Fleurs de Villes San Jose LUNAIRE

From January 29th to February 2nd, visit Westfield Valley Fair for Fleurs de Villes LUNAIRE, a free 6-day immersive exhibition celebrating San Jose’s floral artistry, inspired by Lunar New Year traditions and the Zodiac focus on the Year of the Snake. 

• This stunning showcase of local floral talent will be freely open to the public from January 29 - February 2, and will feature over 15 incredible fresh floral installations, including Fleurs de Villes’ iconic mannequins.
• Visitors are also invited to extend their LUNAIRE experience by visiting another incredible floral mannequin on display at Hotel Valencia (Santana Row). 
• Each floral display will honor Lunar New Year traditions and the spirit of the Year of the Snake, offering a breathtaking fusion of culture and floral artistry created by the Bay Area’s talented floral artists.

Valley Fair is open from 10am-9pm 

Source: Westfield Valley Fair

 

Giants Fanfest Tour

If you happen to be a Giants fan, they are doing a Fanfest Tour today at San Pedro Square in Downtown San Jose. You'll get to interact with players and coaches, get autographs, and take selfies with the World Series trophies. There will also be promotional items and face painting for kids. If you want to buy tickets, you'll be able to get them for 20% off at the event.

The Giants Fanfest Tour will run from 1-4pm today and you can park for free for 90 minutes in the parking garage facing San Pedro Square.

San Jose's 2025 Plan

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wrote a summary of San Jose's 2025 strategic plan for the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

While there are economic and fiscal challenges, the tone was optimistic. The plan centers around creating a better government, not a bigger one... echoing what is happening nationally. San Jose is already leading in innovation, especially in AI with the highest per capita AI jobs and patents. San Jose generates more than double the number of AI patents of San Francisco and Oakland combined. 2025 will also be a year where San Jose embraces AI to enhance public services, including optimizing bus routes and repairs.

Housing is another key challenge. The plan is to streamline the permit processes, reduce fees, and speed up approvals. Policy reforms have already opened up capacity for 20,000 new homes in North San Jose.

Safety and homelessness will benefit from expanded foot patrols Downtown, getting repeat offenders off the streets, and 1,000 new temporary housing units.

More info will follow at the Journal's annual Economic and Mayor's Forecast event, but for now you can read the full article below (no paywall).

Source: SVBJ

Thursdays are Free Play days at Miniboss

Did you love playing arcades but hated spending buckets of quarters? Now you can play all the way through 6-player X-men or challenge a team to Killer Queen for free. Thursdays are arcade free play days at Miniboss in Downtown San Jose (corner of Santa Clara Street and 2nd Street).

Next week I'll also have a full post on the latest project from the same team that brough you Miniboss, Paper Plane, Still OG, and Alter Ego. It's called Eos & Nyx and it truly sets a new benchmark for Downtown San Jose.

Source: Instagram

CEO Noodles Grand Opening

Today is the Grand Opening of CEO (Chief Eating Officer) Noodles in Downtown San Jose. The restaurant specializes in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine, especially noodles. Today there are some festivities from 4pm to 7pm.

The restaurant has been in soft launch mode for some time and is getting great review on Yelp (4.5 stars). It also has one of the best facades for a Downtown San Jose restaurant with a giant mural you can't miss. 

CEO Noodles is located at 130 E. Santa Clara Street and they are open from 10am to 9pm every day except for Sunday.

Downtown San Jose Falcon

Today I just have a great photo of a peregrine falcon sitting on top of San Jose's City Hall. It's a unique angle of Downtown San Jose that I have never seen before. In fact, I had to check Google maps to even see if this shot was technically possible or fabricated. Good news, it's legit!

Source: Chris Roth on X

Downtown San Jose office building may convert to housing

We're in a precarious situation right now with office space. Many employees simply do not want to return to the office and companies are looking to downsize their footprint because of it. At the same time, population is not growing quickly and we do not have a rush of companies across the world looking to relocate staff to the most expensive region of the United States. What are we to do with all the empty space?

A nine-story office tower at 152 North Third Street is considering a conversion to 133 residential units. This is a very smart move that would reduce the amount of empty office space and replace it with much needed housing.

As a bonus, the building was constructed in 1985 and a conversion would bring it up to modern standards. It would also keep the "Eagles Hall" facade that was built in 1909 in the photo below.

If it goes through, the project would also include a lounge, game room, two music studios, a gym, yoga studio, cinema room, coworking space, two meeting rooms, a cafe, kitchen, club room, and amenity terrace.

Hopefully they keep Freshly Baked Eatery on the ground floor, which is the best sandwich shop in Downtown San Jose.

Source: The Mercury News

FC2025 discounts in Downtown San Jose

If you have seen people walking around Downtown San Jose looking like Disney characters, that's because Furcon is in town this weekend and runs until January 20th. Downtown Ice might be extra entertaining to watch on these last couple days as fursuits are welcome on the ice. 

For anyone attending the convention, below are a list of discounts for things to do in Downtown San Jose. I have never seen a discount for Haberdasher before (one of the best bars in all of Silicon Valley). The Foxtail Fermentation promo is on-brand, well done!