Showing posts with label downtown san jose businesses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label downtown san jose businesses. Show all posts

Monday, October 2, 2023

Artificial Intelligence Incubator coming to Downtown San Jose

Computers, the internet, and smartphones were disruptive tech that completely changed how people work and communicate. Yet, those innovations will pale in comparison to how AI will change the world over the next few years. No tech job will be as important as those involving AI functionality.

For Silicon Valley to continue to be the most innovative place on earth, we need to lean hard into AI. Fortunately, one of Downtown San Jose's biggest advocates, Gary Gillabough, is looking to build an AI incubator right in the middle of our urban core. He believe San Jose should be the capital of AI development, and we really should be.

Gary is working with a partner to bring as many as 40 or 50 AI startups to Downtown San Jose. This would not only fill up some of that vacant office space, but align San Jose with the most transformative technology that is being deployed today. 

As a side-benefit... those bright minds would be roaming the streets of Downtown, and perhaps bring ideas to make San Jose a better place to live. Personally, I would love to see AI incorporated into public art of some kind in Downtown San Jose. How cool would it be if you could go to Sonic Runway, say a sentence, and have that entire experience change based on how AI perceives that sentence. Dynamic, digital, personalized art should be part of the San Jose brand and we will likely need to leverage some form of AI for that.

As Gary mentions in the article linked below, an AI incubator will also create a positive buzz and excitement Downtown that will likely attract even more companies and people that want to be around that type of energy.

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Welcome Back to Downtown San Jose!

Parts of Downtown San Jose has been thriving lately despite the pandemic, but many businesses need our support if we want them to be around in 2021. I came across the video below that highlights many of our local entrepreneurs along with a new hashtag, #dtsjopen. Check it out and please patronize the restaurants and shops you care about!




Wednesday, August 5, 2020

SJDA's first public meeting since Feb will discuss Downtown stabilization plan

It's been a brutal four and a half months for Downtown San Jose businesses. Multiple restaurants have shut their doors for good and yesterday I heard MUJI will be closing.

The San Jose Downtown Association has a stabilization plan, which they will be discussing next week at their first public board meeting since the start of the year. They surveyed more than 1,200 people and have prepared a presentation to discuss short-term solutions for helping the Downtown business community during the COVID crisis.

The meeting takes place on Friday, August 14, 2020 at 8:15am-9:30am using Facebook live. For more info, click here.


Tuesday, September 4, 2018

WeWork opens second Downtown San Jose location

The coworking industry is still picking up steam. One of the market leaders, WeWork, already has several spaces in Silicon Valley including a 75,000 SQFT Downtown San Jose location at 75 E. Santa Clara Street. That location already has 1,382 desks, but apparently that is not enough.

By the end of the year WeWork is opening a new 72,167 SQFT location at 333 W. San Carlos Street, also known as Riverpark Towers. The second location will have 1,344 desks across four floors of the building.

Coworking primarily (but not exclusively) benefits small business and entrepreneurs. As these companies grow there will be increased demand for more office space in San Jose, hopefully helping offset our jobs and housing imbalance. A second WeWork location is a very positive sign for our central business district.

Source: SVBJ


Thursday, June 21, 2018

Okta doubling San Jose workforce

As a sign that smaller tech companies can also thrive in San Jose, Okta is doubling their footprint and workforce Downtown. Last year SF-based Okta decided to build a second headquarters in Downtown San Jose at River Park Tower I. The original idea was to attract talent regardless of where they live in the Bay Area (Splunk had as similar approach when they opened a Santana Row office). The results have been strong enough that they are adding another 125 jobs across a whole second floor in River Park Tower I--and may expand more in the future.

With abundant housing and transit options, Downtown is quickly becoming the hottest market for tech companies wanting to get into the South Bay.

