The Fay, Downtown San Jose's newest residential high-rise is almost complete

SoFA's shiny new 23-story high-rise is still on schedule to welcome its first residents in 2025. The building started construction in 2022 and already has had a major impact on the Downtown San Jose skyline. Below are a few recent photos for your enjoyment from my favorite online forum.

Amenities include a 24/7 concierge, co-working spaces, community lounges, and 5,000 SQFT of new retail on the ground floor. 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.

Source: aphelion2100 from Skyscraper City

Culture Night Market today

The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy is hosting a Culture Night Market today right outside Little Italy in Downtown San Jose. The free event includes live music, a soccer tournament, a screening of Shrek (7:30pm-10pm), food trucks, and of course the vendors you would expect from a night market. It's going to be 77 degrees outside--perfect weather for an event like this.

The event is both kid and pet friendly and will run from 4pm-10pm at Arena Green East, 340 W. St. John St., San Jose, CA 95110.

Viva CalleSJ: SoFA to the Streets (San Jose's SoFA, SCC Fairgrounds, and Martial Cottle Park)

Viva CalleSJ is back for it's 1st event of the 2024! Miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, run, dance, bike, unicycle, skateboard, or hoverboard down the streets of San Jose. 

SoFA to the Streets features three activity hubs which are festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. This time the activity hubs will be SoFA, the SCC Fairgrounds, and Martial Cottle Park. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at all of the hubs. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores.

A unique feature this time around is the route is a single line with no branches. It's crazy to think you can walk all the way from Martial Cottle Park on Branham Lane all the way to Downtown San Jose on city streets.

The event takes place on Sunday, April 21st from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). There is no beginning or end and the traffic flows in both directions. It's completely free and you can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here.

Eye-catching residential towers could rise near Valley Fair and Santana Row

If there ever was an area ripe for high-rise development outside of Downtown it would be right around our shopping mecca of Valley Fair and Santana Row. While it has limited transit, the area is flush with shopping, dining, and jobs.

A two-tower project has been proposed to replace a dilapidated building at 826 North Winchester Blvd. The project would consist of 135 residential units (70 one-bedroom and 65 two-bedroom units), 20 of which would be affordable. There would also be 13,000 SQFT of open space, 6,000 SQFT of terrace space, and 7,500 SQFT of amenity space.

The top floors would have amazing views in all directions, including views of neighboring Downtown San Jose. Another impressive feature is a sky bridge connecting the two towers and likely featuring outdoor and amenity space with views.

If this comes to fruition, it'll be the new standard for development going forward in "uptown" San Jose.

Source: The Mercury News

The silver lining behind Camino Brewing's closure

No one wants to see a popular business shut down in San Jose. Sadly Camino Brewing Co. announced that they were closing their operations last week. Fortunately, there is a silver lining... the space will not be vacant for long.

Word on the street is that the entire space will be reinvented and the building owner--Jim Salata--wants to have a new concept open THIS summer. It sounds like it will be much more than a taproom and may or may not include a brewery on site. They have a great outdoor area, so I can't wait to see what the new space will look like.

Jim Salata also has another project in the Downtown San Jose area. He's restoring the former Faber's Cyclery into a new bar called Benjamin's Saloon. However the Camino replacement will take top priority, especially since Faber's Cyclery is in a 140 year old building that has to be painstakingly restored.

Source: The Mercury News

 

San Jose's Tech CU Area will host a new MMA event series

Tech CU Arena is owned by the San Jose Sharks and home of the San Jose Barracuda. However, the newly expanded center is able to host a variety of events. A pair Bay Area combat sports veterans have chosen the location for a new series called FIGHT NIGHT AT THE TECH.

The first event takes place on Saturday, May 18th at 4pm. Tech CU Arena has a capacity of 4,200 and tickets start at $65. For more info head here.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose's Raging Waters is coming back better than ever

After a lot of drama, Raging Waters will reopen this summer after all. San Jose has approved California Dreamin' Entertainment as the operator of the Lake Cunningham water park. 

Raging waters opened in 1985 as the largest water park in Northern California and has a 350,000-gallon wave pool and 14 water slides. The previous operator (Palace Entertainment) suddenly breached its lease two years before expiring in 2025.

California Dreamin' will put in millions of dollars in capital improvements and plans to have the park open by Memorial Day weekend. It also happens to be the same company that is redeveloping the former Raging Waters park in Sacramento. Plans for Sacramento include more attractions, a lazy river with a swim-up bar, a year-round restaurant, 2-acre venue with wine garden and live music, and a Chuck E. Cheese-themed children's area with family-friendly water rides. Hopefully they will do something similar to help revitalize the San Jose landmark.

Some of the specific opportunities mentioned for Raging Waters in San Jose are an expansion of the park to include the marina, lake, Action Sports Park, or underdeveloped areas. 

As a side benefit, by getting the park open this summer San Jose will collect around $5 million in tax revenue.

Source: SVBJ

New renders for affordable housing in Alviso/North San Jose

Next to the Topgolf towards the very north of San Jose are plans for multiple projects. One of the more significant ones involves 780 apartments sitting on top of 16,200 SQFT of retail. The apartments would be split into eight buildings up to seven-stories tall.

The design isn't glamourous, but if it helps keep the prices reasonable I'm all for it. We definitely need more housing in this area which is near the bulk of Silicon Valley tech jobs.  

Source: SF YIMBY