Nearly two decades after Cheim Lumber sold its last two-by-four, its almost five-acre site could become a hotbed of wood-frame construction itself.
Fairfield Residential last week turned in a proposal to develop a 315-unit apartment community at 800 W. San Carlos St. The project promises to bring bodies and retail to the key corner at West San Carlos and Sunol Street that in recent years has served as a Hertz truck rental location.
On tap: 23,500 square feet of retail, restaurant and office spaces primarily oriented along the main West San Carlos corridor, San Jose planner Emily Lipoma told me. Preliminary plans show a project ranging from four to seven stories.
The city has been looking to inject new life into the area, with mixed results so far. The biggest piece of that effort, The Ohlone — an 8-acre project with up to 800 units of housing across the street from the Fairfield proposal — has faced numerous challenges lately, and its future is uncertain. The Fairfield proposal represents an entirely new project on a different piece of land.
The old Corporation Yard will be developed to two apartment buildings
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The subject property was originally developed in the late 1880s as San Jose’s second (third?) Chinatown, named Heinlenville for its owner and benefactor, John Heinlen. Mr. Heinlen retained prominent local architect Theodore Lenzen to design what he and the Chinese merchants intended to be a permanent home for San Jose’s Chinese population. Aware of the history of arson attacks against previous Chinatowns in San Jose, Mr. Heinlen specified that the new Chinatown be built in brick, and was supplied with both piped water and sewers.
By the 1930s, most of the buildings of Heinlenville were vacant. Gradually, the block bounded by Taylor, Jackson, Sixth, and Seventh Streets were taken over by the City of San Jose for use as a corporation yard, and the remains were buried under asphalt and buildings. In 2008, Sonoma State University performed a series of archaeological excavations in limited areas of the project site. These excavations uncovered the remains of houses, restaurants, and stores, as well as those of Heinlenville’s original Ng Shing Gung Temple
The area around the the Chinatown became Japantown as it was the only area where Japanese immigrants could settle without being hassled.
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A “Great Good Place” in the Heart of Japantown
San Jose’s most unique urban neighborhood will soon be home to one of its most unique developments. A place where residents and visitors can pick up fresh offerings from local farmers, browse an eclectic mix of local shops, restaurants and boutiques, and gather to watch an impromptu practice session of world-renowned San Jose Taiko. Japantown Square will create what the community has envisioned as a “Great Good Place” – residences, local retail, and a new home for San Jose Taiko and local arts organizations - all oriented around a new public park and plaza.
Japantown Square will bring world-class urban design, modern urban living, new local shops, and a home for the beloved San Jose Taiko to the heart of Japantown. When complete, the project will include:
Approximately 532 modern apartments in two buildings, including top-of-class resident amenities
Up to 20,300 square feet of new neighborhood-serving commercial space
The new Creative Center for the Arts with up to 60,000 square feet of arts-related space, including a new home for San Jose Taiko
A new ¾-acre public park and plaza capable of hosting public events including community festivals and the weekly Farmers Market
Approximately 827 new parking spaces to serve residents, commercial tenants and the Creative Center for the Arts
Exclusive: Wolff, DiNapoli set stage for downtown San Jose's next office tower
Lew Wolff and Phil DiNapoli have developed in downtown San Jose for decades, building some of its most recognizable projects. But it’s been years since they've taken on a new project in the central business district.
That hiatus ended this week. On Wednesday, they submitted plans for a 725,000-square-foot tower at 333 W. San Fernando St. The 2.5-acre site, currently a parking lot and small light-industrial building, has long been owned by the partnership. But Wolff said it finally makes sense to start thinking of higher and better uses for the land.
“I’ve always felt downtown needed at least one more, and hopefully more than one, large-space user,” Wolff, who also co-owns the San Jose Fairmont Hotel, said in an interview. “Now downtown San Jose has become in the gunsights of many users where it wasn’t a year ago.”
