Downtown

Downtown

What’s next for empty Safeway in downtown San Jose

A prominent commercial space in downtown San Jose is being taken over by a new business, following more than four years of vacancy. OneMedAll, an oral wellness and health consulting company based in San Jose, is planning to open its first customer-facing location at 100 S. Second St., the same space where a Safeway shuttered...

Will San Jose’s St. James Park revamp be a gamechanger?

One of San Jose’s oldest parks that laid the ground for presidential speeches, memorials and even lynchings wants to remake history again after more than 150 years. St. James Park, located on nearly seven acres in the downtown core, is getting a complete makeover through a partnership between Levitt Foundation, Friends of Levitt Pavilion San...

San Jose pilot program to tackle blight

San Jose streets are blighted with trash, broken windows and graffiti—and instead of waiting for residents to point it out, the city wants to find and fix it first. The city is launching a pilot program where its employees will conduct blight inspections and enforcement in downtown and other areas for six months, starting in...

Dilapidated San Jose church repairs put on hold

A plan by San Jose officials to protect a historic former church that has been all but ignored by its owner is now in limbo. The roughly 120-year-old former First Church of Christ Scientist near St. James Park in downtown may continue to be allowed to wither, as a proposal to spend $200,000 of city money...

San Jose Starbucks the latest location to unionize

Starbucks employees at a downtown San Jose shop have won their fight to unionize after a 45-day effort. Employees at The Alameda and Julian Street Starbucks unanimously voted to unionize on May 19, despite the company’s historic opposition to unionization. The local shop is partnering with Starbucks Workers United to help complete the restructuring. Only...

Lawsuit doesn’t stop San Jose park concerts

A spring concert series kicked off last week in a downtown San Jose park, and despite an ongoing lawsuit, organizers will not be deterred. Friends of Levitt Pavilion San Jose, a nonprofit, hosted its first springtime concert in St. James Park last Sunday, the latest step in establishing a permanent outdoor performance venue. The shows will...

UPDATE: Downtown San Jose street to become pedestrian path

San Jose is on the road to preserving pedestrian-only access indefinitely on San Pedro Street—but it will take years and millions of dollars in long-term infrastructure improvements to make it possible. The San Jose City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to give initial approval for plans to repave the street as a sidewalk and reroute the...