Changes in DTSJ (San Jose, Santa Clara, Cupertino: houses, dorm, vs.)

[darkeconomist]

Not DTSJ, and more boring than a big, brand new office or residential complex, but news about nearby at the Oak & Cherry Furniture warehouse on Lincoln:

CP15-035
2015 017020 AO
460 LINCOLN AV SAN JOSE
Shell (All Other Permits)
Conditional Use Permit
Under Review
Conditional Use Permit to allow for tenant improvements to an existing 41,105 sq. ft. warehouse and for retail sales associated with a coffee roasting company, brewery, and bike shop on a 2.03 gross acre site.

[darkeconomist]

PD15-022
2015 018467 DV
740 W SAN CARLOS ST SAN JOSE
Development Permit
PD Permit
Under Review
Planned Development Permit to allow the construction for an approximately 7-story 95 multi-family residential units and 2,735 square feet of commercial on 1.06 gross acre site

Bobby_Guz_Man, getting your "7 stories minimum or go home." Gonna stand out like a sore thumb, sandwiched between San Carlos and the townhome section of the Monte Vista complex.

[darkeconomist]

Behind Pizza Jack's, right across from the 740 W San Carlos property. If all this development comes to pass, full BRT can't come soon enough.

PD15-023
2015 018509 DV
270 SUNOL ST SAN JOSE
Development Permit
PD Permit
Under Review
Planned Development Permit to allow the construction of an approximately 7-story 104 unit multi-family development unit with 2,990 square feet of ground-floor commercial on an approximately 1.30 gross acre site

[bobby_guz_man]

So what do you want from Midtown DE? You want 3-4 stories, that's it?

I'm a simple person. If we're going to build a lot of housing, then we need to build it in as little of a parcel as possible. Should we pay attention to the surrounding, yes, but we can't let the surrounding dictate entirely how we build. If that's the case then the Bank of Italy would never go up in Downtown San Jose. The first skyscraper would not go up in New York.

You know my stance on housing in San Jose. Downtown and perhaps Midtown is the only place that to me is good to put housing. And if we do so, we need to put as much as we can.

That teacher building on Bird/San Carlos is ugly because of poor aesthetics, not because of its height. I like that building very much as it makes that whole intersection looks "urban-y".

I agree with stepping down some parts of the building to make it merge with the rest of the neighborhood, but it should not have to always be so. It's entirely OK to have brand new, mid-rise structure next to older buildings. Even historic ones. And I'm sorry but that Delmas neighborhood is nothing but old pieces of crap in terms of architecture. The Victorians surrounding the 7-8 stories Pierce apartment could probably make a case as they are well-maintained and beautiful structures, but the Delmas neighborhood? C'mon...this is the same argument that's stalling Parkview Towers!

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

So what do you want from Midtown DE? You want 3-4 stories, that's it?

Incremental development and attention to context. I even sided with you, saying how development could accommodate mid-rises in a low-rise area by stepping up to the full height.

I'm not antagonistic to 7 stories, nor am I antagonistic to tall next to short when the building is attractive and meshes well at the street level, but I am antagonistic to shoving monolithic blocks next to low-rise neighborhoods and to unattractive buildings in general.

The Delmas Park Apartments--had to look up the actual name--aren't good urbanity, they're just ugly and out of place. But I look at 360 in SoFA and it works because the building is attractive and it accounts for context--it's tall on the side that faces the Marriott and has the wider street but short on the side that fronts 1st. Or I look at something on Architizer like the Toshima Ward Office and it works because, despite being very tall, the base slopes away from the street so that the building doesn't feel big to the pedestrian.

Talking about the Sunol area, specifically, I'm all for build-out and you know it. The area could accommodate some taller buildings given how deep the block is between San Carlos and Auzerias; they could start at 4-5 stories at the San Carlos streetwall and have 6-10 mid-block and it would work.

[darkeconomist]

Meet San Jose's newest tower proposal — in SoFA

UrbanCo — a joint venture of the Core Companies and Republic Urban Properties — has filed preliminary plans for a 24-story, 270-unit tower at South Market and East William streets across from the San Jose Stage Company.

About 4,000 to 6,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial is contemplated in the current plans, with the largest amount slated for the corner of William and First streets. A parking structure would be integrated into the back of the site, with parking also going one level underground.
But the exact numbers and configuration could change. The project is just at the beginning stages, with the developers slated to meet with community groups and the city architecture review board in the coming weeks to get feedback. “A lot of what we’re doing now is engaging the stakeholders,” Neale said. Still, he hopes to move quickly and start site work within a year.

[darkeconomist]

SVBJ: Lincoln Law School Looking to Go Residential

Back in the dotcom boom, 1 N. First St. in downtown San Jose was positively bursting with office tenants. Ever since the early-2000s crash, though, it’s been a different story.

“No one can generate any interest in the office space,” said Kirk Kozlowski of Saratoga Capital, an owner of the the 82,000-square-foot building.

So Kozlowski is seeking to transform the commercial building on one of downtown’s best corners into apartments — something he has done successfully over the years in three well-received projects downtown. On tap this time: 72 residential units in five stories with about 7,500 square feet of retail on the ground floor.

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by darkeconomist

SVBJ: Lincoln Law School Looking to Go Residential

Need to go higher. I'm OK with this usage but it needs to go higher.

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

Need to go higher. I'm OK with this usage but it needs to go higher.

I'd like to see it go higher, too, but the political capital might be better spent getting the other 2/3 of that massive block to convert from parking.

[darkeconomist]

Exclusive: Developer buys Union Pacific site for ambitious mixed-use project at gateway to downtown San Jose

Perhaps more significant for the market, however, is Insight’s bold bet that downtown is ready to expand over the freeway.

“What they’re doing is testing the ability of the city to jump the freeway,” said Mark Ritchie of Ritchie Commercial, which specializes in the downtown office market. “The freeway is a murderous barricade. But downtown is so small, it can be doubled by jumping the freeway, provided that the tenant base will do so.”

Insight has yet to submit a formal proposal to the city, but Randall said the concept is to build about 240,000 square feet of office closest to the freeway, complemented by about 650 apartment units fronting the Guadalupe River trail. Retail would also be in the mix.

On the office side, Insight is considering an industrial-chic design that recalls a kind of factory building complete with a sawtooth-style roof. But the key selling point is the wide-open interiors that today’s tech tenants are seeking: large floor plates of around 40,000 square square feet and huge ceilings 18 feet tall.

...

While experts agree that the project's residential component would be successful, the depth of office demand in this area is unclear. The largest office project nearby is the Sobrato Organization's 290,000-square-foot River Corporate Center, adjacent to the Railyard Place parcel. It was built in the 2000s and has not been followed by additional construction.

But Randall said the market is ready for the office, especially because large tech tenants are seeking proximity to housing and services. "Every property now has to do double duty," he said. "We’re getting work balanced with life."

Another question is whether the project could be developed with a residential component at all. It is currently zoned for commercial use only, and city officials have resisted recent developers' requests to build housing on land primarily zoned for jobs.

“It brings up a policy question,” said Michael Brilliot, a planning division manager for the city of San Jose. “It’s something we have to put our heads together and have a conversation about."

Randall said the residential component is needed to obtain financing for the office element, given the strength of the housing market and uncertainty over office. And the office proposed in the Insight plan isn't anything to sneeze at, either.

North San Pedro re-gridding, for context about "access"