Calling all Downtown SJ Residents

A new study has been kicked off with a goal of improving Downtown activation. If you happen to live in Downtown San Jose, there is a tempting offer below to participate that will take very little time and be a contribution to the local Downtown community. Happy Friday!

Dear Resident,

Our office has been contacted by a marketing firm who is recruiting a small group of downtown

residents for research focus groups to discuss downtown activation and events.

They are scheduling focus groups for next Wednesday (February 22nd), 5 and 6:30 PM, at Open

San Jose, 38 South Second Street. Each participant will be paid $100 plus a gift card to downtown

businesses. Participants must be a downtown resident for more than a year and not a student at

SJSU.

If you’re interested, please contact Dan Orloff with Orloff Marketing at dan@orloffmarketing.com

408-202-3188.

Thank you,

Orloff Marketing

Valentine's Day in San Jose

The clock is ticking to plan a date for that special someone for Valentine's Day. Fortunately the San Jose Downtown Association has a long list of suggestions for Downtown San Jose. All of the options sounds great to me, but I would highly recommend The Silicon Valley Capital Club. This is a members-only club at the top of the KQED building and they only offer dinners to non-members a couple times per year. If your partner has never been there before it will make for a memorable and romantic surprise evening (be sure to check out the balconies).

Below are the recommendations from the SJDA:

Celebrating Valentine's Day downtown?   Scott's Seafood is offering a prix-fixe, 3-course dinner for $95, with entree choices ranging from 12 oz NY Steak to their signature Seafood Sautee.  The FAB is offering a 5-course dinner for $120 per couple, with the choice between a Ribeye steak or Chicken Alfredo, plus offering a special V-Day dinner special on Sunday night as well, for those who want to get away from the big game.  The Silicon Valley Capital Club is continuing the tradition of opening to non-members for major holidays, and is now taking reservations for dinner specials on Tuesday and this Saturday night. They offer an extensive menu of offerings, plus optional wine pairing.  Morton's Is offering a 3-Course V-Day Special from Friday through Tuesday, plus a special cocktail for the occasion called "Love in Bloom."  The Grill is offering a 3-course Filet Mignon dinner on V-Day, for $110 per person.  Solo Vino is Little Italy is celebrating V-Day with a Wine and Cheese Pairing, themed "Explore Sonona," and Mama Kin is jump-starting V-Day on Saturday night with a special Valentine's Show featuring the smooth baritone sounds of vocalist Nicholas Bearde.  This is by no means a comprehensive list, so check with your favorite hotspot or eatery to see what they might be cooking up for the big night.

Looking for unique gift ideas?  Check out Plant Slut, one of the MOMENT shops on San Pedro, for 15% off everything this weekend.  Plant Lush is holding a V-Day Cookie Decorating workshop on Saturday and Ashy Aromas in San Pedro Square Market is holding candle making "date nights" all weekend, with wine tasting, music, charcuterie, and a chocolate fountain. The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy is once again offering the opportunity to Adopt a Rose in the Heritage Rose Garden, which places a plaque with your personal inscription in front of your rose bush, plus a gift box for opening.  Rosies and Posies is your source for a traditional bouquet of roses and heart-shaped box of chocolates, but get your order in early! 

February 2023 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Read the FEBRUARY 2023 Downtown Dimension   This month's highlights: San Jose Downtown Association CEO Alex Stettinski has had a very busy and active first months and likes what he has seen so far of downtown San Jose.  Looking ahead, he's ready to take more important steps toward an improved and more prosperous center city. Downtown city council rep Omar Torres, who was sworn into his elected position in January, answers our questions in the tradition of our incoming District 3 representatives. To keep up with the times and bring news and information to downtown businesses and more downtown audiences, Downtown Dimension will make a transition to an all-digital format starting this spring. Workingman's Emporium is making plans to move. That store and its owner, Gary Wing, have seen it all after 54 years in downtown. Thang Le, owner of several local Lee's Sandwiches locations, is modernizing the menu and concept for a new generation of customers. Like so many Groundwerx Clean Team members, Joel Ramirez went beyond the call of duty during the recent storms to keep downtown "ship-shape." Please be sure you click through to read this edition! Business owners and subscribers: Please share this subscription information with your neighbors and employees so they can stay up-to-date on downtown business news and information of general interest. To subscrbe: Click on E-News at the top of SJdowntown.com; Click on "Subscribe" at the bottom of most Web pages on SJdowntown.com, or Send an email to rjensen@sjdowntown.com with the subject: "Subscribe."

