"Will a Vibrant New Skyline Finally Give San Jose a Sense of Place?"

There is a great article about San Jose in Redshift, a publication about the future of "making" that specializes in architecture and design. Silicon Valley is growing up, and creating a sense of place will become a very important part of our future. The article mentions the multitude of projects coming our way in the near future. Over 5.5 million SQFT of projects are in the works, including MIRO (two 28-story high-rise apartments), Modera, and Invicta. The new projects will connect Downtown and are more about placemaking than facades. The long term architectural strategy for one San Jose architect, Stenberg Hart, is creating buildings that impose an architectural point of view on San Jose and catalyze the community. The end goal is helping San Jose create a unique local culture that will eventually shape the overall aesthetic of the city.

To read the article, head over here.

2019 Annual Spring Symposium

The Urban Planning Coalition at SJSU is hosting their 8th Annual Urban Planning Symposium on Saturday, April 27th at the MLK Library. The theme will be of great interest to a lot of the locals urbanists and Downtown residents reading this--personal transportation devices (PTDs). Downtown patrons have become infatuated with scooters, shared bikes, and even funky one-wheel skateboards. The symposium discusses how these devices can become more sustainable, the impact on urban planning, and the future of these devices on the SJSU campus and Downtown.

Admission is free and breakfast and lunch are provided. If you are a student you will even get some credits for attending. To learn more about each panel and RSVP, head over here.

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!)

New homes and office space coming to Steven's Creek

Fortbay has just received approval for one of the first San Jose "signature projects" at 4300 Steven's Creek. This is just a few minutes west of Valley Fair and Santana Row and near the border of Cupertino.

The plan is to build 582 residential units, 233,000 SQFT of office space, and a multi-story parking structure. There will be some retail element, but it is not clear from the article how much or where in the project it will be. The new buildings will be between six and eight stories and will wrap around a new 1.4 acre promenade and park.

It's nice to see new mixed use projects being developed outside of Downtown San Jose. The one missing component here is access to public transit, but I have a feeling most of the residents will have a short commute to the Apple campus down the street. We really need to build some sort of mass transit from Downtown all the way to De Anza since this corridor is densifying rapidly.

Source: SVBJ

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

San Jose approves a 1 million SQFT office complex near Diridon

"Platform 16" is going to be one of the largest office developments in San Jose history. It will of course be dwarfed by Google's 8 million SQFT campus, but for now this is the largest project we have in queue.

The project will have three buildings: one would be 157,000 SQFT, another would be 367,000 SQFT, and the last one would clock in near 500,000 SQFT. Floor plates will be massive, ranging from 27,000 to 90,000 SQFT, and there is 15 feet between floors which should allow for very tall ceilings. Each floor also will have its own private terrace.

Parking would be a four-story underground structure with 2,264 parking spaces. This is a short walk or bike ride away from Diridon and the Downtown core, so hopefully a lot of people will choose alternative transit to work by the time this is complete in 2021.

Barring any major economic shift in the next few years, Downtown's future outlook is looking quite bright.

Source: SVBJ

Splunk signs lease for the entire flagship (and final) Santana Row building

Santana Row has come a long way in the past 15 years. It is now an internationally recognized destination that has become a model for mixed used projects everywhere. 700 Santana Row is the last major development project to complete the original vision for the street. Future building will likely go across Winchester, where Federal Realty is planning a near 1 million SQFT office project at the former site of the Century dome theaters.

Splunk, which already has a massive amount of space at Santana Row, has agreed to take on another 300,000 SQFT at the new building. This will bring their total presence to 535,000 SQFT and put the bulk of the company in San Jose as opposed to SF.

The capstone building at the end of Santana Row will be ready for full occupancy by 2019, but the first 3 floors will be in use this October while the rest of the building is still under construction. The project will also add 1,300 new parking spaces and 30,000 SQFT of retail.

Source: SVBJ

Downtown Progress Report

The SJ Economy blog has a great synopsis of Downtown's current state. This info and slides are mostly pulled from Downtown Manager Blage Zelalich's presentation to a City Council committee.

There are a lot of interesting statistics in the post. Millennials make up 47% of Downtown San Jose versus the city average of 30% and population. Population growth Downtown is 4.2% versus 1.2% for San Jose as a whole. Education levels are also slightly higher Downtown (66% have bachelor's degrees versus 39%) but household income is under $80k (less than the San Jose median). To net it out, Downtown is growing quickly with a young, well educated, yet not affluent population.

