Saturday, January 30, 2016

San Liccardo and Jim Plunkett Welcome Super Bowl Fans

Team San Jose has created a short video with our mayor and San Jose-native Jim Plunkett. Stay tuned over the next week for more info on all the great San Jose events happening during Super Bowl week.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Olympics Skaters Celebrate Reading at Downtown Ice Tomorrow


Photos by Daniel Garcia




SAN JOSE - U.S. Olympic skaters Kristi Yamaguchi and Polina Edmunds join Yamaguchi's Alway’s Dream Foundation, Hicklebee’s Bookstore and Hawaiian Airlines/Kristi Yamaguchi Downtown Ice to promote reading in a unique program combining books and winter dreams.

Polina Edmunds and the San Jose Skaters will kick off the event with a performance of "Skating in Fairytales" on downtown’s outdoor ice rink. After the performance, Yamaguchi will read from the children’s books she’s authored. Hicklebee’s Bookstore will temporarily set up shop at the rink, with shelves of Yamaguchi’s two children’s books, It's a Big World, Little Pig! and Dream Big, Little Pig!, for sale.

When: 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 31
Where: Hawaiian Airlines/Kristi Yamaguchi Downtown Ice, 120 S. Market St.,San Jose
Cost: Free to watch the performance and join the reading; regular admission for those wishing to skate after the performance.


About Kristi Yamaguchi: An Olympic Gold Medalist figure skater (1992), Yamaguchi is also the author of two children’s books and a philanthropist who founded the Always Dream Foundation.

About Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation: Founded in 2012, the Always Dream Foundation’s Always Reading program focuses on early childhood literacy through innovative reading programs designed to support underserved children and encourage families to read together. www.alwaysdream.org/

About Polina Edmunds: Edmunds is the 2015 Four Continents Champion, 2014 U.S. Senior Ladies Silver medalist, a 2014 U.S. Olympic figure skating team member and 2014-2015 World Team Member.

About Hawaiian Airlines/Kristi Yamaguchi Downtown Ice: Operated by the San Jose Downtown Association for 12 years at the Circle of Palms, San Jose’s outdoor ice rink is one of the city’s most beloved winter traditions. The unique circular rink incorporates 32 palms into the skating experience. This year, the rink extends its season to help celebrate Super Bowl 50. It will remain open an extra month, closing Feb. 7. www.downtownicesj.com

About Hicklebee’s Bookstore: San Jose’s favorite children’s bookstore, Hicklebee’s offers extraordinary books for the entire family. www.hicklebees.com

Thursday, January 28, 2016

San Jose's OneRent Raises Funding

OneRent is an online platform for both renters and property managers. The solution allows property owners/managers to easily showcase available units, process background and credit checks, and book property showings. For renters it allows online lease signings, paying rent online, and online or text-based submission of maintenance requests.

The company has just announced that it raised $1.5 million in funding and that they are expanding their offering to Seattle, their first territory outside of the Bay Area. Property management seems like an old-school industry ripe for disruption, and I wish them all the best.

OneRent is located in Downtown San Jose at 75 E. Santa Clara Street, Suite #1250.

Source: SVBJ


Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Wednesday Wishlist: Dual-Purpose Architecture

I ran across an article showcasing several buildings that you can actually sled, ski, and snowboard on (images below). The first image is for a building in Kazakhstan that uses synthetic snow-like material, making it functional year-round. The last one is in Dubai, a city that doesn't exactly get a lot of snow. That one also happens to be fully enclosed.

I love the idea of a building having multiple purposes and could not help but to think about which kind of dual-purpose structures would make sense in San Jose. Most of the roofs in Downtown San Jose are completely underutilized. There is potential for gardens/parks (like Vancouver), swimming pools, and urban farms. What sort of dual-purpose structures do you think would make sense for us?

Source: inhabitat





Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Santa Clara Valley Brewing hosts inaugural beer dinner

One of our local San Jose breweries - Santa Clara Valley Brewing (101 East Alma Ave.) - will be hosting its first ever beer dinner Wednesday, Jan. 27 starting at 6:30pm.

Tickets are $70, and based on the menu as well as the brewery's well-regarded reputation, the event looks to be a good one.

Appetizer
Beef Slider with Caramelized Onions and Sauteed Mushrooms
Paired with Dry Creek Blonde Ale

First Course
Electric Tower Beer Cheese Soup
Paired with Electric Tower IPA

Second Course
Seared Local Halibut with Cardamom and Coriander Scents, Wilted Spinach, Butter Braised Baby Carrots, Meyer Lemon Oil Paired with Saison

Third Course
Pot De Creme
Paired with Peralta Porter

 I've written a bit more about this event over at Examiner.com.

Cheers!

Work Begins on New Bay 101 Casino, Hotel, and Office Project

Bay 101's time in its current form is limited. Their current lease expires on November 2017 in order to make way for a massive office development. The good news for local gamblers is that work is already moving forward on the casino's future home near M8trix, the only other casino in San Jose. The new project is going to be far more elaborate than Bay 101's current facility and includes two new full-service hotels totaling 414 rooms and a nine-story office tower.

The casino portion will have 49 tables, the maximum allowed by current San Jose regulations. The first hotel will be a seven-story Hilton with 174 rooms. The new casino should be operating by September 2017 (assuming there are no delays) and that Hilton is slated to open in early 2018.

The second phase of the project will have a 10-story hotel with 210 rooms and a 240,000 SQFT office tower which will only be built when there is a tenant in tow.

Source: The Merc


Monday, January 25, 2016

Signature Flight Support's SJC Terminal Nears Completion

The new 10,000 SQFT terminal for corporate and private aviation at San Jose International looks just about ready based on Viki Thompson's photos in the SVBJ. The building has everything an executive could want in a facility. There is a kitchen stocked with snacks, conference rooms, co-working spaces, free magazines, and best of all there are no TSA security hassles to slow you down. You can be in one door and out the other in no time at all.

The project cost $82 million and also includes 250,000 SQFT of hangar space. About 150,000 SQFT of that space was supposed to house private planes for Google executives; however, now that they have control over Moffett Federal Airfield they will be subleasing the whole facility. This will provide a nice opportunity for larger tech companies in Silicon Valley that own a fleet of planes. Signature Flight Support already has 14 leases for the new hangar space, representing the full amount originally earmarked for Google. They expect to be fully leased within a matter of months.

As for the city of San Jose, the new facility will bring in $2.64 million each year in rent payments. There will also be some branding benefits for San Jose. For example, both the NFC and AFC champions will be flying into San Jose for the Super Bowl, and you can guess where the planes will go.

Source: SVBJ





Sunday, January 24, 2016

SJSU Drone Footage

In yet another Downtown San Jose drone video, you can explore the San Jose State University campus while listening to catchy music.