Source: The Merc
Thursday, August 10, 2023
A look inside Adobe's 4th Tower
Source: The Merc
Monday, August 7, 2023
List of major Downtown San Jose projects under development
Source: SVBJ
33 S. Montgomery St. (1.2 million SQF office, retail, and restaurants) |
150 E. Santa Clara (75,285 SQFT Office + Retail) |
The Terraine (319-unit residential, 12,263 SQFT of retail) |
The Mark (Housing for 1,000 students) |
Woz Way (1 million SQFT office, 10,100 SQFT retail) |
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
25-story apartment tower proposed for Downtown San Jose
Friday, July 28, 2023
San Jose's secret hotel
There is a secret hotel hiding in plain sight right across from City Hall. It's called the WhyHotel by Placemakr and it takes up a chunk of MIRO Towers. I believe at some point MIRO struggled to lease all of their apartments, so they partnered with Placemakr to create sort of a hybrid between a hotel and Airbnb.
Since these are technically luxury apartments, all rooms have kitchens and are at least 592 SQFT. The largest room is a 2 bedroom 2 bath for up to 4 people at 1,227 SQFT. Prices are generally the same or less than hotels in the area but you get a ton more space and the convenience of a kitchen and in-unit laundry.
I'm not aware of any hotels Downtown that have two-bedroom suites as a readily available option (outside of some rare and very expensive Presidential suites). So if you are staying with a larger group of family and friends and don't want multiple rooms, this is likely your best option. If you're curious about what it would be like to live in Downtown San Jose, it's also a nice way to do a test run for a week or so.
Some other perks include a modern fitness center, yoga studio, and private dog park. I'm not sure how long this hotel will be around, so if you're interested here is the link.
Monday, July 10, 2023
New housing tower to replace local San Jose market and taqueria
A new housing tower is proposed on the periphery of Downtown San Jose at 101 Delmas Avenue. At 11-stories it just barely qualifies as a high-rise, but given the narrow size of the building it will likely look taller than it actually is.
The ground floor will primarily be retail, which is great considering it will replace the Delmas Market and Imperio Tacqueria. At 1,300 SQFT, the new retail space it should be able to accommodate a small restaurant.
Above the retail will be 80 units, 16 of which will be affordable housing. All of the units will be studios, which is an interesting choice. Likely this will appeal to younger people without kids that want easy access to urban amenities and public transit. If the Google project ever gets built, it will also be right next door.
Source: The Merc
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
"NUDES" designed a rainwater harvesting tower for San Jose
A company called NUDES created an insane looking concept for the Guadalupe River Park. This was one of the design competition entries for Urban Confluence's project to bring a new landmark to San Jose.
The general idea is that the 200ft tower would catch and transport water into a shallow rainwater harvesting pool which would also somehow be connected to the neighboring Guadalupe River. It would also serve as a public space and event venue focused around water conservation and climate change.
While the chances of this coming to fruition are close to nil, it's a great example of how you can create a stunning structure while staying within San Jose's height requirements do to the airport.
Source: Jawz, Designboom
Monday, September 12, 2022
The Future of the Bay is San Jose
Nabr is building a sustainable, contemporary Scandinavian high-rises in Downtown San Jose's SoFA district and they have produced several articles that highlight just how walkable the area is. I think they nailed it (I visit most of the places mentioned frequently).
Click here to read "The Future of the Bay is San Jose"
Then follow it up with "72 Hours in San Jose, CA"
If you might be interested in their unique rent-to-own apartments, then I have one more link for you over here.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Unique office and housing tower could transform Downtown skyline
Monday, May 10, 2021
Google Mega Campus Updates
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
High-rise residential village proposed for Five Wounds neighborhood
The first big new development proposal of 2021 is actually outside of Downtown San Jose. A seven-building project called Vila de Camila would rise just a couple blocks away from the proposed BART station behind Five Wounds Portuguese National Church.
With a mix of 942 residences and office space across 3 acres, this would be one of the most dense projects in San Jose. Most buildings would be 16-stories tall with one seven-story building. There is even a potential expansion with four more towers that would result in between 1,200 and 1,300 residential units.
This may be a longshot as several amendments to the general plan would be required--including raising building heights, density, and widening the urban village boundary. However, this is exactly the type of projected needed close to mass transit like BART that will help San Jose grow in a sustainable way.
Source: SVBJ
Friday, December 11, 2020
Future Downtown Skyline
The Downtown San Jose skyline is going to look quite a bit different in just a few years. The impag below captures less than half of Downtown, but the four new towers in the lower left (200 Park Avenue and J.P. DiNapoli) dwarf the Adobe campus towers. In fact any one of them has similar square footage the all three Adobe towers combined. Eventually the world will go back to normal and it will be amazing to see Downtown continue to transform.
Source: Sharkcity from the San Jose Development Forum
Monday, November 16, 2020
Bank of Italy renovation will look amazing
One of San Jose's first hi-rises is about to get a stunning makeover. The iconic Bank of Italy building was the tallest hi-rise between San Francisco and Los Angeles from 1926 until 1970.
The biggest change will be exterior stairs and balconies running the whole height of the building. While this may not sound like a big deal, the options for these stairs look pretty impressive and will forever change how this building looks in the skyline (see first image below).
There will also be two podium terraces, a garden, and a new roof terrace. The ground floor will eventually house a new restaurant, café, and event venue. Again, the renders here look impressive. The entrance of the restaurant and music venue would face Fountain Alley and contribute to making the area more vibrant and lively. Fountain Alley itself is also getting a renovation (and an actual fountain) in the former Lido nightclub space.
Source: SVBJ, Bank of Italy Design Overview
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
17 East Santa Clara Street
When a developer first announced they would like to build a high-rise here, there was quite a lot of speculation on what could actually be built on such a small and narrow space less than 9,000 SQFT. However, I have to say this initial design looks fantastic and is a welcome change from the super wide towers that are in the works. The narrow side creates an optical illusion where it looks 40 stories tall instead of 28.
The tower is going to have 96 residential units, with 17 of those restricted for moderate-income residents. It's not clear whether the units will be for sale or rent. Unfortunately it does not appear to feature any retail on the ground floor, but with such a small lot that is to be expected.
I hope we see other towers with this type of narrow aesthetic going forward to add more variety Downtown.
Source: Lawrence Lui on Twitter
Monday, September 7, 2020
Developing Downtown San Jose
Source: Urban Catalyst Blog
Developing Downtown San Jose from Hoge Fenton on Vimeo.
While the coronavirus pandemic continues to stifle the economy, Urban Community Fund, Urban Catalyst Fund (an Opportunity Zone Fund), Bayview Development Group, and Jay Paul Company are developing key construction projects in downtown San Jose. Our panelists include:
• Erik Hayden, Founder, Managing Partner (Urban Catalyst Fund)
• Ted McMahon, Chief Investment Officer, (Bay View Development Group)
• Matthew Lituchy, Chief Investment Officer (Jay Paul Company)
Moderated by Sean Cottle, Real Estate Attorney at Hoge Fenton, our panelists discuss:
• Current status of development in Downtown San Jose
• Current rent and vacancy situation
• Long-term impact of the pandemic on Downtown San Jose development
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Miro Tower Photos
Despite everything our skyline is evolving and there is still much excitement around Downtown San Jose in the developer community.
Source: gillynova from the San Jose Development Forum
Monday, June 15, 2020
31-story tower proposed in SoFA
The tower would have 190 studio units, 84 one-bedrooms, 28 two-bedrooms, and 56 three-bedroom unites. There would also be a three-story parking structure with 96 parking spaces. That is a surprising number of both studios and three-bedroom units, which are the two unit types that are in shortest supply for residential high-rises Downtown.
It is also worth mentioning that this would be the largest number of stories for any building in San Jose, either built or proposed. Even with low ceilings typical of affordable housing projects, this would likely be the first building in San Jose over 300 feet tall. It will be interesting to see what other details will be uncovered as this project moves forward.
Source: SVBJ