Source: SF YIMBY
Friday, September 8, 2023
380 North 1st apartment project moves forward in North San Jose
Source: SF YIMBY
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Alviso/North San Jose entertainment district is now a data center
Source: The Merc
Saturday, July 29, 2023
Old Fry's HQ will become a giant office campus
The shuttered Mayan-themed Fry's store and previous Fry's HQ on Brokaw Road are destined to become a seven-building tech campus. Combined, they will add another 2 million SQFT of office space to North San Jose.
However, don't expect to see this completed anytime soon. The developer is planning to build the project in four phases over a decade and won't even begin construction until 2024 at the soonest.
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Topgolf opens first Silicon Valley location in San Jose
North San Jose and Alviso are quiet parts of San Jose. There is honestly not much to do in terms of entertainment. Fortunately a new major amenity arrived a few months ago, Topgolf. It's part driving range, part Dave & Busters, and part gastropub.
The San Jose location is the first in the Bay Area as well as only the second location in all of Northern California. It is also one of only 4 flagship venues. To give you an idea of how popular these are, the Topgolf in Austin sells more alcohol than any other venue in Austin. The San Jose location is three stories with large bars and restaurants on each one.
The driving range aspect is more of a video game than anything else. Each golf ball has a microchip that lets it be tracked and the computer scores you based on your level of accuracy. There are also tons of games with different rules that you can play with your companions.
The food was surprisingly solid for a big chain. The burgers and fried mac & cheese were delicious. Service was a bit slow, but they were completely slammed when I went (on a Monday).
If you want to play, I would recommend getting a reservation since standby times can stretch to 4 hours or beyond. Parking is free, convenient, and they have a large number of free EV chargers as a bonus. It's also a great location for corporate events and parties. I experienced one firsthand and it was a blast.
For more info and to make reservations, head over here.
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Market Park could bring thousands of homes and an office compound to North San Jose
A massive transit village has been proposed for the San Jose Flea Market right next to our new BART station. This is already the site of our largest project that is currently under construction. How massive you ask? The developers are looking to build 3,450 residential units and 3.4 MILLION square feet of commercial space. To put that in perspective that is roughly half of all the office space the exists in Downtown San Jose today.
The commercial component would be spread across seven buildings and three parking structures. The residential piece could utilize high-rises as tall as 200 feet, would would be very noticeable for the area. Other nearby amenities would include a plaza, pop-up retail space, an urban garden, a 1.4-acre rec area, tennis course, and a mini baseball field.
The bad news is that the Flea Market would be demolished to make way for the 61.5-acre project. There would be 150,000 SQFT of ground-floor retail and restaurants in the transit village, but it would not quite make up for losing a San Jose icon. However, given the vast increase in jobs, tax dollars, and density near transit--this project should be an easy approval by the city.
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
New office building coming to North San Jose
LBA Realty has submitted plans for a new 125,000 SQFT four-story building near West Trimble Road in North San Jose. Amenities include two urban gardens, an amphitheater, a grove, and a greenroof terrace on the fourth floor.
This building is designed to compliment another approved 10-building project called NorthTown right next door which would span 1.28 million SQFT.
While the timing may seem off given the whole COVID situation, now is actually a great time to build preparing for a major rebound in 2021 or 2022. A lot of people (myself included) are missing going into the office and interacting with coworkers face-to-face.
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
3.8 million SQFT office campus proposed in North San Jose
The configuration would be seven large buildings and two parking structures, enough for 10,000 employees. The buildings would cap out at about eight stories or 120 feet. Unfortunately it does not appear like there is any attempt to make this a mixed use project combining residential and retail, but there is plenty of that in the area already.
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Inside Samsung's HQ in San Jose
As an added bonus, their cafeteria is open to the public so you can go check out the architecture for yourself. You can find the Wall Street Journal video tour.
Source: jawz from the San Jose Development Forum
Monday, December 16, 2019
Modular hotel coming soon to North San Jose
A new Hilton Garden Inn in San Jose is being built in this fashion by stacking 88 modular units on top of a podium near the airport at 101 east Gish Road. The units even came fully furnished. When complete the five-story hotel will have 150 room spread across 95,000 SQFT. The grand opening is currently slated for Spring 2020.
Source: SVBJ
Monday, November 18, 2019
Google expanding in North San Jose
In addition, they have already acquired eight buildings over the past couple years in North San Jose near Alviso. Those investments add up to over $400 million. If there was ever any question on whether Google was serious about investing in San Jose, I think these actions are pretty clear.
Source: SVBJ
Monday, April 29, 2019
Google expanding to North San Jose
Google has just secured leases on three buildings totaling 611,535 SQFT that have yet to be constructed at 60 North Brokaw (near Casino M8trix). Peery-Arrillaga, the developer, has already requested permits to start construction. Two of the buildings would be eight stories tall, while the third is four stories.
The buildings could accommodate up to 4,900 employees, and they could start moving in as early as 2021. That sounds like ages from now, but is less than two years away. Since Mountain View real estate is completely tapped out, this is the first step in a long journey for Google to move the majority of their Silicon Valley operations to San Jose. Without major changes in building policies up north, San Jose is without a doubt Google's future.
Sources: SVBJ, San Jose Inside
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Future Motion opening 60,000 SQFT facility in San Jose
While the company is currently headquartered in Santa Cruz, they are opening a new manufacturing outpost in North San Jose at 2250 Zanker Road. Future Motion expects to employ 150 people at the new facility.
