New permit activity for Orchard Residential in Downtown San Jose

A 30-story apartment tower called Orchard Residential is slowly moving forward. Plans were approved last November, but some revisions were requested such as cutting car parking by half. They are hoping to receive their full building permit by fall to proceed with a pretty stunning 294-foot tall project.

The building will have 502,340 SQFT dedicated to residences, 13,860 SQFT of ground-floor retail, 104 parking spaces for cars, and 176 spaces for bicycles. The renders below are not just concepts--they are actually planning to plant 312 fruit trees and additional plants across the facade which is something more projects should consider doing.

Source: SF YIMBY, Dirk_Birkin from Skyscraper City

Silicon Valley Pride Parade & Festival this weekend

One of the best parts of living in such a diverse community are the cultural activities we can experience. San Jose has an epic Pride Festival this weekend, but the events actually start today and continue throughout the week.

Silicon Valley Pride started in 1975 as a gay rights rally and evolved into the parade and festival it is today in 1977. I actually did not realize it started that long ago. Today it's the largest Pride celebration in the South Bay and is family and ally friendly. 

The Festival featuring live music and entertainment takes place on Saturday, August 26th from 6pm to 11pm and Sunday, August 27th from 12pm to 6pm. The Parade will be on Sunday from 10:30am to 12:00pm. Tickets are only $5 per day at the door. For more info and the full event schedule, head over here.

San Jose is the 2nd best place to raise a family in the US

U.S. News looked at quality of life, job markets, crime, healthcare, quality of high school education, and affordability to find the best places to live in the country. Even though affordability was one of those variables, San Jose made it to 2nd place. In fact, it was the only California city to make the list.

San Jose also ranked #1 in college readiness for high school students out of the 150 most populous metros in the US.

Here are the 25 best places to live for families in the U.S according to U.S. News:

25. Boise, Idaho

24. Cincinnati

23. Davenport-Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline-Rock Island, Illinois (Quad Cities)

22. Washington, D.C.

21. Rochester, New York

20. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

19. Portland, Maine

18. Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina

17. Buffalo, New York

16. Ann Arbor, Michigan

15. Hickory, North Carolina

14.Omaha, Nebraska

13. Pittsburgh

12. Syracuse, New York

11. Madison, Wisconsin

10. Lincoln, Nebraska

9. Fort Wayne, Indiana

8. Grand Rapids, Michigan

7. Albany, New York

6. Des Moines, Iowa

5. Minneapolis-St. Paul

4. Fayetteville, Arkansas

3. Green Bay, Wisconsin

2. San Jose, California

1. Huntsville, Alabama

Source: U.S. News

Could San Jose get their own utility instead of PG&E?

It's a longshot, but plans are brewing for San Jose to potentially build their own power utility to replace PG&E. A theoretical "San Jose Power" would access a new underground transmission line that will expand the amount of power going to San Jose and is expected to be built by 2028.

While there are risks, the benefits could be significant. Just look at our neighbor Santa Clara that owns and operates their own electrical utility--Silicon Valley Power. Their electrical rates are far below PG&E and among the lowest in the state, uptime is incredible with power outages being extremely rare, AND it is still generating revenue for the city of Santa Clara. Not only that, Silicon Valley Power has had a few unintended benefits such as attracting data centers and businesses with cheap electricity and miles of dark fiber optic connections that were added along the utility's right-of-way.

There are downsides. Running a utility is a very different skill than a government and some skeptics will question whether San Jose is able to pull it off. Of course PG&E will want to shut down this idea as quickly as possible. Perhaps there is another option like partnering with Silicon Valley Power instead of reinventing the wheel for San Jose. If the end goal is to build a better service for San Jose at a lower cost and with higher uptime, they have already achieved that and perhaps there is a way to scale their success to San Jose.

Source: The Merc

Egghead Sando opens new locations in San Jose and Santa Clara

One of my favorite sandwich places has opened two new locations. You can now enjoy Egghead Sando Cafe in South San Jose at 6201 Santa Teresa Blvd. and in Santa Clara at 3957 Rivermark Plaza (North San Jose area).

They are known for their fluffy egg-centric toasted brioche sandwiches, which are often paired with bacon, spam, or chicken. My go-to is the B.E.C. sandwich which has thick-cut bacon, an over medium egg, cheddar, and house sauce. They also have a specialty called the Eggy which is a poached egg on top of a potato puree topped topped with bacon and chives. It's a perfect complement to any sandwich, especially with tater tots. 

They're open from 7am to 3pm on the weekdays and 8am to 4pm on the weekends. Egghead also has two other locations off of Capital Expressway and in Downtown San Jose.

Source: The Merc

Alviso/North San Jose entertainment district is now a data center

Next to the Topgolf in Alviso was a grand plan for an entertainment district containing shops, restaurants, and two hotels. Five years later, the area around Topgolf is still barren (although Topgolf is doing very well on its own). 

Now, the owners of the land are coming back to the city with a very different proposal that is likely to be a lot less exciting for North San Jose residents... a giant data center. I'm digging the exterior design with a living wall for the 172,500 SQFT two-story building and it's neighboring 174,400 SQFT three-story power center--but it's still a server farm. 

There is still hope for a 15,000 SQFT retail space, which could house a few restaurants. However, that is nothing compared the the multi-million SQFT projects Santa Clara is planning down the street. In a few years there will be tons of new apartments, office buildings, restaurants, shopping, and at least one new hotel across from Levi's stadium. Not to mention all of Great America will likely be turned into some mixed used mega-property like Santana Row over the next 10-15 years. 

Something is better than nothing from a city tax dollar perspective, but we should question whether this is the best use for this land. Once it's a data center, I don't think it will be convertible to anything else.

Source: The Merc

Famous Korean BBQ spot Baekjeong opens first Northern California location in San Jose

Speaking of BBQ (see previous post today), Baekjeong is opening their very first location in Northern California at Westfield Valley Fair. This is a chain owned by Korean celebrity Kang Ho-dong and is extremely popular in LA and New York. San Jose will be one of just a two locations to accept reservations and they are already going fast on Resy.

While many malls around the country are struggling, Valley Fair somehow is continuing to expand and attract compelling restaurants. Eataly, Din Tai Fung, iChina, Maestro's, Kingfish, and Ramen Nagi are some of the other flagship dining destinations within the mall.

Guide to San Jose BBQ spots

SJ Today has a handy guide for the top BBQ spots in San Jose. Many of my favorites are on there including my personal top choice, Smoking Pig BBQ. Smoked Out BBQ in Santa Clara is also fantastic and in one of the most random places you will ever find a restaurant.

Check out the SJ Today list over here.