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Google’s mega campus in San Jose hits a snag

Amid ongoing turbulence with office space vacancies, Google and an Australian development firm are ending their agreement to create four work and live districts in the South Bay worth $15 billion, including Downtown West in San Jose. The tech giant on Friday said its split with Sydney-based Lendlease is not the end of its master-planned...

San Jose landmark faces pushback from Chavez family

It’s been four years since officials unveiled an ambitious proposal to build a world-class landmark in Silicon Valley, but a new dispute over who should manage Plaza de Cesar Chavez may further delay the project. The organizers of the “The Breeze of Innovation”—a design that would use hundreds of swaying rods powered by wind to...

San Jose greenlights hotel conversion for student housing

San Jose leaders have reluctantly agreed to a plan to convert hundreds of hotel rooms into student housing amid concerns it will harm tourism. The San Jose City Council unanimously approved a deal yesterday between San Jose State University and the owner of the former Fairmont Hotel, rebranded as Signia by Hilton last year, to sell...

State suspension law creates conflict at East San Jose school

A state law created to protect vulnerable student populations from disproportionate levels of suspension and expulsion is complicating matters for an East San Jose high school. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed Senate Bill 274 that bars willful defiance or low-level behavioral issues from suspending students in grades 6-12. The new law, which goes into effect...

San Jose leaders say downtown is entering ‘a new era of promise’

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...