Source: SVBJ


Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Riverpark Towers in Downtown San Jose gets new tenants

The Downtown office market is continuing to gain momentum. In addition to the big announcements from companies like Google and Adobe, there are smaller wins to celebrate as well. The Riverpark II office tower near the Guadalupe river sat empty for many years and was a sobering reminder of our great recession. Today the building is over 90% leased.

Cohesity is the latest tech company to make Downtown their headquarters, taking two whole floors in Riverpark. They are moving from a 14,000 SQFT space in Santa Clara to 40,000 SQFT in the tower. That means even more workers to liven up our city's core and hopefully take advantage of the Guadalupe River Park, one of our most underrated attractions.

A few feet away, Erik's DeliCafe has also opened a brand new location on the ground floor of Riverpark I (333 San Carlos Street, Suite 150). The restaurant will feature an espresso bar, breakfast options, and online ordering to cater towards Downtown techies. This was formerly the location of Paolo's, which closed down in August 2015. Slowly but surely, all the available office and retail spaces are filling up.

Source: SVBJ, SVBJ #2


Sunday, June 11, 2017

Google may occupy 6 MILLION square feet of office space in Downtown San Jose!!!

Considering it has been on every outlet for the past week, this should not be "news" to anyone. If Google does go forward with their plan to utilize a staggering 6 million SQFT near Diridon, it will permanently change Downtown. There are still many "ifs" so I don't want to get too excited before this is a done deal, but wow... can you imagine. To put it in perspective, 6 million SQFT is more than double the square footage of Apple Park (the spaceship). It is also nearly double the SQFT of Google's current sprawling campus in Mountain View.

Take that in for a moment--if the full project gets built,, San Jose has a shot of actually becoming the Google HQ. It would make perfect sense since Mountain View is blocking expansion left and right, and given the state of traffic it would actually be faster to go from Caltrain between SF and Downtown SJ during rush hour than to the Mountain View campus. This is without even factoring in the furture BART or High Speed Rail options. Imagine all the buses on 101 that would become obsolete.

So far, the best write-up I have come across regarding the project is at Think Bigger San Jose. You should go read it right now for both the pro's and the con's of the project. Don't worry, I'll wait.

I completely agree with everything Mark said and there are some additional pro's I would like to add:

  • Reducing traffic since the location will be in the most connected transit hub on the west coast. Even people that drive will likely be driving less given the central location near residential. 
  • Increased property values in San Jose for existing homeowners (this can also be a con if you are not a homeowner).
  • Beautification of the Downtown skyline. If they build anything close to what was planned for Mountain View, it will forever change the skyline for the better (see images #2 and #3 below).

Let's all collectively keep our fingers crossed and hope the City of San Jose and Google can make this happen!



Tuesday, September 6, 2016

NextSpace partnering with SJSV Chamber to launch a second co-working space in Downtown San Jose

Coworking spaces are in high demand in Silicon Valley, and NextSpace is ready to capitalize on that with a new location. NextSpace was the first true coworking space in Downtown San Jose with a center at 2nd Street and San Fernando in 2011. Now they are partnering with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to utilize 7,000 SQFT of space at 101 W Santa Clara Street.

The partnership is quite unexpected yet makes perfect sense. The Chamber's goal is fostering economic prosperity and assisting local businesses and entrepreneurs, and those are exactly the type of people that utilize NextSpace offices.

The location will have offices for two-to-eight people, dedicated workstations, a kitchen, multiple conference rooms, and event center, and open cafe seating. For more info email siliconvalley@nextspace.us or read the full press release below.


NextSpace Partners with the SJSV Chamber, Launches Second Co-working Space in the Heart of Silicon Valley

Santa Cruz, Calif. – NextSpace, the pioneer in coworking and shared-space has partnered with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to support entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups in downtown San Jose.

Nextspace CEO Kurt Grutzmacher and SJSV Chamber President & CEO Matthew Mahood announced the availability of offices and open-configured workspaces in its newest space — NextSpace Silicon Valley at The SJSV Chamber — a 7,000 square-foot, full floor coworking space. Though the new space at the Chamber building — at the corner of Market and E Santa Clara Street — will formally begin taking applications October 1, founding members have already begun filling the space.