Silvery Towers, cranes are up but its still a hole in the ground:
More of the construction fencing being removed on the new courthouse:
In terms of the Julian St realignment/new street grid, it feels to me like they're taking a "just tear this shit up and rebuild it from scratch" approach, which I suppose makes some sense:
Some progress finally being made on the Autumn st extension (after more or less being idle for a few years):
Exclusive: As downtown San Jose's Ross store prepares to go dark, tower plans wait in the wings
Faced with the loss of Ross Dress for Less at his downtown San Jose property, developer Mike Sarimsakci examined the prospects for filling the roughly 30,000-square-foot space with another retailer. It didn't take long to decide on a surer — if seemingly more complicated — course: Redeveloping the site into the city's next high-rise apartment tower.
"We've always wanted to do this project, but I think we were waiting for the right time. It's at the right time," Sarimsakci, who heads up Dallas-based developer Alterra International, told me in a phone call from Istanbul on Monday night. "We're departing amicably with Ross, and the market conditions are such that if we miss the cycle, we'll end up waiting maybe another 10 years. That could be too late."
Earlier this month, Sarimsakci submitted preliminary plans for a 24-story modernist apartment tower for the site, a 24,000-square-foot parcel at 27 S. First Street, smack dab in the downtown's historic district. The project would include 324 units and 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, replacing a site that's been home to Ross since 2009. The chain announced several weeks ago — after months of rumors — that it will be closing the store this summer, exercising an exit clause in its lease agreement to leave early.
C2K Architecture is designing the Silvery Towers Condominiums on behalf of Full Power Properties, LLC. The development is located in downtown San Jose. It will feature two high-rise towers and a retail podium that will extend the San Pedro Square arts and entertainment district.
643 units in two condo towers right by San Pedro Square, this lot is practically kitty corner to Centerra.
Progress as of Apr 29, 2017:
Looks like they are starting work on the 12th floor, which I believe leaves 10 floors including the 12 to go.
Trammell’s designs for the land are still being refined, but executives anticipate developing about 800,000 square feet of office in two buildings rising 10 to 12 stories, and 325 apartment units in a nine-story building. The site, which fronts West Santa Clara Street kitty corner from SAP Center, would be sprinkled with shops and restaurants and include a large public plaza along West Santa Clara Street. The historic San Jose Water Company building would be renovated and repurposed, possibly as an entertainment-focused retail space.
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But make no mistake: While developers are thrilled for the new Whole Foods, which has been credited with drawing investor interest, this is all about transit.
Trammell, which has developed more than $60 billion worth of real estate over its nearly 70-year history, was searching for a major transit-oriented development site next to Caltrain up and down the Peninsula, Little said. Executives quickly honed in on the Adobe land, attracted to its large size and Diridon’s frequent “Baby Bullet” Caltrain service, the line’s semi-express mode.
Park View Towers poised to add to St. James Park revival
That could all change after the San Jose City Council on Tuesday gave final approval to a redesigned $150 million mixed-use high-rise condo project there called Park View Towers, brushing aside objections from the Preservation Action Council of San Jose that the development was out of character with the historic area.
The go-ahead means BSB can move forward with the complex process of moving the historic church so that site work can begin in earnest, a prelude to vertical construction. (The church will then be moved back and renovated for commercial use, making it the centerpiece of the two-tower, 220-unit project.) And it raises hopes for a long-awaited revival of the St. James Park, a vast downtown open space designed by Frederick Law Olmstead but an area that has long struggled with homelessness and drugs.
"This is a critical milestone in the history of St. James Park," said Christy Mabry, senior development manager for BSB. "It will be a huge catalyst. It will get the eyes on the park."
Work hasn't started in moving the church or demo of the parking lot currently at the site. Speculation has been on an early 2016 date, but no work occurred.
R&F PROPERTIES ADDS 2 SILICON VALLEY PROJECTS TO $9.6B IN 2017 DEALS
2017/04/17 BY MICHAEL COLE LEAVE A COMMENT
Parkview Towers
The Parkview Towers site has already been approved for 220 homes (Image: SVBJ)
Mainland developer R&F Properties this month appears to have picked up its fifth and sixth US property projects, adding a pair of Silicon Valley sites to the $9.6 billion in new overseas developments it has committed to this year.
