Mama Kin

Mama Kin is a great intimate venue for Jazz and live music in Downtown San Jose's SoFA District. You can get a sneak peak of the show just by walking by, but they have a solid Southern-style food and drink menu on the inside. 

Performances are typically inexpensive and are a great centerpiece for a night out Downtown. DL Edwards & the Disciples are playing tonight, and you can get tickets over here.

To see the upcoming music lineup and menus, head here.

San Jose's AI incubator plan

One of San Jose's most prolific supporters, Gary Dillabough, is championing an "AI Center of Excellence" in Downtown San Jose. The goal would be to create an accelerator for dozens of AI startups in partnership with Plug and Play Tech Center and the City of San Jose.

Plug and Play is working on the concept and would run the day-to-day operations of the center. They are currently headquartered at 4420 N. Wolfe Road in Sunnyvale and have multiple innovation centers around the world. It's not clear where the Downtown San Jose location would be yet.

In addition to the incubator, there would also be a learning center whole goal is to get 7th through 12th graders inspired about AI and generate the next generation of entrepreneurs. There would also be a showcase featuring outcomes from the program. For a lot more details, check out the source link below.

Source: SVBJ

Grok2-generated image of "AI in San Jose"

Spartan Village on the Paseo

After several months of renovation, what was originally the Fairmont Annex tower will now be home to around 700 San Jose State University students that will be living there most of the year. Occupancy is already over 90% capacity. Students started moving in this past weekend.

This is one of the nicest student housing projects I have ever seen. Not only is it centrally located in Downtown San Jose, but it has a sky bridge lounge, a gaming lounge, video screening center, cafe, fitness room, and study rooms. Keep in mind that what are now dorms used to be the fanciest hotel rooms in San Jose and have a view of Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

This should have a significant impact on foot traffic and general ground floor activity around the tower. I think that will improve the retail scene, safety, and the overall vibe around Plaza de Cesar Chavez. It's a win all the way around except for the loss of a couple hundred hotel rooms. There are several new hotels being proposed that will hopefully fill in that gap.

Congratulations to the SJSU students moving into Spartan Village on the Paseo. Your college experience is going to be much nicer than previous generations!

Source: SiliconValley.com

Wishlist Wednesday: 3d printed homes in San Jose

We live in the epicenter of technological disruption and innovation, yet housing has changed very little in decades. Now we're starting to see some interesting ideas being tested in this space. A community called Wolf range in Georgetown, Texas (north of Austin) is being built by Lennar using a giant 3D printer. The machine is 45 feet wide and weighs almost 5 tons. 

The "ink" is a mixture of concrete powder, water, and sand. This makes the homes very resilient to extreme weather and increases waterproofing and energy efficiency dramatically. 

I have spent a lot of time in homes made out of concrete and stone throughout my life and can vouch that the level of insulation is excellent. Sometimes it can be a 20 degree difference between outdoor and indoor temperatures with very little heating or air conditioning needed. I can also attest that the one downside is WiFi signals will struggle to get through the walls as mentioned in the source article. A multi-router mesh network is ideal.

The 100-home project started in 2022 and should be done by the end of the summer. Each of the homes range from $450k to $600k and feature three to four bedrooms.

What makes me excited about this technology, is that with economies of scale the cost of homebuilding could decrease while delivering a better overall product. There is limited space for single family homes in San Jose, but this can easily be used for ADUs or even townhomes with a little effort. The cost of construction is one of the key variables keeping housing costs high, so any downward pressure on that will benefit homebuyers and help increase supple in Silicon Valley.

Source: Engadget

Mixed-use housing project proposed near Chuck E. Cheese

B3 Commercial LLC would like to build an eight-story, 138-unit housing project at 2470 Alvin Avenue in East San Jose. The compact project would fit on less than an acre and also feature 5,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. The project also appears to have a terrace on the penthouse floor, which is likely a community space.

The unit mix would be 24 studios, 83 one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms, and 5 three-bedroom apartments. At least 20% of the units would have to be designated as affordable housing as B3 Commercial is using the builder's remedy loophole to expedite approval.

The location is right off of Tully, where the main landmark is the giant Chuck E. Cheese. The project would replace a single-story medical facility that used to be leased by Planned Parenthood.

If everything goes to plan, they would aim to start construction between 2026 and 2027, which would put a grand opening towards the end of the decade.

Source: SiliconValley.com

Google still investing in Downtown San Jose, outdoor dining and beer garden coming to Downtown West

Many have speculated that Google's plans to build a flagship office in Downtown San Jose near Diridon have been cancelled due to the state of the office market and tech worker's reluctance to return to physical offices. However, Google has continued to make small moves to show their intentions have not changed. This includes funding community programming (Creekside Socials) to bring people to "Downtown West" and beginning to prep various parcels they have assembled for eventual construction. This latest announcement marks one of the clearest signs that plans are still a go.

Google is now looking to fund new experiences and placemaking in the neighborhood. In early 2025 they plan to add food & beverage, health & wellness, and retail concepts along Barack Obama Boulevard and South Montgomery street. The goal is to create a lively street scene BEFORE the Google offices are built. I'll take it.

Google is partnered with Jamestown, development and real estate experts responsible for Ghirardelli Square in SF, Fourth Street in Berkeley, and both Chelsea Market and Pier 57 in NYC. The duo is eyeing 57 Barack Obama Boulevards for a beer garden and dining spots. It does have a cool industrial vibe to it that looks ripe for something trendy.

One of the first major construction projects will likely be an affordable housing project on the site of the old Orchard Supply Hardware store. Dirt has already been moved to clear the site.

The goal for early investment is to get others excited about developing here and truly creating a brand new district and ecosystem. It could easily evolve to have a better quality of life than Mountain View, as it's close to the biggest transit project on the West Coast and the 300+ eateries, bars, and entertainment venues in Downtown San Jose. That's not to mention the fact that housing close to this area is nearly a fraction of what you pay for Mountain View and Palo Alto.

Exiting times are ahead for Downtown West.

Source: The Mercury News

Santana Row ends free parking

Well, it finally happened. I think the writing was on the wall as soon as Valley Fair started charging for parking. After 20 years, Santana Row will start charging for parking. The first two hours will still remain free, but each additional hour will cost $2 with a daily cap of $10. Workers can park for $20 each month or $2 per day.

This is not just a money grab. Valley Fair employees and patrons started parking at Santana Row and walking across the street. The silver lining is that it will likely be much easier to find a parking space, especially during weekends and holidays where it can take a significant amount of time to find a spot. Paid parking tend to improve security as well in garages.

The parking system will be ticketless. Instead it will track license places and calculate time spent at the Row. It has been implemented in one garage so far, but the rest will soon follow. 

Source: San Jose Spotlight

The median home price in the San Jose metro hits $2M (!)

There are some leaderboards you just don't want to be at the top of, and this is one of them. The San Jose metro is the most expensive place to buy a home in the country, and we just set a new benchmark. The median (not average, but median) price of a single-family home in the San Jose metro is now over $2 million. This is a staggering amount anywhere in the world.

For comparison, San Francisco is ranked as the second most expensive place for single-family homes in the United States and the median price is $1.5 million.

We need creative solutions to work on reducing housing costs. On Wednesday I'll post an out-of-the-box idea that is very Silicon Valley.

Source: SFGATE