“We are excited to partner with NextSpace,” Mahood said. “As an organization that is focused on fostering economic prosperity as our primary mission, this partnership allows the Chamber to offer small businesses and local entrepreneurs a new platform for growth and greater success. As collaborative workspaces become more commonplace, the Chamber’s partnership with NextSpace is a natural opportunity for us to support and promote the innovation economy in our community, especially in downtown San Jose. ”

Originally opening their doors in 2008 in Santa Cruz, it took NextSpace less than six months to reach capacity. The Nextspace San Jose space, opened in 2011 at 2nd Street, reached capacity in the fall of 2011, warranting the need for a second location just up the street.

“We have one of the best communities I have found on the planet,” Grutzmacher said. “Our spaces are full of amazing people of diverse walks of life; entrepreneurs, website developers, programmers, engineers, graphic designers, life and business coaches, artists, legal services, architects, non-profits, and bookkeepers—all striving to be the best at their trade and enjoying life. Each location truly represents a cross-section of the local business community. We are excited about partnering with progressive leaders like Matt and the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber team.”

The NextSpace Silicon Valley at The SJSV Chamber joins the company’s eight other locations in California and Chicago and is the first to share space with a local chamber of commerce. The new space will offer offices that fit two-to-eight people, dedicated workstations and open café seating along with a kitchen, multiple conference rooms and a large event center.

“From our perspective, tech start-ups and small businesses are looking more now than ever for spaces that they can collaborate in,” said NextSpace COO Andrew Van Valer. “There are long waiting lists for incubators and accelerators in the region and we are a place for tech start-ups and small businesses to work, create, develop, evolve, collaborate, launch and grow in the region now. When non-profits, for profits, social enterprises, startups, youth, mentors, and their passion mix at Nextspace, magic happens.”

For a free day-pass, information regarding founding memberships, to explore the space and book or reserve workstations, meeting room and or event space, email siliconvalley@nextspace.us

There will be an official Open House coming in October, date to be determined.

About NextSpace

Established in 2008 in Santa Cruz as a co-working space, Nextspace is a hub of economic activity, bringing together entrepreneurs, freelancers, and people seeking to balance life and work on their own terms. The mingling of our founding members and new faces created a strong network, leading to many successful ventures and was eventually termed the NextSpace Effect.

About the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit business association representing nearly 1,400 employers and 275,000 employees throughout the greater Silicon Valley. Its mission is to create a strong local economy, provide premier business connections and visibility, represent the interests of business to government, promote the community and initiate political and community action.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Opportunity Fund

Below is a guest post by Phillip Bergman. Opportunity Fund is a non-profit headquarterd in Downtown San Jose. Over the past 20 years they have loaned $173 million to 13,000 businesses and individuals. Last year alone they provided $60 million in loans. It is tough (and expensive) to run a business in San Jose, and this is a local resource that may be able to help.


San Jose is home to non-profit Opportunity Fund (www.opportunityfund.org), which believes that small amounts of money and financial advice can help people make permanent and lasting change in their own lives, driving economic mobility and building stronger communities. It says yes to small business owners, low-income students, and families because entrepreneurship, education, and sound financial habits are proven pathways to greater economic opportunity.

Even in the most favorable circumstances, creating small business success is a significant challenge. With traditional lenders tightening lending qualifications, small business owners are often left with a narrow set of problematic options – lending schemes with triple-digit interest rates that can cripple a business. Opportunity Fund helps small business owners avoid predatory lending, such as high rate ‘fast cash’ advances. About 90 percent of its loans are to minority owned businesses and Opportunity Fund provides no cost evaluation of loan needs and complimentary cash flow analysis to determine financing that businesses can afford to help promote long term success. The strategy combines microloans for small business owners and microsavings accounts to help students pay for college and families save for a rainy day. As California’s leading microfinance provider, Opportunity Fund has loaned more than $170 million and helped about 13,000 people since 1994.

Opportunity Fund's role is to help working families realize their dreams and move beyond worrying about how to live day to day. Visit www.opportunityfund.org for more information about the organization and San Jose office.

Friday, August 12, 2016

WeWork is now open in Downtown San Jose

The Silicon Valley Business Journal has some great photos of San Jose's largest coworking space. WeWork has opened a 75,000 SQFT facility at 75 E. Santa Clara Street that provides flexible working space for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Over 60 companies are already in the process of moving in. The total capacity is 1,500 people (100-200 small companies).

Prices range from $350/mo for a "hot desk", $400-$450 for a dedicated desk, $660/mo for a one-person office and increase from that point on. WeWork provides all the necessary amenities and infrastructure such as internet access, printers, conference rooms, cleaning services, water, and coffee.

It's a great model for small companies that also provides a sense of community. Oh yeah, coworking also injects hundreds of entrepreneurs into the Downtown San Jose community, adding to the vibrancy of the area. NextSpace was the first coworking space in Downtown San Jose and it helped to transform that corner at 97 S. 2nd Street.

Check out the source link below for photos of the WeWork facilities and more information.

Source: SVBJ





Monday, November 2, 2015

WeWork Wants to Build Co-Working Office Space Downtown

WeWork is the leading co-working office company in the United States. Co-working is a hot product for entrepreneurs right now who don't need a lot of space but are looking to be part of a start-up culture and atmosphere. It usually involves a minimal amount of dedicated space and a whole lot of shared resources that include everything from conference rooms to beer and popcorn. Currently, NextSpace on 92 S. Second is the only co-working location in Downtown San Jose.

WeWork is a $10 billion company (with 30,000 members) that is looking to build its first Silicon Valley location in Downtown San Jose. While the company has five offices in San Francisco, there are none in the South Bay.

The rumor is that they are looking to lease between 70,000 and 90,000 SQFT of office space from the Towers@2nd complex on Second Street. These are twin high-rises with Ike's Sandwiches and ISO:Beers on the ground floor. It is also the complex housing the San Jose Mercury News.

If this comes to fruition, it will mean a lot more startups coming to Downtown San Jose. This would no doubt continue to drive the cultural Renaissance Downtown San Jose is experiencing and help fill vacancies with office and retail. Downtown is proving to be an ideal place where people can work, live, and play. As entrepreneurs graduate from co-working to their own dedicated spaces, there are options of all shapes and sizes in Downtown San Jose along with enough housing coming online to put their workers withing walking distance. The future is coming, and it's looking good.

Source: SVBJ


Thursday, July 16, 2015

BAM Relocates to Downtown San Jose

Yet another tech company is going to call Downtown San Jose home! BAM Labs is a health monitoring company that captures sleep data for both healthcare providers and consumers. BAM is founded by two Apple alumni (one developed the PowerBook and the other wrote its specs).

The company has moved its headquarters from Campbell to the entire 12th floor 111 W Saint John Street (about 13,000 SQFT). Welcome to the neighborhood!

Source: Bisnow, Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum


Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Xactly Hoping to Raise $75M in IPO

Xactly--located in Downtown San Jose--has filed for an IPO with the New York Stock Exchange (ticker: XTLY). This would make it the second Downtown tech company to IPO this year. Apigee was the first and Intacct could be next in line later this year.

Xactly provides software and services that helps companies manage compensation for their sales teams. It's a hot market and they have been growing very quickly. Their revenue has grown 68% to $61 million over the last three years.

After the IPO comes to fruition, that will bring a lot more dollars into the local economy as most of their employees live in the South Bay. Hopefully some will decide to move Downtown and help keep the amazing momentum going!

Source: SVBJ


Thursday, April 2, 2015

Apigee Officially Filed for an IPO

Downtown San Jose company Apigee has officially filed for an IPO (they will be trading under the Nasdaq ticker "APIC"). The company makes tools to manage and support APIs (Application Program Interfaces). They are the fifth-fastest growing tech company in North America and currently have a valuation of over $700 million. In 2014 they moved from Palo Alto to Downtown San Jose, a big win for our city that is only made more significant by this IPO. Hopefully, Apigee employees will use some of their new riches to contribute to the local community.

Source: Silicon Beat




Monday, February 2, 2015

Apigee Preparing for an IPO!

We really scored big-time when Apigee decided to move from Palo Alto to Downtown San Jose. The rapidly expanding software company is reportedly in talks with bankers to file for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) valuing the company at $700 million.

What would this mean for San Jose? The IPO would mint many new local millionaires that would be working Downtown. Perhaps some of them will decide to move closer to work, or invest in the area. At minimum, they will be more likely to drop some bucks at local restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues and accelerate our economy. Of course, having another public company headquartered Downtown does nothing but help the area's brand and will attract even more emerging companies.

Source: Siliconbeat





Monday, November 10, 2014

Downtown San Jose Now Has 100+ Tech Companies! - The Latest Addition is Datawise Systems

Downtown has become a haven for tech start-ups. With available office space of all sizes, access to multiple types of public transit, tons of urban amenities, and suburban housing less than a mile away for workers with families... this is an ideal location for high-growth tech companies. A year ago Downtown had around 80 tech companies... now we're at 100+!!!

Over the last year there have been 150 new office leases Downtown. We have had 7 quarters in a row of positive net absorption of office space, bringing us down from 25.54% vacancy 17 months ago to 18.39% today. Also over those 17 months, Downtown has netted 233,897 SQFT of new tech tenants.

The latest tech company to move here is Datawise Systems, a startup in stealth mode that was founded by a team from Cisco, VERITAS, and VMware. They are moving into 10,000 SQFT at 111 N. Market Street. Originally they looked at the entire corridor from Palo Alto to San Jose. Their key criteria were close proximity to Caltrain, located in or near a downtown area, expansion capabilities, and reasonable pricing. Downtown San Jose hit all of those and is high-tech friendly to boot (no Google bus protests here).

BTW, Datawise is hiring hardware and software engineers as well as storage and networking architects that want to "put a dent on the universe." If you are interested in learning more, email jobs@datawisesystems.com.

Source: SJ Economy Newsletter, SVBJ





Monday, September 29, 2014

Some Details re: AFK Gamer Lounge in Downtown SJ



Last week a friend of mine asked me if I knew what happened to the Los Gatos Brewing Company on Santa Clara Street. If there was any news or gossip about why it abruptly shut down. I actually didn't even know it had shut down, but I was not very surprised. The last time I had been there I was not very impressed with their food, and since there are so many other wonderful options downtown, LGBC never made it back to the top of my list. (But that is just *my* experience.)

So I did a quick search and found out that taking the place of the restaurant will be the AFK Gamer Lounge, a new eSports bar & PC gaming center. One-hundred gaming PC's networked together installed with some of today's most popular online games. 

Gamers will gather, play games, enjoy food and enjoy beverages from the bar. There will be memberships and access for casual guests. 

The whole concept is interesting to me as former (short term) player of World of Warcraft and The Sims, but a much longer term player of video games in general. Most of any recent online game exposure is due to my husband (and friends) playing of Starcraft, EverQuest (back in the day!), World of Warcraft, and League of Legends to name a few. 

A few days ago I exchanged emails with one of the owners, Tyler Peckham, and asked a few questions.

JO: In reference to your press release, will you be open on October 18/19 for the League of Legends tournament being held at the SAP Center?

TP. We will be open for some sort of event - however its unlikely it will be a full grand opening.

