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

Swenson reveals spectacular proposal for the Guadalupe River Area

Swenson Builders just blew my mind with their proposal to turn the Downtown stretch of the Guadalupe River into a 6.81 million SQFT mixed-use development. Apparently, Swensen has been contemplating this for decades.

The 30-acre project would incorporate and expand existing parks on both sides of the Guadalupe River and even create a second river (!)... more on that in just a moment. Perhaps take a quick break to scroll down and look at the photos and then head back up here.

The square footage breakdown would be 3.8 million SQFT for office space, 2 million SQFT of residential space (~2,400 units), 420,000 SQFT of retail in a 5-story terraced shopping center, and 590,000 SQFT of hotel space (~1,100 rooms). Bridges would zig-zag over the river(s) to easily get from one side to the other. If there was ever a proposal to rival the San Jose Google HQ, this would be it.

One of the most interesting aspects of the proposal is to create a man-made river parallel to the original Guadalupe River. The purpose of this would be to allow for recreational water activities in Downtown San Jose such as kayaking, surfing, and stand-up boarding. Above the river would also be zip-lines, allowing for a fun adventure combining both a natural and urban backdrop.

Right now this is more vision than a formal proposal, but can you imagine is this is what the Downtown Guadalupe River area looked like 20 years from now? This would be a tremendous amenity and entertainment draw while highlighting one of Downtown's best kept secrets--the river.

Source: SVBJ (Subscription Required)

New Homewood Suites by Hilton in North San Jose

Homewood Suites at 4315 N. First St. officially opened on October 13th. This is an extended-stay hotel ideal for business travelers and has 145 units that are more like mini-apartments. Every room has a full kitchen, separate living and sleeping spaces, and are at least 434 SQFT. They also have two-bedroom suites available. One of their unique features is a grocery shopping service that lets guests provide their shopping lists and employees will buy the groceries for them.

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)

Sourisseau News: Hotel Vendome

On First Street, just north of Downtown, there once stood the Hotel Vendome. The 150-room hotel was only around between 1889 and 1930, but featured several interesting amenities like a bowling alley. Eventually increased competition and damage from fires led it to shut down and the land was subdivided and sold off. It would have been nice to preserve this gem near Japantown, much like we were able to do for Hayes Mansion, the Hotel Montgomery, and the Hotel DeAnza.

Watch the two-minute video more to learn about this hotel and see some amazing historic photos.

To see an archive of past videos, head over here.

Sourisseau News: Hotel Vendome - April 2017 from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Hotel Clariana is now open

I had the opportunity to walk across downtown on June 7^th to check out the ribbon cutting for the new Hotel Clariana. Bravo to that crew for taking on the renovation of that classic 1914 structure (formerly a YMCA), and turning it into a unique hotel that can serve as an alternative to travelers weary of the more corporate offerings near the convention center. 

It’s not large, at only 44 rooms, and the structure was a little constrained in the modernization by the historical nature of the building (read: you will not have panoramic windows in your rooms). But, it’s a tidy and quirky new offering; definitely a welcome addition to that particular block of Santa Clara street.

Hotel Clariana is located at 100 E. Santa Clara street between 3rd and 4th. For more details click here.

-Josh Hunter

New AC Hotel on Stevens Creek

The AC Hotel is expanding their San José footprint! On May 18th, AC Hotel representatives submitted a Site Development Permit for a 6-story, 132-room hotel at 5969 Stevens Creek Boulevard. The site currently has a Shell gas station and an auto repair shop, and is located on the San José side of the border between Cupertino and San José. The hotel proposal is most likely moving forward in order to capitalize on business from the new Apple campus, located less than a mile north of the site.

Thankfully the architecture is an improvement over the atrociously-designed downtown AC Hotel; however, I would still like to see better quality design as the proposed hotel maintains a similar boring box shape and has zero window ornamentation. Even so, if approved by the Planning Director, a new boutique hotel would be a welcome addition to San José as we have many less hotel rooms per capita than our surrounding municipalities.

