The tone of an annual meeting on the state of downtown San Jose was hopeful, despite the city core’s slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. San Jose Downtown Association members met today at the Hammer Theatre Center, along with city leaders who rallied support for a “vibrant, community-driven” downtown. The area is facing a number of setbacks, including the...
Downtown San Jose office vacancies hit 10-year high
Downtown San Jose’s commercial vacancy rates are the highest they’ve been in more than a decade, according to a new report. While development is slowly increasing across the city, real estate agents are struggling to find renters or tenants to fill the spaces. About 24% of commercial space in San Jose was empty during the...
Apartments could fill empty downtown San Jose storefronts
The owners of a luxury downtown San Jose apartment complex want to transform the building’s commercial space into more housing after struggling to find business tenants. Houston-based The Hanover Company is seeking approval at a San Jose Planning Director’s hearing on Wednesday to make the change in its building at 715 W. Julian Street, just off...
The Biz Beat: Try the grasshoppers at Mezcal in San Jose
Mezcal Restaurant in San Jose specializes in authentic Oaxacan cuisine, from the mole negro and mole coloradito—two of the seven famed Oaxacan chocolate sauces—to the chapulines, or grasshoppers sauteed in garlic, lime and salt. Umm… grasshoppers? “Why not?” owner Adolfo Gomez told San José Spotlight. “It’s a traditional item for us. People say we’re trying...
Latino leaders who shaped Silicon Valley
Hispanic or Latino residents make up about 31% of San Jose’s population and 24.7% of Santa Clara County, according to U.S. Census data—and the impact of local leaders is visible across the region. Activists have worked for decades to give Latino residents equity, representation and access to services. The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican...
San Jose workers are not returning to downtown
The San Jose metro area ranks in the top 10 among the lowest in the country for employees returning to the office. San Jose sits in the ninth spot at 40.7% for return-to-office rates, according to a recent study by Kastle, a facilities security firm that tracks office visits by analyzing keycard swipes at buildings...
East San Jose school district to tackle violence
An East San Jose school district is responding to community safety concerns after a string of violent campus incidents, but teachers and parents want long-term preventive measures. East Side Union High School District Superintendent Glenn Vander Zee has agreed to establish a school safety task force comprised of teachers, administrators, parents, students and board members...
Will downtown San Jose church become historic landmark?
A downtown San Jose church is on the cusp of becoming a historic landmark, potentially ending a yearslong battle to shield the 1940s-era building from redevelopment. The San Jose City Council will vote in the next few weeks to designate Grace Baptist Church as a historic landmark—protecting it, ideally, indefinitely. Councilmember Omar Torres’ request for the...
San Jose brings in-person translators to all council meetings
San Jose is launching language interpreter services at some public meetings after translation mishaps earlier this year. Starting today, there will be Spanish and Vietnamese translators in person and virtually at every San Jose City Council and council committee meeting. Prior to this change, people seeking in-person interpreters needed to submit a request ahead of...
The Biz Beat: Rollati Ristorante in San Jose serves one spicy pie
After two and a half years of planning, Rollati Ristorante has already established itself as a destination restaurant in the two weeks since its mid-September opening. Offering an elegant twist on classic Italian-American cuisine in downtown San Jose, it is the newest of the Vine Hospitality Group’s restaurants, which include Santana Row mainstays Left Bank,...