San Jose: Projects and Developments

[peanut gallery]

Good to see another downtown parking lot bite the dust. Has there been any hint at something happening at the massive lot on the east side of the San Pedro garage? I've wanted to see that go for as long as I can remember.

Not to complain, but I wouldn't call that "designed brilliantly." It's perfectly fine infill, but nothing extraordinary. Of course, the materials used could make a big difference. I do like that there will still be mid-block passage.

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Good to see another downtown parking lot bite the dust. Has there been any hint at something happening at the massive lot on the east side of the San Pedro garage? I've wanted to see that go for as long as I can remember.

Not to complain, but I wouldn't call that "designed brilliantly." It's perfectly fine infill, but nothing extraordinary. Of course, the materials used could make a big difference. I do like that there will still be mid-block passage.

The lot bound by Market, 1st, Santa Clara and St. John is known as the Mitchell block, the VTA owns the parking lot, and their desire is to use the block as a staging area for the BART construction, which at the minimum is 10 years out from being completed. So no development there for quite a while.

[fflint]

Originally Posted by cardinal2007

I may live downtown, but I really love both Shasta/Hanchett Park and Naglee Park, the mix of Victorian, Eduardian, Craftsman style, Spanish Colonial Revival and the like is very nice. As much as I like all the developments downtown and in some other neighborhoods, I certainly feel that Naglee Park is one of those areas where development should be restricted in some sense.

Owning one of those houses is certainly an envious position.

Yes indeed. I wish I could buy the Edwardian I lived in at that time. It was really nice to come home after a long day of work to that neighborhood--truly beautiful homes, great tree canopy, just enough activity to feel like you're in a city but also quiet enough at night to feel like you're not in the heart of it all. It's my favorite San Jose neighborhood by far.

[cardinal2007]

201 W Julian St. | 18 Floors | 59M / 195ft




Courtesy Silicon Valley Business Journal

When San Jose's Julian Street "power curve" was built in the 1970s, the goal was to offer downtown motorists quick and easy access to Highway 87.

It worked. But it also stifled development on a broad swath of downtown by bisecting three parcels at odd angles. And walkability? Forget about it.

Now, after a decade of starts and stops, plans to bring "back the grid" by realigning Julian are moving forward. So are projects that will build more than 900 residential units on 10 acres of adjacent city-controlled land in the form of towers, townhomes and mid-rise buildings. Together, they promise to transform the North San Pedro district into a bustling new neighborhood.

...

The building, designed by BDE Architecture, is one of two towers that Swenson is working on. The other would include about 200 units at Devine and N. San Pedro streets on a lot that's currently slashed in half by Julian.

...

[cardinal2007]

Gateway Tower | 24 Floors | 82M / 270ft







Courtesy Silicon Valley Business Journal

At the southern end of the SoFA district Core is proposing to build a 24-story apartment tower that will replace a few buildings there including their current HQ. This building will be just across the street from the park where 1st and Market meet.

Gateway Tower, a 24-story apartment building slated for a key corner in San Jose’s SoFA district, is one small step closer to reality this week as developer Core Companies filed formal plans for the project.

The submission comes after the developer, working with San Francisco-based architects Kwan Henmi, refined the design somewhat and developed an approach to integrate a historically significant structure’s facade into the project. A preliminary concept for the tower was first unveiled in June.

...

The tower would rise at the corner of South Market and East William streets and include 292 units — up from 280 in the preliminary plans. But two adjustments are more important than unit count: The first is the treatment of two older existing buildings on the site — one of which is on the city’s list of historic landmarks. The other is an enhancement to the retail space.

First, the historic angle. One of the buildings on the site, at 467 S. First St., is where broadcast radio pioneer Charles “Doc” Herrold operated a school in the early 20th century. Core will preserve the building’s facade and integrate it into the ground floor’s design. “We’re proposing to keep part of it a historic storefront, and behind it do an exhibit that shows the history,” Armer said. “There’s really no other place in San Jose that’s a celebration of his legacy.” History San Jose has agreed to curate the space, and CreaTV and San Jose State University will help create video content for the exhibit, Armer said.

...

[cardinal2007]

Museum Place | 23 Floors | 82M / 270ft





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l24pceaFE1U
Courtesy Insight Realty Company

Courtesy Silicon Valley Business Journal

A local development firm, operating with Chinese backing, has been selected to acquire a key, city-owned parcel in downtown San Jose — a deal that could lead to a soaring modern tower that combines homes, offices, a hotel and new expansion space for the Tech Museum of Innovation.