There are a total of 180 tech companies Downtown (up from 100 a few years ago) and 10,000 residents in the core. 505 residential units opened last year with 2,173 currently under construction.

The post also touches on events, culture, and public art. It's a worthwhile read and helps substantiate that Downtown is booming right now. Click here to see the post!

Source: SJ Economy

New 20-story office tower proposed Downtown

Development proposals are continuing to roll in! The latest one comes from developer JP DiNapolis Cos. who spent $11.5 million for two vacant office buildings at 200 Park Avenue last week. Their plan is to build a 20-story office tower with a grand total of 740,000 SQFT of office space. The project would also include 1,200 parking spaces that would be shared with the Hyatt Place next door.

The general area could be completely transformed within a few years. This tower would rise on the same block where Insight Realty is planning Museum Place, an epic mixed-use development with residential, hotel, office space, retail, and an expansion of the Tech Museum. Across the street a 24-story residential tower is also proposed at City View Plaza and a block away Adobe is planning a fourth office tower that would double its employee count.

If everything goes according to plan, the new office tower will be under construction by the end of 2019.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose Crane Watch is up to 97 major projects

The Silicon Valley Business Journal has a great development map which you can access here. There are now over 97 major development projects, most of which are centered around Downtown San Jose. These include office, residential, hotel, health car, education, retail, and mixed-use projects that were either proposed or are actively under construction. The project has to be at least 100,000 SQFT in size to make it to the map (that means the pipelines has well over 10 million SQFT of projects).

Some of the latest additions include a 19-story, 220 room hotel tower on Santa Clara Street and a 500,000 SQFT mixed use project in North San Jose. Learn more and check out the map using the source link below.

Source: SVBJ

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

New hotel proposed for SoFA

A 110 room hotel with two level of underground parking is proposed for South 2nd Street and Reed, which is part of San Jose's artsy SoFA neighborhood. San Jose hotels have been doing well enough to justify several new projects, especially in the Downtown area.

Once concern I have is how uninspired the drawing looks. Again, this is being proposed for San Jose's arts district. We can do better than prison aesthetics for this project. Perhaps the developer could let local artists do something creative with the exterior if they cannot afford a less generic design.

Source: The Merc

Downtown JC Penny's Building renovation

Built in 1946 for JC Penny's, the 4-story building at 1 W. Santa Clara in the heart of Downtown is getting an impressive makeover. The building already has a timber deck and center atrium, both of which will be prominently featured post-remodel. It looks perfect for hip startup companies or a midsize tech firm. One feature we can all benefit from is the Blue Bottle Coffee shop on the ground floor. Check out the renders below.

Source: San Jose Development Forum, Lift Partners

Federal Realty moves forward on 1 million SQFT "Santana West" office project

Now that the legal battles between San Jose and Santa Clara around development are over, Federal Realty--the developer behind Santana Row--is resuming work on their next major project. The Silicon Valley Business Journal go their hands on some impressive renderings of the 13 acre project.

It looks like it will be one massive building covered entirely with outdoor green space. The Century 21 building would somehow be incorporated into the project, but how is not yet clear. "Santana West" is build-to-suit, meaning they are not planning to move forward without a committed tenant.

If all goes well, we will have another flagship office building in 2019 or 2020.

Source: SVBJ

Developer proposing a 10.5 million SQFT project in Santa Clara with a 50-story skyscraper!

The tallest project in Silicon Valley history was just proposed--to the Santa Clara City Council. While not in San Jose proper, this would have a tremendous impact on San Jose as it would push forward what is considered acceptable vertical development in the metro.

This behemoth project by Chinese developer Kylli would clock in at 3.5 million SQFT of office, 400,000 SQFT of Amenities, 6 million SQFT of residential (~6,000 units), 600,000 SQFT of retail, and around 8 acres of open space. As you can see from the drawing below, it would include nearly two dozen towers, with the tallest being a 50-story office building which at 600 feet would be twice as tall as anything in Downtown San Jose.

