Monday, April 16, 2018

San Jose is the 4th-best city for startups

Business.org crunched several factors such as the percentage of the population with advanced degrees, unemployment rates, startup growth rates, and rents to come up with the best cities in the US for startups. Despite having insanely high rents, San Jose still came in 4th place. SF took the top spot, followed by Austin and Minneapolis.

The percentage of young adults may have also been a factor that worked in other cities' favor. This was a criteria since this demographic tends to be early adopters. For the full list click the source link below.

Source: SVBJ


Thursday, April 12, 2018

Fountain Alley Fridays tomorrow

Downtown San Jose's Fountain Alley neighborhood (between 1st and 2nd Street near Santa Clara Street) is hosting their latest Fountain Alley Fridays tomorrow. The free event features live music, poetry, stand-up comedy, and games. It runs from 7-9pm and is also scheduled for April 20, 27, and May 4th. For more info head over here!


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Content 10.2 (Sight & Sound) Pick-up Party

Content Magazine is hosting a party to celebrate their latest issues on April 19th (entitled "Sight & Sound") at the San Jose Museum of Art (110 S. Market St.), one of my favorite museums in San Jose.

The event goes from 7pm-10pm and includes live music, pop-up artwork, and fashion designs from the Cilker School of Art & Design. Subscribers get a free drink ticket, an appetizer by Trifecta Cooks, and free admission to the museum (along with a guest). For more information, head over to the event's Facebook page.


Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Eastridge remodel is complete

Last week Eastridge unveiled their latest refresh. This was my neighborhood mall back in the day and I'm glad to see it's still alive and well unlike some other malls in the area (Vallco, Sunnyvale Town Center, etc.).

The $15 million renovation adds grassy lawns with play areas, a new food court, upgraded finishes, beautiful murals celebrating San Jose, and new programming to make the mall more of a destination. New events include food struck popups, a weekly art experience, and even a dog-friendly social events called "Yappy Hour Forth Fridays."

They also have a few new stores like a 8,400 SQFT Toni & Guy salon, H&M, and an eatery called Trifecta Cooks which landed a free retail space by wining a cooking contest.

For more info and a full event list, head over to the Eastridge FB page.

Source: SJ Economy Blog





Monday, April 9, 2018

New 27West renders

A skinny 22-story residential tower in Downtown San Jose's historic neighborhood is moving forward, albeit with a less unique design than what was originally proposed. The tower--currently named 27West--would be at 27 S. First St. in one of the more lively sections of Downtown. You might know the space as Local Color or remember it when it used to be Ross (or a furniture store called Black Sea Gallery before that). Good Karma, Paper Plane, Temple Bar, Nomakai, CREAM, Tea Alley, 55 South, and Original Gravity are all steps away from the proposed building.

27West would have a total of 350 residences and 5,100 SQFT of retail. I don't want to call the new design bland, but it is quite a bit less exciting than the previous renders. I also wish they did something with the roof like a small park, pool, or amenity space. It does appear to better blend into the neighborhood which features several historic buildings.

The developers behind 27West are hoping to begin construction by the end of the year and complete the tower in 2020.

Source: The Merc






Thursday, April 5, 2018

Alaska Air offering a new San Jose >> New York flight

In an effort to keep Southwest at bay, Alaska Airlines is continuing to add new flights at San Jose international. The latest is a new nonstop from SJC to JFK that starts on July 6th.

JetBlue already has a redeye to JFK and Delta will start a new redeye on June 8th. Both Alaka and United have flights to Newark International as well.

One major convenience the new Alaska flight offers is that it's not a red eye. The flight leaves at 7:05am from SJC and arrives at JFK's Terminal 7 at 3:43pm. The return flight leaves JFK at 4:45pm and arrives back home at SJC at 8:23pm. The route will be served by an Airbus A320 (twin-jet, single-aisle).

San Jose went from having one direct flights to New York to five nonstops within a few years. It feels like there is still a lot more to come.

Source: SVBJ


Tuesday, April 3, 2018

VTA moving forward with single-bore subway for BART

There has been a heated debate on whether to use a twin bore or single bore subway for BART's extension from Berryessa to Downtown San Jose. Proponents of the single bore argued that it would greatly minimize disruption to Downtown businesses as it would avoid gutting all of Santa Clara Street. It would also cut the construction timeline by as much as a year. On the other hand, this type of subway has never been built in the United States and would not be consistent with the rest of the BART system. In the end, VTA staff has officially recommended single bore.

The $4.7 billion tunnel will have a diameter of 47 feet, enough to accommodate two lines stacked on top of one another (see image below). This also means that all of the stations will be on one side of the street.

Two other important related decisions were also made. There a couple options for the Downtown Station: City Hall and on Market and 1st Street. By choosing single bore, VTA was able to select the more central Market/1st Street location without having to shut down the Light Rail line during construction. The second decision was the alignment of the Diridon station. With single bore the station can be built right under Santa Clara Street with easier access to SAP, all without having to close the street down during construction.

Source: SVBJ



Monday, April 2, 2018

Local developer contemplating 1.5 million SQFT project in North San Jose

SiliconSage Builders submitted an enhanced preliminary review request for a 31 acre site in North San Jose near Cadence. The massive 1.5 million SQFT project would have 500,000 SQFT of retail, 700,000 SQFT of office, a 350 room hotel, 3,250 residential units, a 50,000 SQFT theater, a 30,000 SQFT amphitheater, and 4.5 acres of open space.

If that sounds ambitious, that's because it is. Those kinds of numbers are very similar to Santana Row. If you look at the massing below, the residential component would both be on top of the retail and in a high-rise cluster off of the side that could reach up to 20 stories.

The project could keep some tax dollars in San Jose after City Place is completed in Santa Clara next to Levi's Stadium. This North San Jose proposal is still very early on, but shows that developers are being more ambitious about future San Jose development.

Source: SVBJ