Two subsidiaries of San Francisco-based Full Power Properties – a US company linked to the Guangzhou-based builder – last week acquired the Park View Towers and North San Pedro Tower 3 residential projects in San Jose, California from local developer Swenson for an undisclosed sum, according to a report in the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Stories in the US and mainland press have linked Full Power to R&F, but the Chinese company has never acknowledged having a stake in the privately-held firm.
New property owner just bought it so they may break ground this year.
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.
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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.
R&F PROPERTIES ADDS 2 SILICON VALLEY PROJECTS TO $9.6B IN 2017 DEALS
Two subsidiaries of San Francisco-based Full Power Properties – a US company linked to the Guangzhou-based builder – last week acquired the Park View Towers and North San Pedro Tower 3 residential projects in San Jose, California from local developer Swenson for an undisclosed sum, according to a report in the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Stories in the US and mainland press have linked Full Power to R&F, but the Chinese company has never acknowledged having a stake in the privately-held firm.
The property recently sold so hopefully it will be braking ground this year.
San Pedro Square in line for 200 apartments in McEnery, Mill Creek plan
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Working with Mill Creek Residential Trust, an investment and development firm, McEnery and his partners are proposing a 204-unit apartment complex for a 1-acre parcel at 45 N. San Pedro St. A formal city planning application was submitted last week.
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Enter Mill Creek, a Texas-based firm founded by a group of former executives from Trammell Crow Co., the mammoth development outfit now owned by CBRE. Donald Peterson, a senior managing director at Mill Creek's San Francisco office, was looking for Bay Area projects and was already familiar with the San Pedro Square area.
"As far as I was concerned, that was ground zero," Peterson said.
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Mill Creek's and McEnery's project is in some ways more difficult: Its mid-block location and historic neighbors pose unique challenges.
"It's one of downtown's most important infill sites nestled between the historic buildings and the heart of San Pedro Square," said Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association. "It has to be designed and executed brilliantly."
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Site prep still ongoing it seems, as of Apr 29, 2017:
New science building for San Jose State University (located in downtown for those who are not familiar with the area).
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San Jose State University will create a state of the art science facility focused on faculty-led student research. The project will construct a new building of 160,000 gross square feet accommodating teaching labs, research labs, faculty offices, dean's suite and interdisciplinary spaces. The project location is being proposed in the south west quadrant of campus north of Duncan Hall.
Status: Schematic Design
Anticipated Construction Duration: January 2019 - June 2021
Total Project Cost: $147,518,000
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
Museum Place: Complex SJ project The city is struggling to draw the strands of Museum Place together.
The fundamental question about Museum Place, the massive 24-story project planned behind the Tech Museum of Innovation, is whether it is too complex for San Jose.
Don’t get me wrong: If city officials and the developer, Insight Realty, build this project, it will be a huge victory for a downtown that has struggled to fulfill its ambitions.
A project that includes a hotel, condos, office space, shops and a Tech Museum expansion defines urbanity in a way San Jose has never really seen.
But that’s part of the issue: We are fundamentally a suburban town, with suburban codes and ordinances. The council is divided between pro-business and pro-union factions.
Nearly two decades after Cheim Lumber sold its last two-by-four, its almost five-acre site could become a hotbed of wood-frame construction itself.
Fairfield Residential last week turned in a proposal to develop a 315-unit apartment community at 800 W. San Carlos St. The project promises to bring bodies and retail to the key corner at West San Carlos and Sunol Street that in recent years has served as a Hertz truck rental location.
On tap: 23,500 square feet of retail, restaurant and office spaces primarily oriented along the main West San Carlos corridor, San Jose planner Emily Lipoma told me. Preliminary plans show a project ranging from four to seven stories.
The city has been looking to inject new life into the area, with mixed results so far. The biggest piece of that effort, The Ohlone — an 8-acre project with up to 800 units of housing across the street from the Fairfield proposal — has faced numerous challenges lately, and its future is uncertain. The Fairfield proposal represents an entirely new project on a different piece of land.
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