Despite totaling 10.5 million SQFT of development, it would utilize less than 50 acres at the former Yahoo campus. To put that in perspective, Related's 9.1 million SQFT mixed-use project across from Levi's Stadium will use 240 acres. What Kylli is proposing really should be the level of density we look towards in future projects if we plan to build enough housing to keep prices at bay and enable communities where you can work, live, and play without needing to drive.

While I would have much rather seen a project like this proposed for San Jose proper, I have to root for this to go forward and hopefully motivate our city to follow suit with similar projects. Google will be a gamechanger for Downtown, but we need to start looking at other parts of the city (not limited by the airport) where we have the opportunity to build extremely dense world-class villages. Think Bigger San Jose has a similar perspective on this project. This will surely be a proposal we'll keep close tabs on!

Source: SVBJ

Catalyze SV Launch Party

Catalyze SV is on a mission is to "engage community member, developers, and city leaders to envision and create sustainable, equitable, and vibrant places for people in Silicon Valley." This includes advocating for inclusive and diverse communities that feature smart urban designs. The organization was founded in a living room last year and received a $29k grant last month from The Knight Foundation to take things to the next level.

They have already had some early successes with Volar in Santana Row and the Agrihood in Santa Clara. Catalyze SV could have a great impact on future San Jose development, and now is the perfect time to get involved.

Today they are holding a launch party at the historic Arts Mercantile building from 6-8pm featuring several city leaders. For more on the event or to RSVP (free), head over here.

SJC is planning a $1 billion Expansion!

San Jose International has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past five years and has finally hit a point where a major expansion is feasible. Three additional gates were recently added, bringing the airport to a total of 31 gates. The new expansion being planned would add at least 9 more at the end of Terminal B, bringing the total to 40 gates or more.

This would mean more flights, destinations, and tax dollars for the city (San Jose owns the airport). While still in the early planning stages, it would be interesting to use some of the new gates as a dedicated international terminal given all of the new overseas routes.

The target cost of the expansion is $1 billion (for context Terminal B was $1.3 billion) and the goal would be to open all of the new gates by 2024.

Source: SVBJ

1 million SQFT San Jose office project moves forward

The next San Jose office megaproject is gearing up at 440 West Julian St. and Automation Parkway. The city just approved a rezoning of the area from industrial to "Transit Employment Center," enabling the project to move forward. The three office buildings would sit between the San Jose Market Center and the Diridon/SAP area ("GoJo" -- where Google is looking for up to 8 million SQFT of space).

Each building would range from 157,000 SQFT to 500,000 SQFT and floorplates would be massive (27,000 to 90,000 SQFT). There would be four levels of underground parking with 2,264 parking spots. The buildings are clearly targeting large tech companies.

I hope this moves forward as it will put even more jobs in our urban core, which means more tax dollars and theoretically shorter commutes versus traditional campuses.

Source: SVBJ

New mixed-use project proposed off Bascom and Southwest Expressway

Bay West Development is proposing a significant residential and office development right next to Bascom Light Rail station. The 6.4-acre project would have 447 residential units and 200,000 SQFT of commercial space. Today the site is a half-empty strip mall and smog testing station. The residential building would be eight stories (respectable density outside of Downtown) while the office building would be seven stories. There would also be an undisclosed amount of retail on the ground floor and a landscaped public space connecting the two buildings.

Source: SVBJ

Volar may set a new bar for rooftop amenities

Volar is a fancy 18-story (200 ft. tall) tower proposed for the Santana Row area. The mixed-use project will have 307 residential units, 52,000 SQFT of commercial, 16,275 SQFT of public open space, and 490 parking spaces. There are several interesting things about this project besides it being far taller than anything else in the area. However, the item that really stands out to me is a rooftop that that will give the Capital Club a run for its money.

The top floor is a mix of 29,814 SQFT of private open space for the residential units and that 16,275 SQFT of public open space that anyone can access. If the render below is accurate, this will be the most impressive rooftop on any high-rise in Silicon Valley. It looks like thee will be lounge areas, outdoor fire-pits, and plenty of trees spread across a posh Santana-Row-like area. The 18th floor will also have a 8,500 SQFT restaurant and cafe with a two-story atrium. The views should be quite spectacular from any part of the rooftop or restaurant. This could be the start of a new era where high-rise housing comes to more parts of San Jose.

For more details on this project that will hopefully break ground by 2019, head over here.

Source: San Jose Development Forum, aphelion2100