City officials chose Insight Realty Co. for the development deal at 180 Park Ave., better known as Parkside Hall, officials confirmed on Thursday. The firm headed by real estate veteran Dennis Randall beat out three other hopefuls for the site, located near one of downtown’s best corners at Park Avenue and Almaden Boulevard.

Insight would still need to come to financial terms with the city, a process that could take six months and would require city council approval. If a deal is ultimately inked, it could lead to an iconic new element in the city’s skyline — a 270-foot tower punctuated by landscaped outdoor terrace steps wrapped in an undulating glass skin. The project — dubbed Museum Place — would include:

60,000 square feet of expansion space for the Tech Museum on the ground floor;

210,000 square feet of “creative office” on five stories above the Tech space;
Twelve stories of condos;

Three stories at the top for a “upscale nationally branded boutique hotel, with luxury penthouse residences on the highest floor,” according to a copy of Insight’s proposal.

...

The city has already approved them for the process, and now Insight has a few months to get everything squared away and apply for permits.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/n...realtyfor.html

...

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday formally agreed to enter into talks with Insight King Wah, a joint venture of Insight Realty and King Wah Development, to acquire the city-owned site. The partnership is being backed in the deal by China New Era, a global real estate investor, for the $250 million project.

...

My hope is that this would lead to making the area east of Market (South of San Fernando) to be more pedestrian friendly, especially if they add residential and hotel, as currently everything in that part, especially Almaden is seriously lacking in that regard.

[cardinal2007]

Virginia Terrace / Foundry Commons | 4 Floors | approx 12M / 40ft







Courtesy David Baker Architects

This new development brings more than 200 units of market-rate rentals apartments to the growing arts districts of San Jose. The project provides a wide range of amenities for residents, including a pool and cabana, fitness room and yoga studio, and community lounge—as well as hands-on activity spaces, such as a community kitchen, micro-gallery, DIY workshop space, and a bicycle repair room.

Progress as of Oct 10, 2015:

[cardinal2007]

SparQ | 7 Floors | 29M / 94.5ft


Courtesy The Core Companies EIR

598 South First Street, 105-unit 7 story building with 2400 sqft of retail, right at the southern end of SoFA.

This is right across the street from The Pierce.

It was approved by the city a few weeks ago, http://thecorecompanies.com/news/147

I anticipate they will break ground in 2016.

[cardinal2007]

150 S. 2nd St. | 23 Floors | Approx 82M / 270ft






Courtesy Silicon Valley Business Journal

The Sobrato Organization is kick-starting high-rise development plans on a prime downtown San Jose parking lot, a significant — if still early — show of confidence for the area from one of the region’s most closely watched real estate firms.

The Cupertino-based developer turned in preliminary plans Friday for a 23-story, 399-unit apartment tower at 150 S. Second St., next to the downtown Safeway Market store and The 88 condo tower. The preliminary concept — from Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica — comes four years after Sobrato acquired the 1.33-acre lot, known as Block 3, from the city’s now-defunct redevelopment agency.

It's the latest entrant to the downtown district's high-rise pipeline, which is now bursting with proposals. While it's too soon to tell if the project will get built during the current economic cycle, but Rob Hollister, Sobrato's president of real estate, sounded cautiously optimistic in an interview last week.

...

This is a proposal for the parking lot next to Safeway downtown, I doubt Sobrato will pull the trigger on this one before the next downturn, but who knows really. I live right across the street, so any activity I will make sure to take a picture.

[cardinal2007]

The Flats at Balbach | 4 Floors | 15M / 48ft


Courtesy Silicon Sage Builders

San Jose EIR by Silicon Sage

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/n...mebuilder.html

Downtown San Jose sprouts another residential project

Santa Clara-based SiliconSage Builders is accelerating long-time plans to convert an old used-car lot in Downtown San Jose into for-sale housing.

Its the latest developer to take a run at 180 Balbach St., located midway between South Market Street and South Almaden Blvd. adjacent to the McEnery Convention Center.

Broke Ground this week:



Sam Liccardo Twitter Page

[peanut gallery]

Again, thanks for all the great updates, cardinal2007 (Stanford grad?). I really like 150 Second Street, and it fills a long time gap on the light rail line.

Any rumors on two other parking lots in the area: the corner of San Carlos and Market, and the one on San Fernando between First and Second? They aren't noted on the map you posted but seem like ideal development sites.

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Again, thanks for all the great updates, cardinal2007 (Stanford grad?). I really like 150 Second Street, and it fills a long time gap on the light rail line.

Any rumors on two other parking lots in the area: the corner of San Carlos and Market, and the one on San Fernando between First and Second? They aren't noted on the map you posted but seem like ideal development sites.

