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

Google may occupy 6 MILLION square feet of office space in Downtown San Jose!!!

Considering it has been on every outlet for the past week, this should not be "news" to anyone. If Google does go forward with their plan to utilize a staggering 6 million SQFT near Diridon, it will permanently change Downtown. There are still many "ifs" so I don't want to get too excited before this is a done deal, but wow... can you imagine. To put it in perspective, 6 million SQFT is more than double the square footage of Apple Park (the spaceship). It is also nearly double the SQFT of Google's current sprawling campus in Mountain View.

Take that in for a moment--if the full project gets built,, San Jose has a shot of actually becoming the Google HQ. It would make perfect sense since Mountain View is blocking expansion left and right, and given the state of traffic it would actually be faster to go from Caltrain between SF and Downtown SJ during rush hour than to the Mountain View campus. This is without even factoring in the furture BART or High Speed Rail options. Imagine all the buses on 101 that would become obsolete.

So far, the best write-up I have come across regarding the project is at Think Bigger San Jose. You should go read it right now for both the pro's and the con's of the project. Don't worry, I'll wait.

I completely agree with everything Mark said and there are some additional pro's I would like to add:

• Reducing traffic since the location will be in the most connected transit hub on the west coast. Even people that drive will likely be driving less given the central location near residential. 
• Increased property values in San Jose for existing homeowners (this can also be a con if you are not a homeowner).
• Beautification of the Downtown skyline. If they build anything close to what was planned for Mountain View, it will forever change the skyline for the better (see images #2 and #3 below).

Let's all collectively keep our fingers crossed and hope the City of San Jose and Google can make this happen!

Saturday Status: Two San Jose neighborhoods made the US Top 20 in post-recession apartment growth

RentCafe has put together a list of the fastest growing apartment markets in the country post-recession. Not one, but two San Jose neighborhoods made the list. North San Jose took 3rd place with a staggering 6,814 new apartments across 11 buildings, a 74% increase. Downtown San Jose was #20 on the list with 2,663 apartments across 14 buildings.

New York City dominated the top 50, which is to be expected given they have a population of 8 million people. San Francisco neighborhoods did not start showing up until #31. To see the full list, head over to the link below.

Source: RentCafe Blog

Four shows lined up for 2017 Music in the Park

First show June 23 features New Zealand’s Katchafire

SAN JOSE – Music in the Park kicks off its 28th season on June 23 with New Zealand-based roots-reggae rockers Katchafire.
Also, save these dates:

• July 20:  Grammy-winners Blues Traveler, celebrating their 30th anniversary
• Aug. 3:  Brenton Wood
• Aug. 25:  The headliner has to be announced in June, but this featured band has earned 17 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards and is self-described as an “original Afro Cuban jazz rock blues band.”

Local artists will open each show at 5:30 p.m. at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, off Market Street in the center of downtown San Jose.

Advanced tickets are $10 per adult and free for 12-under when accompanied by an adult.  Tickets and information are available at www.musicintheparksj.com. Day-of-the-event admission will cost $15 per adult.

Music in the Park is presented by Metro Newspapers and produced by the San Jose Downtown Association.  The events are supported by the City of San Jose.

June 23: Katchafire - The five-piece all-Maori band formed in 1997 is regaled as one of the most cherished, original live reggae bands in the world.  Roots reggae artists at their core, Katchafire also integrates R&B, funk, dancehall and pop themes into their live playing.  Most recently they put out a single Burn it Down and offered Stir It Up on a recent tribute to Bob Marley, in the wake of four studio albums, multiple awards and platinum sales. www.katchafire.co.nz

July 20:  Blues Traveler - One of America’s all-time favorite jam bands.  Says frontman John Popper:  “Three decades and I am still surprised when we play and find some rich new musical vein to tap. Three decades and I cannot believe my luck with this band of brothers and this string we have run.”

Blues Traveler has recorded 12 albums and sold millions of records. They hit it big with their 1994 release, “four,” which included “Hook” and the Grammy-winning  “Run Around.”  Their latest release, “Blow Up the Moon,” (2015). http://www.bluestraveler.com/

Aug. 3: Bootsy Collins – Funk royalty, bassist Bootsy Collins has worked with everyone from James Brown to Hank Williams, Jr. and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Parliament-Funkadelic (P-Funk) with George Clinton. His big break occurred in 1970 when James Brown hired a new backing band, which was called The JB’s. Collins played on several of Brown’s biggest songs recorded that year.  As a solo artist and leader of Bootsy’s Rubber Band, his songs climbed the U.S. R&B charts for almost 20 years, reaching the pinnacle with 1978 No. 1 hit Bootzilla.

Aug. 3:  Brenton Wood brings his chest full of R&B hits up from Los Angeles to perform for his South Bay audience.  twitter.com/brentonwood Wood will perform in lieu of Bootsy Collins, who was previously announced but had to cancel for medical reasons.

 Aug. 25:  Headliner to be announced June 11.

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About San Jose Downtown Association:  SJDA, a non-profit membership-based organization founded in 1986, represents business and property owners and works to enhance downtown’s vitality and livability. www.sjdowntown.com

San Jose was ranked as the most productive area in the US

This one is way to good to go in the Saturday Stat bin. According to The Brookings Institution, the San Jose Metro is the most productive in the whole country. Our economic output per employee is an epic $173,971 per year. This compares to $156,812 in Houston and $152,562 in the San Francisco metro. It is also one of the many reasons why many jobs in the Valley command such high salaries.

What is just as impressive is the rate of growth that labor productivity improved in San Jose versus every other metro in the country. Between 1978 and 2015, our average rate of growth is 2.72%. If you ask any economist, that is an insane rate of productivity growth--especially considering all of our bubbles and recessions. Constant innovation is now well ingrained in our culture and our bet on technology has certainly paid off.

Source: SJ Economy News

Le Marche - Santana Row Farmers' Market

An upscale farmers' market with over 50 vendors will take place every Wednesday until September starting today at Santana Row. "Le Marche" features organic produce, gourmet foods, cooking demonstrations, rotisserie chicken, and lots of other delicious items. There are also plenty of prepared food options available, making it convenient to enjoy a quick snack on one of the many patios on the row. Left Bank Brasserie is even doing a farm-to-table prix fixe menu utilizing fresh ingreedients from Le Marche.

Today during grand opening of the farmers' market, LB Steak will be demoing their Corn Succotash and Maple Braised Pork Belly at 5:30pm. Le Marche is located towards the end of Santana Row between Olin Avenue and Olsen Drive.

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 

Apple has moved its big conference to San Jose

The largest company in the world announced that they are moving their World Wide Developer Conference Conference (WWDC) from San Francisco to San Jose earlier this year. This will make our city ground zero for new software and app announcements related to iOS, MacOS, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. This is not the first time that Apple has made major product announcements in San Jose in recent years, but it is the first time since 2002 that they have hosted their largest event in Silicon Valley proper.

The direct impact goes far beyond the conference itself. There are many related events such as AltConf (the Alternative Apple Developer Conference) which has also moved from San Francisco to the San Jose Marriott and the Layers Design Conference, which has moved to the Montgomery Theater. Both events run nearly the full duration of the Apple conference.

Apple has also worked with the City of San Jose to plan for entertainment and special events outside of the Convention Center for attendees to enjoy. 5,000 developers will be attending WWDC, but double that number could be in the area for festivities and supporting events built around the conference.

The Apple WWDC kicks off today and runs until June 9th. If you are an Apple fanboy or fangirl, this is a good week to swing by Downtown.

Sources: SVBJ, 9to5Mac