignant after 16 months of dealing with COVID. In their words: "It's about about how we can forget the important things in life during the endless grind and distractions in our lives. Wherever you live, whatever the situation, we all have a place we feel is our home."

I've already added it to my playlist and look forward to checking them out live in the Bay Area sometime. You can listen to "Feels Like Home" on Spotify over here.

Below is a bit more info about about band:

"After releasing their debut EP “Control,” and their album “Delusions,” Love District is looking to reestablish their sound with their upcoming releases. The group has played the Ernie Ball stage at Vans Warped Tour, worked with CocaCola, and has played many festivals and venues while becoming a staple in the Bay Area music scene."