Yeah, did my Masters there, but still a fan of the football team.

Sobrato's other lots, they are a rather conservative company when it comes to development. The first is known as Block 8, and the latter as Block 2, very endearing names I know. Those go back to the SJRDA (SJRA?) days when the redevelopment agency numbered them. Some people speculate it goes back to the original survey era, but I doubt it.

Anyway around 2010 Sobrato paid $20M for both lots, and has operated parking lots from those lots since then. They have not announced anything but from the article on 150 S. 2nd. they said the following:

...
Sobrato's other sites

Sobrato has two other parking lots it owns, known as Block 2 and Block 8. Block 8 is a 1.5-acre site fronting at Market and San Carlos Street across from the Westin San Jose. Block 2 is a 1-acre lot between First and Second streets, fronting West San Fernando. (The sites were named in the days of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and are somewhat arbitrary today, but are still used.)

Hollister said Block 8 is likely an office site because of its large size. "We're starting to fool around with it, but we don't think the market is quite ready," he said, adding that residential will lead the way. "You’ll see employers locate there when they see employees want to be there," he said.
Block 2, he said, is also a great site, and would likely fill in after Block 3. "We thought it was better to start (with Block 3), but honestly it could have gone either way between the two," he said.

Working through the Block 3 approvals should take a couple of months, but getting the construction drawings to the finish line will take longer. It's at that point that Sobrato will do a "budget check" to determine whether or not to go vertical.

...

Interesting that they think office for block 8, it may be large enough to have large floor plates, but it does seem well suited for Residential/hotel since the convention center is right by there.

I do think their choice on 488 Almaden was ill fated, being too far away from the walkable downtown. Almaden Blvd is kind of the office park area of downtown, not so nice.

[cardinal2007]

Century Center Towers | 12 Floors both | 32M / 120ft


Courtesy http://www.essexapartmenthomes.com/century-towers

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/n...g-stalled.html

Essex Property Trust has joined with Barry Swenson Builder to build a pair of long-stalled apartment towers in North San Jose — a development that will essentially close out the city's bank of new housing units in the area for the foreseeable future.

...

The 376-unit project, Century Center Towers, is located at 1733 N. 1st St. It will be the tallest residential project in North San Jose, with two, 12-story buildings rising up to 120 feet.

...

Essex disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the project would carry a total cost — including land, development, construction and lease-up costs — of $170 million. Essex and BSB will operate as 50/50 joint-venture partners. The JV has already obtained a $90 million construction loan, according to the filing, and Essex has made a $27 million preferred equity investment.

...

Progress from June 21, 2015 (almost 5 months ago):






From Sept 19, 2015:

Courtesy Quest Windows
http://twitter.com/questwindows/stat...93706568556544

[peanut gallery]

Thanks for the info. So Block 3 may not be too far behind 150 Second, Block 8 is probably too far out to even think about, and none of them are likely to start anytime soon.

Still, good to see lots of change elsewhere, like the one just above near the airport. I haven't been over there in so many years I doubt I would recognize the area today.

PS: Though I'm a Spartan, I've always like Stanford as well. My dad used to take me to games there when I was a kid. It was pretty awe-inspiring for a little 10 year old to walk along with those huge football players after the game.

[cardinal2007]

Federal Realty Santana Row Offices (multiple buildings) | 9 and 6 floors | 34M and 22M (113ft and 71ft)

Federal realty is replacing the movie theaters and the Flames with offices, scrapping plans for residential.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/n...h.html?ana=twt

Federal Realty ditches homes, goes all-office with 1M sq. ft. proposal across from Santana Row
Residential is no longer part of the plans for Federal Realty's proposed mega-development on San Jose's former Century dome theaters across from Santana Row.
Instead? Get ready for more office space — a lot of it.

...

The Rockville, Maryland-based REIT turned in a revised proposal several weeks ago that scraps plans for nearly 1,000 apartments, replacing them with six office buildings totaling nearly 1 million square feet, plus a 29,000 square foot grocery store, planning documents show.
If approved, the project would further cement Santana Row's neighborhood — already the South Bay's biggest retail destination, with Westfield Valley Fair across the street — as a jobs juggernaut.

...

Courtesy Silicon Valley Business Journal

[northbay]

San Jose has a lot going on!

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by northbay

San Jose has a lot going on!

There may be a lot more in the future, Apple has started the process to get approval for up to 4.15M sqft of office space on the land they bought near Paypal. We'll see what they have up their sleeve.

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Thanks for the info. So Block 3 may not be too far behind 150 Second, Block 8 is probably too far out to even think about, and none of them are likely to start anytime soon.