-Kimberly Vacca 

San Jose is getting a 24-story Tribute Hotel!

Finally, some significant vertical development news for Downtown. It looks like San Jose's first cantilevered tower will be moving forward. The proprietors behind San Jose's Downtown Four Points (which is probably the nicest Four Points in the US) want to build a 24-story hotel tower in a narrow lot to the right of the hotel. The lot is so narrow that the tower would have to cantilever over the Four Points as you can see in the photos below. It creates a very interesting architectural juxtaposition of a building from the 1910s merged with a modern high-rise.

Now for the even-better news. The 279-room tower will be branded as The Tribute Hotel San Jose as opposed to being an expansion of the Four Points-branded hotel. The Tribute is a new Marriott brand (which now owns Starwood Hotels) and it is far more upscale and prestigious.

The tower will have amenities that don't even exist in San Francisco or Los Angeles. I'm talking about a rooftop pool on the 24-floor. That is officially one of the coolest hotel amenities possible and I will be booking a room at some point just to take advantage of it. The Grand Hyatt in Toyko (hotel from the movie "Lost in Translation") is the only other property I have been to with something like that and it was awesome. The Tribute Hotel will also have their gym and meeting rooms on the penthouse floor featuring amazing views of Silicon Valley. This is going to be a very unique destination and a huge win for San Jose enthusiasts.

Source: The Merc

A look inside the AC Hotel in Downtown San Jose

The AC Hotel at Santa Clara Street and Highway 87 is the first major new hotel Downtown since the Marriott. The European-styled hotel has 210 guest rooms and six suites, all with king beds (including rooms with two beds). It even has a small swimming pool, something I did not expect given the location.

This looks like a terrific addition to Downtown San Jose. On the exterior it may not look like much, but they did a great job on the interior and it will help activate a key block--especially with a tapas restaurant and cocktail lounge on the ground floor.

Vicky Thompson from the SVBJ has a dozen photos for you to check out at the source link below. For another perspective, Nathon Donato-Weinstein also has a blog post about our newest hotel.

Source: SVBJ

New boutique hotel proposed on North Fourth Street

An aging 10-room motel at 1036 N. Fourth Street (first photo below) may be transformed in slick boutique hotel. The proposed project would have 60 rooms across four floors, underground parking, and an impressive rooftop terrace with a living wall of plants, a bar, and BBQ area. Speaking of BBQ, one of my favorite restaurants and one of San Jose's few Michelin-ranked restaurants is located down the block: Smoking Pig BBQ.

The proposed hotel is near the bulk of San Jose's tech jobs, making it a near guaranteed success during the workweek. The big question would be how well it could do on the weekends in this location. I hope they can make it work since it would be a big improvement over what is standing there now.

Source: SVBJ

New renders of Museum Place, Downtown's most impressive high-rise proposal to date

I hope everyone has enjoyed the long weekend. It seems like it has been ages since we have had some really exciting development news. Thankfully, Nathan Donato-Weinstein from the SVBJ has come to the rescue with news on Museum Place. This is an epic mixed-use project first revealed last August.

The first formal plans for Museum Place have been submitted to the city, and the latest renders look even more impressive than before. Those plans include 213,820 SQFT of office space, 334 condos, a 143-room boutique hotel, 12,171 SQFT of retail, and a 60,000 SQFT expansion of The Tech museum (ground floor plus one level underground). There will be enough parking for 1,000 cars, all underground using a system where cars can be stacked on top of one another. The building will also have one of the slickest signage/lighting systems in Downtown.

Not only will this significantly change the skyline with a unique design, but it will help activate a paseo that runs between Park Avenue and the Convention Center. Getting a few projects like this in the area will be a game-changer! Check out the renders below and all of the details at the source link.