For additional information on Future Motion and the industrial market in general, check out the source link below.
Source: SVBJ
Monday, November 19, 2018
Google buys a North San Jose office building for $155M
Google has just acquired two office buildings in North San Jose at 4300 and 4400 North First Street. The buildings are just north of Highway 237, which I would consider to be Alviso.
The buildings are partially occupied by Harmonic and Compstak and have recently been renovated. The leases expire in 2020, which is only a little over a year away. Their intentions for the buildings are not yet clear, but this seems like an obvious extension of their Mountain View campus, which is only 8 miles away by car or a 45 minute bike ride away.
Source: SVBJ
Monday, September 17, 2018
Self-driving grocery deliveries coming to San Jose courtesy of a San Jose startup company
AutoX is headquartered in North San Jose (off of Trimble) and has two satellite offices in China. They raised $43 million in fundy last year from Danhua Capital, MediaTek Ventures, and SAIC Capital.
Several residents in a geo-fenced area near the headquarters are already eligible for service. Customers can either pick what they want to be delivered from the app or make last minute purchasing decisions when picking up the groceries from the car. You read that correctly... the car itself is a store.
They just have a handful of vehicles today, but are looking to grow to 20 cars very soon and expand the service to Mountain View and Palo Alto. For more info, head over to AutoX.ai or watch the video below.
It's great to see a San Jose company both pushing technological boundaries and providing new services to their immediate community!
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Electric car company grows in San Jose
NIO currently only manufactures a single car, the EP9. It's a $1.2M supercar with 1,341 horsepower that currently holds the electric car record for the Nurburgring and for the fastest autonomous lap at the Circuit of the Americas. Like Tesla they decided to start with a halo car and work their way down to cars the masses can afford. Their next car will be a 7-seat SUV called the ES8 that will compete with Tesla's Model X.
NIO has already raised $1 billion and are rumored to be gearing up for a US IPO that could raise another $2 billion. It's clear that the auto industry is going to look a lot different in 5-10 years than it does today. If NIO turns out to be another disruptor like Tesla, then San Jose has a lot to gain as the brand grows.
Source: SVBJ
Monday, April 2, 2018
Local developer contemplating 1.5 million SQFT project in North San Jose
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
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Spencer's Steak & Chops
Butternut squash soup with a roasted marshmallow, topped with chives. This one blew my mind. On the official menu the soup comes with creme fraiche instead of the marshmallow, which is too bad since this variant seems far more tasty and creative.
Braised bacon with local figs (middle part), and caramelized organic honey (top). I love bacon as well as combining savory and sweet flavors. The blend of the extremely thick cut bacon with the sweetness of the figs and honey made this my favorite dish. If you try this (and you should), slice from the very top to the bottom to make sure you get all three flavors in every bite.
Ahi poke. Sushi grade ahi, avocado, sesame, nori, and wonton. Here the secret is slightly burning the nori, which gives it a different flavor. This was very tasty and something I definitely was not expecting at a place known for their steaks.
Pan-seared Hokkaido sea scallops, filberts (no need to google that, they are hazelnuts), on top of orzo. The scallop was perfectly cooked and this would be a perfect light dinner for a pescatarian.
Kobe Ribeye, Spencer cut, and Tomahawk cut with potatoes and mushrooms. This was the most insane meat plate I have ever had. There was also a side of Ostrich steak (tastes like red meat but is very low in calories/fat). Even I couldn't finish the plate, but it made for a very luxurious lunch the next day.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
New Homewood Suites by Hilton in North San Jose
The new Hotel is located just north of Highway 237 and is just a few minutes away from Alviso, the @First shopping center anchored by Target, and Levi's Stadium.
Source: SVBJ (subscription required)
Monday, October 9, 2017
Microsoft looking to build a 1M SQFT campus in San Jose
Either of the options on the table would not bring as many jobs and tax dollars to the city as a traditional office complex, but it would be a great foot in the door as Microsoft currently has zero presence in San Jose proper. Microsoft has 1,600 employees in the area, but most are in Mountain View. With a grand total of 71,000 employees, San Jose could provide a viable opportunity to move more of their workforce into the tech capital of the world. They would be in good company as both Google and Apple and considering significant operations in San Jose.
Source: SVBJ (Subscription Required)
Monday, October 2, 2017
Brand new Bay 101 Casino is now open for business
The new Bay 101 looks really sleek and is filled with modern touches like dynamic lighting, open spaces, and abstract art. The building spans 68,000 SQFT and has 49 gaming tables. Bay 101 also features a flagship Asian fusion restaurant called The Province, which is owned by the same people as Sino, Straits, and Roots & Rye at Santana Row. The restaurant will be higher-end than anything at M8trix (or the immediate area for that matter) and bring with it some nightlife and one of the most impressive outdoor patios in San Jose.
Future phases of the Bay 101 project include two hotels and a 237,000 SQFT tech campus. The first hotel is an Embassy Suites with 174 rooms in a seven-story building. For the development enthusiasts out there, yes that is a huge missed opportunity for one of the few parcels in San Jose where a 35-story building is not only economically viable but allowed by airport regulations. Perhaps they will think bigger for the second hotel. One thing is for sure, Bay 101 is going to help make North San Jose a lot more interesting.
Source: The Merc, hat tip to Arnold Kwok for sending this in!