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’s Cambrian Park Plaza inches toward redevelopment
Cambrian Park Plaza is a step closer to redevelopment with the release of its draft environmental report. Located at the intersection of Union and Camden avenues in San Jose with its iconic carousel sign, the reimagined single-story shopping center, which dates back to the 1950s, is a long way from approval. An estimated completion date...
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...
How Google’s downtown campus will transform San Jose’s art landscape
This article was produced in a joint partnership between San José Spotlight and Content Magazine, a nonprofit print publication featuring the innovative and creative people of Silicon Valley. When Alexa Arena commutes to San Jose from her home in San Francisco, she often takes Caltrain. “The good news is when you’re sitting on a train,...
Silicon Valley residential development booming, but not affordable
Rental rates are going up and affordable homes are scarce in Silicon Valley, a regional think tank says. Four out of 10 multi-family renter households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, according to a recent report from the Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies. This is considered a moderate to severe financial...
Developments ramp up in downtown San Jose opportunity zone
High-rise developments are flowing through the construction pipeline in downtown San Jose, fueled by investor money and tax incentives—and it’s going to be that way for the next few years. The spur in development is due to opportunity zones, economically challenged areas where investors can receive federal tax breaks for putting money toward revitalization. While the pandemic...