South FIRST FRIDAY - February 2023

South FIRST FRIDAYS is back this week, kicking off it's 17th year! Galleries (both permanent and temporary) will be open from at least 5-9pm. Participating venues include ANNO DOMINI, Institute of Contemporary Art, KALEID Gallery, Works San Jose, the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, the SoFA Market, MACLA, Art Ark Gallery, MACHU PICCHU, Natural Do Salon, 1Culture, and Chopsticks Alley Gallery.

It all goes down this Friday, February 3rd. Admission is free and all ages are welcome. Click here for a preview of featured art!

New Vietnamese Supermarket in Berryessa

Many Downtown locals were saddened when the Dai Thanh grocery store was closed in order to make way for new development. Fortunately, the popular Vietnamese grocer is coming back with a vengeance. Not only did they open a much larger store at 2040 Tully last June, but they have just taken over a former Lucky's space in Berryessa. While the Downtown store was only 10,000 SQFT, the new Berryessa location is 33,000 SQFT and employs 50 people. 

This is quite a significant expansion for what was once a modest immigrant family-owned business. The purchases were funded by a $17 million sale of the SoFA location, which is destined to become a high-rise residential project in the future.

The new Dai Thanh grocery store opened on January 17--just in time for Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. You can find it at 1641 North Capital Avenue in San Jose.

Source: The Merc

Good Samaritan planning a major hospital expansion

Today Good Samaritan Hospital in West San Jose has 273 beds but wants to undergo a major modernization project. The renovated hospital would expand by over 50% to 419 beds across 1.37 million SQFT (triple the size of the existing campus). It would also add 1,391 new parking stalls, a 200,000 SQFT medical office building, and seismic safety upgrades.

One part of the project that is bad news is their intention to drop acute care (urgent care) by 2030. Besides that it looks like a major win. Today all of the rooms at Good Sam are shared while private patient rooms are the norm for top hospital around the Bay. The expansion will likely address that gap and several other modernization opportunities.

The first phase of construction should be complete in 2029. It's great to see the hospital I was born in evolve into something better for San Jose residents.

Source: The Merc, Jawz from the SJ Development Forum 

January 2023 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Download the JANUARY 2023 Downtown Dimension.
 
This month's newsletter highlights:

• Downtown Property Owners approved more Clean and Safe services starting in 2023 and Dimension reports on what has already happened and what is planned as Groundwerx ramps up services.
• SJDA Board President Alan "Gumby" Marques writes a letter of hope and optimism for the new year.
• San Jose's City Council approved an extension of incentives for developers to build more residences downtown over the next seven years.
• Restaurateurs Carlos and Fernanda Carreira have ventured into the nightclub business with Noite, on the second floor above their SoFA restaurant Petiscos
• Entrepreneurs continue to invest in downtown. This time, it's The Selfie Spot, a special place to be creative.
• Groundwerx safety ambassador Victoria Manzanares shows how taking the initiative pays off.

SJC airport getting a new name and logo

San Jose's airport is getting a long overdue rebrand. The official name of the airport was the "Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport." Now it will simply be the "San Jose Mineta International Airport." The name is much cleaner and puts San Jose first and foremost while still honoring Norman Mineta, the first Japanese-American mayor of a major US city.

The logo itself is everything that you could hope for in a modern rebrand. It's simple and clear at any resolution, the abstract shapes signify flight, the colors are a nod to the San Jose flag, and I think it will age very well. I love it. Similar to the new SJDA logo, I think they nailed it.

This is in sharp contrast to the VTA logo which after five years I still think is still the single worst rebranding I have ever seen in my entire life.

Without further ado, have a look at the old and new logos below and judge for yourself.

Source: SVBJ

OLD LOGO:

NEW LOGO: