San Jose Development Updates

The SJ Economy Blog will start sharing a detailed update on development projects on a regular basis. The current stats are impressive.

• There are 16.22 million SQFT of office in development
• There are 7,261 residential units in planning, 5,215 units have been entitles, and 3,476 units are currently under construction (1,533 units are under construction Downtown).
• There are multiple hotels in the pipeline including a Hyatt House, Hampton Inn, Resident Inn, 24-story Tribute Hotel, and several others.

For more details head over to the source links below.

Source: SJ Economy Blog, Full development report

Miro's twin high-rise under construction across from City Hall

20-story office tower proposed for 200 Park Ave.

Developer Jay Paul Co. has picked up 200 Park Avenue, which is across from CityView Plaza in Downtown San Jose. The company is proposing a massive 850,000 SQFT building that looks pretty unique. Not much else is known about the project, which still has to go through extensive approvals.

It is wild to think that 10 years ago we couldn't get a normal office tower built, and now we are hearing about one mega-project after the other. Google may not have to build any of their own towers at this rate.

Source: SVBJ

StarCity's "co-living" tower moves forward

StarCity is working on the largest co-living project in the United States and it just received final city approvals. Co-living is like a dorm for adults. You get a small private space which typically includes a bedroom and bathroom and other facilities like the kitchen, living area, and laundry are shared between multiple residents. Generally co-living facilities are much less expensive than a typical newer apartment.

StarCity would like to build an 18-story tower with 803 co-living units at 199 Bassett Street. The location is is just three blocks away from San Pedro Square.

I would assume this will be on the higher-end of the co-living spectrum. The building will have a 5,000 SQFT gym, chef-style kitchens, bike storage, co-working areas. As an added bonus, there will be retail on the ground-floor that might include a cafe, grocery store, or bar.

If this gets built, it will immediately increase the Downtown population by a significant number and hopefully provide a more affordable living option.

Source: SVBJ

Adobe breaks ground on San Jose's largest office high-rise

Last week, Adobe broke ground on it's remarkable 4th tower in Downtown San Jose. At 1.3 million SQFT it is about as large as the existing three towers combined and will house over 4,000 employees. There will also be a new bridge over San Fernando connecting Tower 4 to the original campus

Adobe is already Downtown San Jose's largest employer, so this is a major vote of confidence for the area. If all goes well, the tower will be complete by 2022.

If this is what 4,000 employees looks like, imagine what 20,000 new Googlers will do for San Jose's core.

Source: SVBJ

Map of future Downtown San Jose projects

This collage was created nine months ago by CTA25 from the San Jose Development Forum on Skyscrapercity (yup, that's how far behind I am on the forum). While some projects already have revised designs and it is missing some of the recent megaprojects like Adobe's 4th tower and Boston Properties' insane 1.8 million SQFT proposal, this provides a pretty good perspective on just how different Downtown San Jose will look in a few years. Red lines are projects that are already well under construction.

Source: San Jose Development Forum (thanks for putting this together CTA25!)

Boston Properties proposing massive office high-rise

Last week we talked about Adobe's 4th tower, which at 700,000 SQFT is essentially three San Jose high-rises put together side-by-side. Apparently, that is only the beginning of the mega-projects proposed for Downtown. Boston Properties has a proposal that dwarfs Adobe's new building.

Many years ago Boston Properties proposed three office towers are the corner of South Almaden and Woz Way. It would have been one of the most significant projects Downtown, but the economy killed the project. Now they are resurrecting it at double the original size. Instead of three towers, they want to build one single 17-story tower with 1.8 million SQFT of office space!

To put that in perspective, in terms of square footage that would be like building five new "Knight Ridder" (now KQED) office towers or three new convention centers. This one building would have more office space than the entire Salesforce tower in San Francisco. To really put it in perspective, it would be the second largest office building on the West Coast (second to Apple Park) and the 27th largest in the world.

If this moves forward, it would turn a surface parking lot into an amazing piece of real estate that would bring something like 10,000 jobs to San Jose. Check out the photos below. All I've got left to say is, wow...

Source: SVBJ

Downtown San Jose construction time-lapse (2012 - 2018)

David Cheung has created a cool time-lapse video of Downtown San Jose construction west of Santa Clara Street. The video spans from September 2012 all to August 2018 and features construction of One South Market, Centerra, Silvery Towers, and Modera. It is only 30 seconds long and you can check it out below.

Sobrato wows with proposal for "Bock 8" Downtown

The Sobrato Organization has been sitting on a prime 1.5 acre parking lot at the corner of Market and San Carlos for eight years. This was once earmarked for a three-tower condo project that failed to get off the ground. Sobrato's proposal is single 600,160 SQFT tower designed to look like four individual buildings.

The modern glass tower would be 17 stories high with most being dedicated to office space. Thankfully, there will be 19,600 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. Parking will be on floors two through six, which also adds more Downtown parking supply for evenings and weekends.

Floor plates will reach an impressive 50,000 SQFT, perfect for tech companies. Even more interesting are two rooftop gardens. One will be on the 14th floor and span 10,400 SQFT while the other will be on the 15th floor and clock in a 12,700 SQFT. Finally, San Jose is making better use of high-rise rooftops with proposals like this--two highrise hotels in the pipeline also feature penthouses with amenities like pools, restaurants, and green space.

Currently this will be a spec project without a specific tenant in mind. There is no specific timeline for construction--let's keep our fingers crossed that this will move forward soon.

Source: SVBJ

New Adobe "Super Tower" design unveiled

Adobe has just released a drawing of it's massive 18-story tower dubbed "North Tower." It will eventually house 3,000 additional employees, which is roughly equivalent to the three towers it has today... combined. In other words, it's going to be insanely large.

The super-tower will clock in at 700,000 SQFT, with a retail component and several floors of parking both below and above ground. It will be the largest hi-rise of any kind Downtown. A bridge lined with trees and seating areas will connect the existing towers to North Tower. It also appears that a recreation area with trees will be placed on the roof of the building overlooking the Santa Cruz mountains.

It is fantastic to see Adobe--one of the first tech companies to seriously invest in Downtown--step up and increase their commitment to the city. The design looks eye-catching and contemporary. Yes, I wish this was a normal-width 56-story tall structure instead of effectively being three buildings put together side-by-side, but I have to hand it to Adobe for being creative and working with existing constraints (darn flight path). The expansion will be impossible to miss from the freeway and will forever change the skyline. I hope they will try to include the community as much as possible in the campus. I would love to be able to grab lunch and enjoy it on that bridge.

Triple tower and new theater proposed in SoFA!

The latest high-rise proposal in Downtown San Jose is easily one of the most ambitious. Invicta Towers would consist of three (!) high-rise buildings between South Second and First Street Downtown. This is the heart of the SoFA district with several museums and theaters within a one block radius. The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, and MACLA would all practically be inside of the project (they are buildings between the towers in the first image).

Invicta would include 667 residential units and 41,500 SQFT of tail and public arts exhibition space. Part of that space would be a 12,000 SQFT theater for live performances. Tower A would be 295 feet tall and 27 stories, making it the 2nd-tallest tower Downtown.

Each tower would have at least one restaurant on the ground floor, but the project will support a total of 4-10 dining options. Parking would be in a 4-story below-grade parking structure.

While not mentioned in the article, the renders have a swimming pool on top of each of the towers, one covered and two uncovered. It looks like the amenity space will be on the penthouse floors, which is a great idea given the views from this location and our weather.

Hats off to developers, which are stepping up and continuing to raise the bar on Downtown proposals. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get so see some more projects break ground before the end of the year.

Source: SVBJ

Park View Towers design refresh

One of the oldest San Jose high-rise projects in the develop queue is getting a slight makeover and redesign. Park View Towers consists of three buildings that wrap around a historic church adjacent to St. James Park. Originally the church was going to be moved, which could have severely damaged the once dilapidated building. The latest plans keep the old church building where it is and feature more traditional looking buildings that better blend in with the area. The original design featured mostly glass like Axis. The lowrise building with townhomes has also gained a floor with the design revision.

The area around St. James Park could certainly use more residents to help revitalize the area. Hopefully the changes will help the project move along faster.

Source: SVBJ

New 19-story hotel proposed for Downtown San Jose

KT Urban, perhaps Downtown's most prolific developer, is proposing yet another high-rise tower. This time around it is a 19-story hotel with 220 rooms next to the Hotel DeAnza on Santa Clara Street. The tower would be an angular 209-foot-tall glass structure, somewhat similar to Silvery Towers a few blocks away.

My favorite part of the project is the giant indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar on the penthouse floor featuring amazing views of Downtown San Jose and the Santa Cruz Mountains. Unlike the Capital Club, this would be open to the public. It's also a sign of the times, this latest generation of projects is bring more to the table than cookie-cutter buildings and is offering amenities new to Silicon Valley (I'm still waiting for a completed project with a rooftop pool).

The ground floor will also feature some retail, likely a restaurant. One thing that is missing from this project is onsite parking, and that is likely a good thing if you are an urbanist. They will partner with a nearby garage to offer at least 77 parking spaces for guests. This really shouldn't be a big deal, most hotel guests are already using Uber/Lyft to get around instead of renting cars--a trend that will only continue until autonomous cars take over.

Overall, this looks like another big win for Downtown!

Source: SVBJ

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

San Jose's future tallest high-rises broke ground!

MIRO is San Jose's latest luxury housing project. It was originally proposed as a combination of offices and housing across the street from our iconic City Hall with one tower dedicated to offices and another dedicated to residential. The current plan focuses primarily on residential with only 20,000 SQFT of retail and commercial space (the entire project is 1,000,000 SQFT).

Each tower is 28 stories and 298 feet tall, so you are looking at the future #1 and #2 tallest buildings in San Jose. For reference, the San Jose City Hall is 285 feet tall and The 88 (our current tallest building) is 286 feet tall.

The project has a total of 600 units split among one, two, and three bedroom layouts. 16 of those will be extra-fancy penthouses. As far as amenities go, this might be the most impressive residential project in the Bay Area. 50,000 SQFT of indoor and outdoor amenity space is reserved for residents. That includes the standard fitness centers, loungers, pet facilities, and concierge. However, MIRO takes it to the next level with a rooftop pool (!) and rooftop lounges that will provide a spectacular view of Silicon Valley. There is also a spa in the building.

MIRO should be completed in 2020. It is way too early for pricing, but expect these units to set new records for San Jose condos.

Source: The Registry

Another residential tower proposed Downtown

Equus Capital Partners is adding yet another potential high-rise project to the Downtown queue. This one clocks in at 24-stories, 260 residential units (70 studios, 109 one-bedrooms, 77 two-bedrooms, 3 three-bedrooms), 1,500 SQFT of retail facing Park Avenue, 319 parking spots, and 66 bicycle parking spaces.

One of the most interesting aspects of the proposal is the location on Almaden Boulevard. Currently there are no residential projects anywhere on this street Downtown. If you scroll to the very last image, you can see the empty courthouse that sits on the property today. If built, not only would it be extremely convenient for residents that work Downtown, but the property would have immediate access to 40,000 SQFT of restaurants in the same complex such as Morton's, Scott's Seafood, Specialty's, and Peggy Sue's.

Aesthetically, the design is a bit more interesting than existing residential towers. My favorite features are the cutout on the 7th floor (first image) and the penthouse amenity floor. It looks like they are actually planning a common space on the top floor with trees and a lounge area. This should be a mandatory feature on new residential towers given how amazing our weather typically is.

Source: SVBJ (requires subscription)