Spartan Village on the Paseo

After several months of renovation, what was originally the Fairmont Annex tower will now be home to around 700 San Jose State University students that will be living there most of the year. Occupancy is already over 90% capacity. Students started moving in this past weekend.

This is one of the nicest student housing projects I have ever seen. Not only is it centrally located in Downtown San Jose, but it has a sky bridge lounge, a gaming lounge, video screening center, cafe, fitness room, and study rooms. Keep in mind that what are now dorms used to be the fanciest hotel rooms in San Jose and have a view of Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

This should have a significant impact on foot traffic and general ground floor activity around the tower. I think that will improve the retail scene, safety, and the overall vibe around Plaza de Cesar Chavez. It's a win all the way around except for the loss of a couple hundred hotel rooms. There are several new hotels being proposed that will hopefully fill in that gap.

Congratulations to the SJSU students moving into Spartan Village on the Paseo. Your college experience is going to be much nicer than previous generations!

Source: SiliconValley.com

Wishlist Wednesday: 3d printed homes in San Jose

We live in the epicenter of technological disruption and innovation, yet housing has changed very little in decades. Now we're starting to see some interesting ideas being tested in this space. A community called Wolf range in Georgetown, Texas (north of Austin) is being built by Lennar using a giant 3D printer. The machine is 45 feet wide and weighs almost 5 tons. 

The "ink" is a mixture of concrete powder, water, and sand. This makes the homes very resilient to extreme weather and increases waterproofing and energy efficiency dramatically. 

I have spent a lot of time in homes made out of concrete and stone throughout my life and can vouch that the level of insulation is excellent. Sometimes it can be a 20 degree difference between outdoor and indoor temperatures with very little heating or air conditioning needed. I can also attest that the one downside is WiFi signals will struggle to get through the walls as mentioned in the source article. A multi-router mesh network is ideal.

The 100-home project started in 2022 and should be done by the end of the summer. Each of the homes range from $450k to $600k and feature three to four bedrooms.

What makes me excited about this technology, is that with economies of scale the cost of homebuilding could decrease while delivering a better overall product. There is limited space for single family homes in San Jose, but this can easily be used for ADUs or even townhomes with a little effort. The cost of construction is one of the key variables keeping housing costs high, so any downward pressure on that will benefit homebuyers and help increase supple in Silicon Valley.

Source: Engadget

Mixed-use housing project proposed near Chuck E. Cheese

B3 Commercial LLC would like to build an eight-story, 138-unit housing project at 2470 Alvin Avenue in East San Jose. The compact project would fit on less than an acre and also feature 5,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. The project also appears to have a terrace on the penthouse floor, which is likely a community space.

The unit mix would be 24 studios, 83 one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms, and 5 three-bedroom apartments. At least 20% of the units would have to be designated as affordable housing as B3 Commercial is using the builder's remedy loophole to expedite approval.

The location is right off of Tully, where the main landmark is the giant Chuck E. Cheese. The project would replace a single-story medical facility that used to be leased by Planned Parenthood.

If everything goes to plan, they would aim to start construction between 2026 and 2027, which would put a grand opening towards the end of the decade.

Source: SiliconValley.com

New single family housing suburb proposed for San Jose's Almaden district

If you thought single family construction was over in San Jose, guess again. Latala Homes plans to build 177 new detached homes, averaging just under 2,500 SQFT per home at 20202 Harry Road. 36 of those homes will be designated as affordable for low-income households. The site is currently an empty field so no demo work would be necessary.

Before the urbanists get up in arms, this is already as deep into the suburbs as you can possibly get. There is nothing walkable anywhere near here and there probably never will be. If you're wondering where Harry Road is, it's where Almaden Expressway literally dead-ends. That is how deep this project is into Almaden. The silver lining is you can go horseback riding or visit one of San Jose's most romantic and isolated restaurants, La Foret, with a short drive.

Based on the area, I think most of these homes will likely go for around $1,000/SQFT, so you're probably looking at a range of $2M-$3M depending on how wide the range of home sizes will be.

Source: SF YIMBY

San Jose becomes the first city in California to allow homeowners to sell ADUs

In order to solve for housing shortages, skyrocketing rents, and dizzying mortgages we have to think outside the box. San Jose just took a significant step to increase the housing supply and provide more low cost options.

San Jose already is one of the most accommodating cities when it comes to building an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) on your property. On a typical single-family lot, a homeowner can build a detached ADU up to 1,000 SQFT or an attached ADU up to 800 SQFT. Now, instead of just renting out the ADU, you can actually sell it as a condominium.

This will encourage more people to built them in their backyards and open up low-cost homeownership for more people, especially those early on in their careers. Some ADUs are quite nice, like the 500 SQFT one mentioned in the source link below.

San Jose is already receiving four times as many requests to build ADUs as San Francisco. In fact, even homebuilders like Robson Homes are including them as options for new housing projects in San Jose. 

