Development

Development

Labor group demands more records in lawsuit against San Jose

A labor organization suing San Jose for public records has expanded its suit. It wants to determine if the city singled out a compliance director for trying to get information about a public works project. The South Bay Piping Industry Labor Management Trust filed an amended lawsuit last week in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The original suit...

Smaller construction projects covered under San Jose labor agreement

San Jose is expanding a labor agreement to smaller public works projects, raising questions about how the city measures worker protections against business interests. The City Council voted last week 8-3 to approve amendments to San Jose’s Project Labor Agreement (PLA), which applies rules about working conditions and the type of labor that can be...

After five years, San Jose’s Cambrian Village back on track

Although residents seem satisfied with the latest Cambrian Park Plaza design, questions remain about the project’s impact. The 1950s era Cambrian Park Plaza, located at Camden and Union avenues in San Jose, is being reimagined as Cambrian Village, an 18-acre urban village. It will include retail, restaurants, a hotel, 305 apartments, 48 single-family homes with 27...

San Jose lawmakers implement controversial state housing law

San Jose adopts—and looks to build on—a state law that permits denser development in single-family neighborhoods. The City Council voted 9-1-1 Tuesday to adopt an urgency ordinance to implement Senate Bill 9, a state law that allows more homes on single-family lots. Councilmember Sylvia Arenas did not respond when asked for her vote. The council...

UPDATE: San Jose’s historic Burbank Theater sells for $1.6 million at auction

The historic Burbank Theater sold for $1.6 million in a Wednesday auction after sitting mostly empty for the last two decades. The winner of the auction has yet to be made public. The 72-year-old Art Deco icon sits in an unincorporated neighborhood that borders San Jose. The neglected and abandoned theater went up for auction Monday with a...

Why downtown San Jose struggles to find its sense of place

For decades, downtown San Jose has struggled to claim its centrality in Silicon Valley, but the metropolitan core is on the verge of a transformative era, architecture experts say. At the heart of California’s third largest city, many buildings in downtown San Jose aren’t particularly striking—or accurately reflect the status of a city that dubs...

San Jose’s Calle Willow protected from residential development

Small business owners in San Jose’s Calle Willow district can breathe easy, as fears of displacement from residential development won’t become a reality—for now. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to remove the Willow Street business district, known to residents as Calle Willow, from a city plan to increase building height limits and...

UPDATE: San Jose officials suggest dropping Opportunity Housing

A San Jose commission is asking the City Council to abandon a controversial local housing initiative in favor of a similar state law. And they’re looking for ways to ensure the law would open the door to more affordable housing. The Planning Commission voted 8-2 Wednesday to approve several staff recommendations for how to implement...

San Jose plan that limits development could be eliminated

A San Jose commission says it has the latest solution to traffic jams in the city’s east side: Stop development in the hills. The San Jose Planning Commission voted 9-1 this week to recommend eliminating an early-2000s era plan that limited homes and businesses in the city’s Evergreen and East Hills neighborhoods. Instead, future development...