BART Phase 2 Updates

A video was released a few weeks ago that provides an excellent visualization of how BART Phase 2 will extend from San Jose's Berryessa Station to Little Portugal, Downtown San Jose, Diridon, and finally Santa Clara. I was surprised at how detailed the 3D renders were throughout the entire video.

I was also shocked to see how deep the stations actually were in San Jose. The Downtown and Diridon stations will both have high speed elevators to help get passengers in and out of the stations as quickly as possible.

Source: aphelion2100 from the San Jose Development Forum

New Mural in San Pedro Square

It has been a rough month and we could all probably use something colorful to brighten our day. The San Pedro Square Paseo next to the Modera apartment project has a beautiful new mural highlighting the buildings that make up San Pedro Square. Even the Old Spaghetti Factory has a spot.

Lila Gemellos is the muralist and it's worth checking out next time you are in the area.

Source: SJNewKid from the San Jose Development Forum

New Hotel proposed in Little Italy San Jose

Little Italy could get a significant addition in the near future. Developer BPR wants to replace a trio of single-family homes on West St. John Street with a six-story hotel (the homes would likely be relocated). The hotel would have 105 guest rooms and parking for up to 41 vehicles. I'm saying it that way because most of the parking spaces will have mechanical lifts to hold two cars each.

The exact location is across the street from Henry's Hi-life and next to Enoteca La Storia, two excellent restaurants. Bel Bacio Coffee and Paesano Ristorante Italiano are within a block. It would also be next to Guadalupe River Park with easy walking access to the SAP Center and San Pedro Square. This is a great opportunity to create a boutique hotel in an up-and-coming neighborhood that might be little but is big on character.

Source: SVBJ

Garden Gate Tower plans purchased by British developer

Scape, a London-based developer specializing in student housing, has purchased the plans for Garden Gate Tower at the tail end of the SoFA District in Downtown San Jose. The current design calls for a shiny 27-story tower with an impressive penthouse amenity floor as you can see below.

Gardent Gate Tower was slated to have 290 condos and 4,840 SQFT of retail space. However, it is possible that Scape will try to convert this into a co-living or student housing building given that is their expertise. If they make the change, they would be in good company. The Graduate already starting taking tenants and KT Urban is planning an 850-bedroom co-living tower nearby.

Source: SVBJ

Silicon Valley Strong

The city of San Jose has put together a website to consolidate COVID-19 related news and resources. Silicon Valley Strong also features volunteering opportunities, starting with helping distribute food to the most vulnerable residents in San Jose and Silicon Valley. The site is your one-stop-shop for the latest emergency notifications, protocols, and city service updates.

Bookmark the Silicon Valley Strong website over here.

Platform 16 breaks ground

The next office megaproject in San Jose in now underway. Platform 16 is a 1.1 million SQFT campus within a 10 minute walk of Diridon, the SAP Center, Whole Foods, the San Jose Market Center, and the San Pedro Square Market. It's located off of Julian and Autumn Parkway.

The total build out will cost over $1 billion. Boston Properties made sure this would be attractive to our largest tech companies with large floor plates, 15-foot ceilings, and 16 outdoor terraces. There is a good chance a flagship tenant like Google will take the whole space.

The first phase will be ready in early 2023. For more information, you can find the official brochure here and a promotional video below.

Source: SVBJ

Now Arriving at Platform 16 from BXP SF Region on Vimeo.

San Jose Development Map

The San Jose Economy blog has updated the map of new development projects in San Jose. The Sharks Ice expansion, Tribute Hotel, Garden Gate, 200 Park, Platform 16, Building 7 at Coleman Highline, and Danco Housing @ West San Carlos have been added. The planning team is reviewing development permits for more than 9,000 residential units and a staggering 15 million SQFT of office space citywide. Hopefully this will still come to fruition after the pandemic boils over.u

Most of the new project are centered around Downtown San Jose. Half of the proposed office space and 40% of the residential units are in the Downtown core. 551 hotel rooms and 86,000 SQFT of new retail are in the mix as well.

As for the projects currently under construction, you're looking at 8.7 million SQFT of office space, 1.3 million SQFT of retail, 470 hotel rooms, and 4,131 new residential units.

Check out the interactive map over here!

Valley Fair's $1.1B expansion is now partially open

I swung by Valley Fair this weekend to check out the new 500,000 SQFT expansion. Thanks to the Coronavirus, it was almost completely empty but just about every new store was still open.

Parking is now a lot easier with a new six-story garage right off of Steven's Creek that goes underneath the expansion and has direct connections to the new Bloomingdales. Speaking of which, it's a true flagship department store with San Jose branding everywhere. Unfortunately I couldn't afford most of the cool things in there, it's more expensive than Nordstrom yet not quite as insane as Neiman Marcus. I did find my favorite clothing store near one of the two entrances of the expansion--Untuckit. This is the first one in San Jose. The expansion also includes Forward (premium doctor's office), Orangetheory Fitness, Bulgari, Cole Haan Grandshop, and a few ex-Santana Row brands such as Anthropologie, Pinkberry, and Urban Outfitters.

The new Santana Row-style outdoor concourse will feature a bunch of high-end restaurants including Maestro's. I have a feeling that they will get another Michelin-recommended restaurant or two this year. Din Thai Fung already has that rating. Salt & Straw is the only place open so far, but the ice cream was exceptional (Bone Marrow and Smoked Cherries... wow). I loved the interactive art on the walls near the entrances too.

They have five new stores focused on retail concepts. One had a bunch of cool Kickstarter projects in it and is similar to B8ta at Santana Row. Definitely worth checking out.

While not part of the expansion, I also finally got to try Ramen Nagi. Even with the Coronavirus, it still took an hour and 15min in line. Totally worth it, it was some of the best ramen I have ever had. It goes by faster than you think since you customize your food while waiting in the line and the food comes quickly once you get inside.

Once the virus boils over, this is hopefully going to drive a lot of extra tax revenue to San Jose. It's hands down the nicest mall in the Bay Area and they are making an effort to be more Santana Rowish with the outdoor space. I truly hate going to traditional malls, but this experience was way better than what I expected. I'll definitely be back to check out the new restaurants as they open.

Source: SVBJ