DALL-E 3's take on Christmas in San Jose

I tried several different prompts on DALL-E to get an image of Christmas in San Jose, and believe it or not this was the least terrifying. I would describe it as a giant Santa with cold dollish-blue eyes holding a Christmas tree in a fictionalized version of Santana Row. Hopefully DALL-E 4 will be more polished. 😅

Tomorrow I'll have a post (and a critique or two) about my favorite gift for San Jose enthusiasts this year.

The story behind San Jose's oldest building

SJtoday has a great overview of the Peralta Adobe, the oldest structure in San Jose. The inconspicuous building now sits in the middle of the San Pedro Square Market and occasionally public tours are offered of the historic structure. It's over 200 years old and predates even San Jose's existence as a city.

For the quick history of the building that you can use to impress your friends over beers next time you're at the Market, head over here.

11-story building coming to San Jose's "Downtown West"

Not every tower has to hit maximum height. This proposal at Delmas and San Fernando would occupy a small amount of space where a convenience store and taqueria currently operate out of a 2,305 SQFT single-story building. 

The proposal would have 80 residential units in an 11-story building and 1,355 SQFT of ground floor retail which the businesses at the current location would occupy after construction is complete. I'm not sure if this is tall enough to technically call a high-rise, but it does have a striking and unique design by Downtown San Jose standards.

At least 20% of the units would be affordable housing. The building would be an easy walk to Diridon and has a VTA Light Rail station across the street. It's also minutes away from the Adobe World Headquarters and proposed San Jose Google campus.

Source: SVBJ

Made in San Jose

Check out SJ Today for a list of 13 things created in San Jose. Hard drives, floppy disks, Eggo waffles, Chuck E. Cheese and several others you probably already knew about. However, I be there is a least one on the list you didn't! See them all over here.

RIP Apollo tower, site of proposed San Jose high-rise sold to VTA

The Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has purchased two parcels of land that were meant to meant to become a 20-story, Las Vegas-style, 472-unit tower at the corner of Stockton Avenue and Santa Clara Street. The design was quite striking as you can see below.

The VTA is going to use this parcel for the first phase of California High Speed Rail, which might actually beat BART to Downtown San Jose. If the tower was built, the costs to complete Diridon would rise exponentially.

Hopefully this design could be reused on another Urban Catalyst project in Downtown San Jose.

Source: SVBJ

New details for University Station near Caltrain and SCU

A new development spanning 451-475 El Camino Real will add 406 units to our housing pool. The location is across the street from Santa Clara University and a five minute walk away from Caltrain and a future BART station. Like Valley Fair, it actually spans across both San Jose and Santa Clara.

The project will be a mix of apartment buildings and townhomes on 11 acres of land, specifically 298 apartments and 108 townhomes. 82 of the 406 units will be designated as affordable housing.

The four-story residential buildings will replace two-story offices and two parking structures. There will be no impact to the small retail center next to Caltrain, the hotel, nor the South Bay Historical Railroad Society building.

Currently there is no ETA, but the latest project drawings are below.

Source: SF YIMBY

Santana Row expansion (Santana West) scores their first lease -- Acrisure

It's a challenging market for office space, but it always seems to be sunny at Santana Row. A financial tech company called Acrisure LLC is leasing 29,000 SQFT in the shiny new Santana West project across the street from the famous Row. Acrisure is planning on having 150 employees work out of that office, taking up most of the 4th floor of the building.

So far, only one building has been constructed as part of for Santana West. The plan is for there to be two more midrises with the final project totaling a million SQFT of office space. However, given the state of the office and residential markets, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to pivot and use the remaining space as a true mixed-use extension to Santana Row with retail and residential.

Source: SVBJ

The Fay (formerly Garden Gate) residential high-rise tops out next month in #DTSJ

The only high-rise tower actively under construction right now in Downtown San Jose is The Fay by Morro. Come January it will be at it's full height with 23 floors that will eventually house 336-units of apartments. 

Excavation started in 2022, the crane appeared about a year ago and it will be open to tenants January 2025. It's extremely visible off of 280 and already has an impact to the Downtown San Jose skyline.

As for the building itself, the one and two-bedroom apartments will be European-style, so a bit smaller but with elevated amenities and finishes. The building will have a 24/7 concierge, co-working spaces, and community lounges. Best of all, it will have the amenity I have been clamoring for... a rooftop pool and amenity deck complete with cabanas, the gym, a sky garden, and BBQ grills. San Jose weather and Downtown San Jose's central location with views of the valley make it an ideal place for a heated rooftop pool and this will be the first high-rise building in San Jose to have this feature. In fact, it will be one of only three in the whole Bay Area I'm aware of when it's ready in 2025, the other two being built right now in Santa Clara.

The ground floor contains 5,000 SQFT of retail at 600 S. First St. and the building itself will mark the start of the SoFA neighborhood. This will be a great addition Downtown!

Source: Downtown Dimension