Source: SVBJ

21-story hotel expansion proposed Donwntown!

Exciting new proposals for projects that will change the Downtown San Jose skyline continue to roll in on a weekly basis. This latest one is unique in many ways. The Sheraton Four Points (previously the Montgomery Hotel) is proposing a 245-foot tall expansion tower that would contain 280 guest rooms. That in and of itself is exciting news, but how they are planning to execute it takes it to the next level.

The expansion would be the first cantilevered tower in Silicon Valley, meaning a substantial portion of the building would be in the airspace directly above the Sheraton Four Points. Not only would this allow a much larger building to be constructed on the narrow strip of land between the current hotel and the Fairmont annex, but it would allow the tower to be built without impacting the historic Montgomery Hotel building. It would be a beautiful juxtaposition of old and new.

The hotel would also have at least one amenity that does not exist in any other hotel building in the Bay Area--a rooftop pool. The 21st floor would also have a bar and fitness center, making the penthouse a major attraction accessible to all hotel guests.

Currently the hotel is somehow a Sheraton Four Points, which is the lowest-end brand in the Starwood chain. It is already one of the nicest, if not the nicest Four Points in the US. I cannot imagine that it would retain the Four Points brand if this tower gets built. It should be converted to at least a Sheraton, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this turn into an Aloft, Element Hotel, or even a W Hotel. The only other Starwood hotel in Downtown San Jose is the recently re-branded Westin San Jose.

This proposal is taking tower design to the next level in Downtown San Jose. I really hope this gets built, but even if it doesn't at least it is clear that proposals are getting more ambitious and in line with what Downtown San Jose deserves to have.

Source: SVBJ

New 11-story hotel planned for "Uptown" San Jose

San Jose desperately needs more hotels, which increase our ability to host major events and bring more visitors into the area. Fortunately, a new hotel project has just been announced two blocks away from Santana Row and across the street from Valley Fair. The proposal is for 173 guest rooms in one 11-story building. The first floor would be the lobby and likely some retail or restaurant space, floors two through five would be parking, and floors 6 through 11 would have the rooms. One cool amenity is that there would be a restaurant and balcony on the 11th floor that overlooks the area.

While it would be nice if the building was taller and the parking was underground, you have to remember that this site currently has a gas station and we are well outside of Downtown. It sounds like a nice project for the area, especially since two possible brands are Hilton's Canopy and Choice Hotels' Cambria. Both are very contemporary high-end brands that feature nicely appointed rooms (think W Hotels). This has the potential of being really interesting inside.

Currently the project is in the city planning and approval process with a goal of starting construction in early 2017.

Source: SVBJ

Work Begins on New Bay 101 Casino, Hotel, and Office Project

Bay 101's time in its current form is limited. Their current lease expires on November 2017 in order to make way for a massive office development. The good news for local gamblers is that work is already moving forward on the casino's future home near M8trix, the only other casino in San Jose. The new project is going to be far more elaborate than Bay 101's current facility and includes two new full-service hotels totaling 414 rooms and a nine-story office tower.

The casino portion will have 49 tables, the maximum allowed by current San Jose regulations. The first hotel will be a seven-story Hilton with 174 rooms. The new casino should be operating by September 2017 (assuming there are no delays) and that Hilton is slated to open in early 2018.

The second phase of the project will have a 10-story hotel with 210 rooms and a 240,000 SQFT office tower which will only be built when there is a tenant in tow.

Source: The Merc

New Rendering Video for Museum Place!

The most ambitious high-rise proposal in Downtown San Jose is getting a bit more real. Insight Realty has created a simulation of what some of the spaces in the massive project could look like. "Museum Place" includes a 60,000 SQFT expansion of The Tech Museum, 210,000 SQFT of office space, twelve floors of condos, a boutique hotel, and a floor of luxury penthouse condos. Watch the two minute video below to get a sense of what the area around The Tech might look like in a few years!

Source: Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum