Cinequest 2023 ("Energized") kicks off tomorrow

The 33rd Cinequest returns tomorrow, August 15th and runs through the end of the month. It features over 300 films this year, 84 of which are US or world premiers. This has become a top-10 film festival in the US, so it's well worth checking out. My favorites are always the collections of shorts, especially the comedies.

For a short guide, head over to SJ Today. To see the full list of films and buy your passes, Cinequest.org is your best bet.

San Jose office building may be converted to residential or hotel

A 10-story, 113-year-old office building at 2 West Santa Clara St. might be converted to become either a residential building or a hotel.

Like many urban areas today, Downtown San Jose has a very high office vacancy rate. In Q2 it was 26.6%, partially because the massive 200 Park office tower was completed, adding greatly to the amount of available office space in the area. Santa Clara is also at 26.1% and San Francisco has a whopping 31.6% office vacancy.

So it makes quite a bit of sense to take some of the older office buildings and convert them to other uses that have more demand. Some of the plans up for consideration for 2 West Santa Clara are 65 residences, a hotel with 147 rooms, or a 73-unit co-living space (e.g. The Grad). 

The building has a great location in central Downtown San Jose but is only 100,000 SQFT and has small floor plates that are not popular with tech companies these days. Since every office has windows already, it should a pretty easy conversion to residential or a hotel.

Source: SFGATE

New housing proposed for East Capitol Expressway

Yet another housing project is being proposed near a San Jose train stop. 203 residential units and a cafe are being planned for the intersection of East Capital Expressway and Highway 87. The multi-phase project would also have an open plaza, paseo, a library, public art, and community spaces.

It's an interesting transit-oriented location across from an existing Light Rail Station and the onramp for Highway 87. Based on the renders it looks like they are planning to incorporate a bus hub into the project as well and there seems to be a plenty of room for future expansion. 

I imagine much of the Capital Expressway Auto Mall across from the freeway will be redeveloped long term, so it will be interesting to see what this neighborhood will become.

Source: SVBJ

Downtown San Jose restaurants playing musical chairs

Several Downtown restaurants are making moves to new locations and filling critical corner retail gaps on city blocks. 

Elyse--one of my favorite Downtown San Jose restaurants--has outgrown their previous spot (famous for House of Siam until 2014). They are moving to a much larger corner space previously occupied by Nemea Mediterranean. Elyse is the ultimate date-night spot, with an eclectic French Vietnamese menu and craft cocktails. Hopefully they will keep the romantic atmosphere from their old location.

Next door is Angkor Chef, a brand new Cambodian restaurant. A few doors down from that in the former Pizza Flora spot (RIP, another one of my favs) is Angelou's Mexican Grill. They are moving from North 2nd Street and upgrading to a full bar. If it's anything like the previous location they'll be open until 2 or 3am as well. 

Then we have Mas Pizza from Paseo de San Antonio which will be taking over the Mumbai Local restaurant and nightclub. Like most of the previously mentioned spots, they will be significantly increasing their footprint and the owner envisions turning the pizza spot into an upscale sports bar.

Last but not least, the space that used to be Tony DiMaggio's and Pizza Chicago will become El Cabron Kitchen & Cantina.

The Downtown San Jose food scene continues to evolve, so please support your local restaurants--especially the family-owned unique spots that make Downtown special.

Source: The Merc

New mural in East San Jose

It's great to see that even giant national chains adding some local flair to their restaurants. Local artist Hector Covarrubias painted "Patterns of Nature" on the side of a McDonald's on Story Road. Even cooler, there is a QR code inside the restaurant that lets you bring the artwork to life on your phone. I'd love to see more of this throughout San Jose.

Source: SJ Today

 

The San Jose Barracuda and Tech CU Arena

The San Jose Sharks are our most famous pro sports team by far, but did you know that we have an AHL pro team as well called the San Jose Barracuda? They have their own 4,200-seat home called Tech CU Arena and it's attached to the largest ice facility in the United States (370,000 SQFT). It's one of only seven facilities in the US that operate at least six regulation NHL-sized ice rinks. It also happens to be the San Jose Shark's practice facility and is open to the public. You can sign up for non-pro ice hocky, broomball, curling, speed skating or just go for open ice skating. 

The San Jose Barracuda's Arena was part of a 200,000 SQFT expansion of Sharks Ice last year that also added two additional recreational sheets. 

For a look inside head over to the source link. For the San Jose Barracuda's schedule and tickets (an amazing value for a pro game), head over here. 

Source: SVBJ

A look inside Adobe's 4th Tower

Adobe was the first large tech company to be headquartered in Downtown San Jose. What started out as one tower eventually became an urban campus of three high-rises with some cool amenities like hidden a basketball court in the middle of them. Now there is a fourth Adobe tower to rule them all that is roughly the same size as the previous three combined. It also has a museum that is publicly accessible!

The Mercury News has a sneak peek inside the shiny new tower. From Highway 87 it's almost an optical illusion where it looks like a mid-rise building, but it's 18 stories and has 700,000 SQFT of office space with a bridge to connect it to the other three towers.

Inside, areas are color-coded based on function and local artists have left their mark on the new tower. There is a 50,000 SQFT cafe with cuisines from all over the world, both a perk and curse since Adobe employees should go out and also discover the amazing multi-cultural cuisines in Downtown San Jose.

I have a friend that works at Adobe so hopefully I'll go get my own photos at some point in the future. For now, check out the source link for a look inside one of San Jose's newest towers.

Source: The Merc

San Jose Jazz's Summer Fest 2023 Guide

SJ Today has a handy guide for anyone interested in attending Summer Fest this weekend. Running from August 11-13th, it's the largest Jazz event in San Jose and is one of the largest and best Jazz festivals in the US. It features over 100 performances across eight different stages and supplemental events that will let you party all night long.

To see a great summary of the event, head over here.