Still, good to see lots of change elsewhere, like the one just above near the airport. I haven't been over there in so many years I doubt I would recognize the area today.

PS: Though I'm a Spartan, I've always like Stanford as well. My dad used to take me to games there when I was a kid. It was pretty awe-inspiring for a little 10 year old to walk along with those huge football players after the game.

In my experience these projects tend to break ground about 2 years after we first hear of them, sometimes it is quicker, but not that often, and with a conservative company like Sobrato, they may take longer.

The biggest threat with a company like that is that the economy tanks while they are in the middle and they leave an empty shell for a few years as they wait out the next recession. They did that with a building in Santa Clara just off Central Expwy, clearly visible shell, for years, recently finished, probably started in 2007 or 2008. Something like that would scar downtown and leave that part unwanted, sales prices at the 88 will probably plunge for any units facing south, and so on.

They are a big powerful company and it seems politicians are afraid to do anything that might remotely inconvenience them, presumably because they might use their money against them. Oh well, hoping that it doesn't turn out that way.

[cardinal2007]

Tech Place at 101 | 6FL | unknown height

http://www.legacypartners.com/commer...place_on_101#1

In the heart of Silicon Valley, surrounded by prestigious corporate neighbors and with easy accessibility to prominent highways and public transit—Tech Place on 101 is here. 2 contemporary, LEED pre-certified six story Class A towers with total SF of 200,000 each will be surrounded by green space with collaborative work areas, barbeque area, bocce ball court and many other amenities. The property's prominent location near Highway 101 offers unparalleled visibility & branding opportunity. Additional phasing opportunities exist to accommodate up to 1.2 Million SF.

Courtesy Legacy Partners/Steelwave

https://vimeo.com/126291286

After siting on the land for a long time, they are finally making moves in building the first of up to 3 buildings. This project is very much suburban office park in nature, the height 6 to 8 stories is about what current building is like.

Apple has leased this building and all the proposal, but no idea what they are planning, combined they are entitled for up to 4M sqft of office space, and they are requesting to be allowed to build all of it.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/n...arting-to.html

Apple's plans for North San Jose are starting to take shape

Apple Inc. is taking its first steps to develop a 43-acre parcel it acquired earlier this summer, a sign the Mac maker may be moving forward with a project in North San Jose sooner rather than later.
Apple on Thursday turned in an application to modify the existing zoning for the land, currently a brush-covered patch of dirt on North First Street where Apple could build up to 2.8 million square feet of office, R&D or industrial space. The change? Apple wants to eliminate the 105-foot-tall height minimums that apply along that part of North First Street — a baseline that many observers have long considered fairly ambitious.

...

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/n...-of-up-to.html

Exclusive: Apple contemplating huge campus of up to 4.15 million square feet in north San Jose

Apple Inc. and the city of San Jose are working toward a development agreement that would allow the Cupertino-based juggernaut to build a north San Jose campus of up to 4.15 million square feet, according to city records — an amount larger than Apple’s “spaceship” campus under construction in Cupertino.
The draft agreement, which is not yet completed, will come before the city’s Planning Commission later this month, officials said. It would lock in development rights — and expectations for both sides — for the next 15 years in an area that sprawls across 86 acres north of Highway 101 across from the Mineta San Jose International Airport.

...

All Courtesy Silicon Valley Business Journal

Apple fanboy speculation is going crazy, though most people think the purpose of the large campus may be more automotive in nature.

As of Oct 18, 2015:

[cardinal2007]

500 Sanata Row | 6 Floors | unknown height


Courtesy Silicon Valley Business Journal

Santana Row snares Splunk, a big-data cruncher, with retail draw

The company, which is based in San Francisco, this week leased 500 Santana Row, a 234,000-square-foot office building rising at the intersection of Winchester Boulevard and Olsen Drive. It’s a huge score for Federal Realty Investment Trust, the owner of the mixed-use juggernaut, which started construction of the $120 million office building on spec last year.

...

Federal Realty is seeking city approvals on another roughly 500,000 square feet of office space at Santana Row. On tap are two large office buildings, which would rise eight and seven stories. One would include about 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and would flank a central courtyard where Santana Row meets Olsen Drive. These projects would essentially build out the balance of Santana Row. (Splunk has rights of first offer on these buildings, under certain circumstances, according to the SEC filing.) Executives said they would make the decision on whether or not to go spec on these buildings after receiving approvals.

Federal Realty also has plans for an additional 500,000sqft of office space in Santana Row, and another 1M accross the street as seen in a previous post.
https://vimeo.com/129805276

Courtesy Newmark Cornish & Carey

Progress as of June 23:



Courtesy Santana Row