JO: What popular games will you have installed? Starcraft? WoW? The Sims?

TP: Users will have access to their own library of games (ie. Steam libraries, games that require an online account: LoL, WoW, SCII and many more).  Full list of games is unknown, but the main concept is to first provide access to the games users are already playing, and then second, provide access to some games they may not already have or play. 

JO: Are users limited to only MMORPGs or can they hop on Facebook and play their favorite casual games as well? 

TP: By no means are they limited to MMORPG's. Web browser access is likely, however not 100% (potential security issues).

JO: Members and guests are encouraged to purchase drinks from the bar, what is your plan of attack for keeping liquids away from the computers? 

TP: We are going to start off with some experimentation on methods to allow everyone to game/drink/eat peacefully without restriction. 

JO: Will you be holding tournaments?

TP: YES YES YES

I inquired about some renderings but they didn't have any updated ones on hand yet. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon with a few. For now, if you're still interested be sure to either sign up for email updates via the AFK Gamer Lounge website or follow them on their Facebook page

For a more in-depth read, if you can follow Reddit threads, check out their post and the conversation happening over there.

I'm looking forward to checking this place out with my husband and a few friends. I'd like to see what they think about it!









Monday, June 23, 2014

The Riverpark II Tower Downtown Finally Gets Tenants!

Riverpark II at the edge of Highway 87 in Downtown San Jose is finally going to start filling up! Much like the Sobrato Tower before Oracle moved in, this is a key building that has sat empty for years. Since it was completed in 2009, it has never had a tenant. Legacy Partners (the owner) was holding out for a single flagship tenant to take the whole building. However, that strategy did not pan out.

Now there are two big deals on the horizon. Both Intacct and Xactly are rapidly expanding tech companies currently located in Downtown San Jose. Each is looking to grab three floors in the building, which would amount to a grand total of 120,000 SQFT between both of them. If this comes through, it would likely put office vacancy Downtown around 17%, a huge improvement from 22% a year ago.

There has also been a 3,500 SQFT lease on the ground floor to Fremont-based Pan Pacific Bank. They focus primarily on small and mid-sized business and this would be the bank's second location.

Needless to say, this is fantastic news and could be a sign that the Downtown office market will be receiving a lot more attention.

Source: SVBJ



Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Merc is Moving Back Downtown

Last week The San Jose Mercury News officially announced that they were moving to Downtown San Jose. Specifically, they signed a lease for two floors at 4 N. Second Street (same complex with Ike's and ISO: Beers). They are taking a total of 33,186 SQFT on the 7th and 8th floors. The move will happen in September.

While it's not a huge lease, it means a lot that the largest newspaper in Silicon Valley is now in Downtown San Jose. The last time the Mercury News was located Downtown was in 1967.

Source: SVBJ

Screen shot 2014 02 26 at 10

Monday, June 2, 2014

Loring Ward Moving HQ From Santana Row to Downtown San Jose

Loring Ward is a rapidly growing investment management firm with $11.2 billion under management. They currently have 100 employees that are split between two offices in Santana Row that total 25,000 SQFT. They needed a lot of room to grow and wanted an environment that provided easy access to amenities, so they choose Downtown San Jose. The company leased 43,000 SQFT at 10 Almaden, making it the largest new Downtown lease of the year.

As part of the eight-year contract, they will get their name on the building with great visibility from Santa Clara Street. Loring Ward is hoping to complete construction this fall, which will include a mix of private workspaces, open offices, and private interior offices.

As an added bonus in the Silicon Valley Business Journal article, it looks like brokers for the Boston Properties office project near the convention center have started marketing the space again. If they find a tenant, the project could reach 800,000 SQFT (I remember old renderings consisting of three high-rise buildings). It's nice to see that more than just residential and retail are picking up steam Downtown.

Side note: Did anyone know that 10 Almaden had a lap pool? I didn't until I saw the photo below.

Source: SVBJ