Source: ABC7 News

100+ affordable homes proposed for 1207 North Capital Avenue

A new project between Alum Rock and Berryessa would add 129 affordable homes in a five-story building right across the street from VTA Light Rail. The proposal has 13,000 SQFT of communal spaces including lounges, fitness facilities, and outdoor spaces.

The location is an easy walk to three different retail centers that have multiple restaurants, a clothing store, and a Safeway. BART is also just three Light Rail stops away.

Today this site is just an empty lot at 1207 North Capital Avenue so very little demolition and prep work would be necessary. Unfortunately, there is no timeline for groundbreaking and construction.

Source: The Mercury News

1,472 new homes headed to Seely Avenue in North San Jose

There are only a few empty lots left for development in North San Jose, one one of those is at Montague Expressway and Seely Avenue right along the Coyote Creek. The land currently has farmland and orchards, which somehow have survived over the decades right in the middle of Silicon Valley.

The proposal on the table today would add 1,472 residential units and retail between three developers: Hanover Company, Pacific Companies, and SummerHill Homes. The total project would be a whopping 2.3 million SQFT, with 1.7 million SQFT for housing, half a million SQFT for parking, and 16,120 SQFT for retail. 

Most of the housing would be 1,140 market-rate apartments which would wrap around a new public park. 178 units would be affordable housing and 154 units would be townhomes. Of the apartments, 159 would be studios, 737 are one-bedrooms, 368 are two-bedrooms, and 54 are three-bedrooms. Parking would support 1,967 cars and 944 bicycles.

Construction would last about four years from the initial groundbreaking, for which there is no ETA yet.

Source: SF YIMBY

New renders for impressive Willow Glen apartment midrise

A midrise proposal at 940 Willow Street has a new look. The 86-foot-tall project will be just a couple blocks away from San Jose's ritzy Downtown Willow Glen neighborhood. Excellent restaurants like The Table, Copia, and Bill's are a five minute walk away.

The building will total 183,750 SQFT, half of which is for housing, 15,600 SQFT is amenity space, a whopping 56,200 SQFT will be for parking, and 1,800 SQFT is allocated for retail. There will be a total of 126 apartment units (26 designated as affordable) and 135 parking spaces. The product mix will be: 52 studios, 50 one-bedrooms, 20 two-bedrooms, and four townhome-style units with three bedrooms at street level.

The design is beautiful, especially for a midrise building. I like the pool area and podium cutouts. I've included a few bonus renders on other projects this design studio is working on at the bottom which are also in San Jose.

A single-story commercial building will need to be torn down (image below) and I think you'll agree the tradeoff is worth it. There is no current ETA, but the sooner the better.

Source: SF YIMBY, siliconvalleyjoe from Skyscraper City

What this area looks like now in Willow Glen:

Bonus render for another proposal at 4th & Julian in Downtown San Jose:

Bonus render for another proposal at Alvin Ave. in East San Jose:

New Costco mixed-use concept adds residential housing

Costco already sells everything else in bulk, why not add apartments to the list and help out with our housing crisis? That is exactly what they are doing in LA (Baldwin Village/Crenshaw area in South LA).

The new concept combines a 185,000 SQFT Costco Wholesale store with 800 residential units, 184 of which are set aside for low-income renters. The units are all contained in a five-story mid-rise building on top of the Costco along with amenities like a basketball court, lounge areas, and multiple courtyards. To make it as affordable as possible, the apartments are on the smaller side and are mostly prefabricated and installed in modules like Legos.

The parking for both the Costco and the residential units are all underground across multiple levels. In fact, they will dig almost as deep as the building is tall. The project also happens to be close to transit, although that might not be the best option if you are purchasing bulk items.

What is relevant for San Jose is they plan to roll out this concept outside of LA in the near future. San Joseans love their Costco's and we are about to get our first one with parking on the roof so that it can fit in a more urban area (West San Jose). So the question is, would this mixed-use concept make sense in San Jose? It could be a relatively quick way to add large amounts of housing by remodeling existing locations or as part of future Costco projects in Silicon Valley.

Source: SF GATE

Google might bring an affordable housing project to Downtown San Jose

Google still has one foot in the door for their ambitious Downtown San Jose plans. A mixed-used project with millions of square feet of office buildings in a neighborhood now dubbed "Downtown West" have been put on hold, but Google has continued some of their projects to build culture and vibrancy around the new district. Now it looks like they might move forward with an affordable housing project where an old Orchard Supply Hardware store once stood (San Jose company btw).

Earlier this year they razed a building at 720 West San Carlos and now they are evaluating building an affordable housing project on this site. If there were to move forward, it would signal that Google is still serious about investing in Downtown San Jose. If they return to the original plan, up to 20,000 employees could be working in of the capital of Silicon Valley. The economic impact and cultural impact would be significant, especially considering Google has some of the highest median salaries of any company on Earth.

Source: The Mercury News

 

New housing project near SoFA gets funding

166 apartments (164 of which are designated as affordable units) are slated for 802 South First Street just outside the traditional boundaries of Downtown San Jose. The site is just south of Highway 280, a few blocks away from SoFA. The six-story building also includes 1,500 SQFT of ground-floor retail. 

The project will cost nearly $100 million. Fortunately, PNC is willing to finance $66 million of that between a construction loan and bridge loan. The rest will be mostly made up by state-backed financing.

The goal is to kick off construction by September with an expected completion date of 2026.

Source: The Mercury News

Unique open house in South San Jose this Saturday - 6810 Canine Court

Everyone complains about affordability in San Jose, but there are still some really interesting opportunities if you know where to look. There is a very unique townhome-style condo for sale in South San Jose in a brand new neighborhood near the intersection of 101 and 85. 

It's a massive 2,506 SQFT home with 4 oversized bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms. That makes it larger than most single family homes in San Jose, yet the listing price is only $555 a square foot.

Costco is literally across the street and several great restaurants are minutes away (I highly recommend Blossom and Bourbon). It also has great parks within the community with bocce ball, basketball, multiple playgrounds for the kids, an outdoor gym, and gated dog park. The Santa Teresa Light Rail station is a 15min walk or 4min bike ride away.

My wife is the realtor and is hosting an open house this weekend from 1-4pm on Saturday with free bubbly and an assortment of appetizers highlighting a highly-rated local San Jose eatery. Last week was Pasteleria Adega and this week it will be something new but equally as awesome. Even if you're not looking for a new home, swing on by to check out the neighborhood and talk San Jose. The address is 6810 Canine Court in San Jose.

Be one of the first 8 groups to mention The San Jose Blog and take home a bottle of either Prosecco or Rosé.

San Jose student housing tower with a stunning penthouse

A 25-story tower with 210 residential units is proposed for 439 South Fourth Street, a kitty corner away from SJSU. The 274-foot tall building would cater towards SJSU students and faculty. The exact breakdown is 63 two-bedroom, 21, three bedroom, 84 four-bedroom, and 42 five-bedroom (!) units.

Amenities would include a pool, gym, dog park, community rooms, study rooms, office space, and a shared rooftop area with breathtaking views. It is great to see developers finally try to fully utilize penthouse space in San Jose with shared amenity space. We have amazing views in Silicon Valley, you just have to get high enough to take it all in.

The site currently has a 30-unit apartment building and a single-family house converted to commercial uses.

Source: The Mercury News, SVBJ

Spartan Keyes neighborhood getting new townhomes in place of industrial building

Valley Oak Partners has plans to redevelop a single-story industrial building on a 3.87-acre site into 68 townhomes. The three-story townhomes would be split into 12 two-bedroom 2.5-bath units, 28 three-bedroom 3-bath units, and 28 three-bedroom 2.5-bath units with an optional 4th bedroom. Sizes range between 1,428 SQFT to 2,030 SQFT.

This project is worth mentioning as there are very few new options with a family-friendly four-bedroom configuration, and there will be up to 28 of those units here. 

The location is very central, close to Downtown San Jose and blocks away from amenities like Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, Kelley Park, History San Jose, and Sharks Ice. An action park is also being planned nearby. At the same time, the neighborhood is an odd mix of both residential and industrial uses. This leads me to believe the townhomes will be reasonably priced relative to other projects of similar size in Silicon Valley.

Source: SVBJ

Six-story office building to be replaced with townhomes

Over 100 homes could replace an office building in North San Jose, but there is a twist. The proposed project at 2107 North First St. would include 105 townhomes right next to the headquarters of PayPal and several other tech companies in the golden triangle of North San Jose. It has easy access to VTA Light Rail and in general is in a prime location.

Ready for the twist? In order to make room for those townhomes, a perfectly good 6-story office building would be torn down. While I understand the need to convert more office space to housing in order to balance supply and demand of each real estate use, this seems like a step backwards. Silicon Valley townhomes are typically three stories and in some rare cases four stories. 

If they are tearing down a whole office building, why not go with high-density housing? This site could easily support high-rises taller than Downtown San Jose. Townhomes do not seem like the best use for this land.

Source: The Mercury News

Affordable housing headed for Cambrian Park

Adobe Communities is proposing a 100% affordable housing project across from Cambrian Park Plaza. The six-story building at 1999 Camden Avenue would feature 90 residential units: nine studios, 30 one bedroom units, 26 two-bedrooms, and 25 with three bedrooms. It would also include a courtyard, 1,600 SQFT community room, study rooms, and a laundry facility.

Cambrian Park Plaza is also destined to add more housing with a major mixed-use development on the horizon. This would be a larger-scale project with 58,000 SQFT of retail, 305 apartment units, townhomes, a few rare single family homes, an assisted living facility, a hotel, and several new parks.

Source: SVBJ