A fire-prone apartment complex in East San Jose has repeatedly received warnings about missing and defective smoke detectors and other fire hazards for years, according to city records. On numerous occasions, code enforcement officials flagged missing and non-functioning smoke detectors and carbon monoxide devices at Foxdale Village Apartments, a low-income apartment complex owned by KDF Communities that’s been the...
Former San Jose theater one step closer to office conversion
Years after the Camera 12 movie theater in downtown San Jose shut its doors, the project promised to replace it is now one step closer to construction. Local development firm Urban Catalyst, which purchased the property in 2019, recently obtained a building permit for the 100,000-square-foot project. The firm also received a $56.2 million senior construction...
How did housing homeless San Jose students in Airbnbs go?
Two years after launching a landmark program to house homeless San Jose students in Airbnb rooms, nearly half the participants dropped out of the program and ended up in hotels. The program, officials say, took major blows from COVID-19 and other logistical problems. Sparky Harlan, CEO of the Bill Wilson Center that helped run the program,...
Homeless women say Apple treated them like ‘critters’
The encampment Apple swept near its property in North San Jose was home to several women — and one of them says the tech giant treated her like a “filthy little critter.” The homeless camp near Component Drive housed up to 100 people inside tents and cars for at least two years. Apple, which plans...
San Jose-Google payment goes to affordable housing, rent relief
San Jose is investing $3 million from Google in various fixes for the city’s housing crisis, including pandemic-related rent relief. The City Council unanimously approved the allocation of funds on Tuesday, with $1.25 million going to tenant and landlord outreach on the eviction moratorium and rental relief programs, $1 million for affordable housing nonprofit organizations,...
UPDATE: San Jose approves plan to spread out multi-unit affordable housing
San Jose residents could soon see affordable housing crop up in unexpected neighborhoods, thanks to a new policy that will spread out multi-unit developments in the city. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a plan that distributes affordable housing development in places near public transit and with upward mobility. City...
Homeless fentanyl deaths rising in Santa Clara County
Fentanyl continues to kill unhoused residents in Santa Clara County, and some unsuspecting users may be taking the drug in the form of counterfeit pills. Seven homeless individuals in San Jose suffered fatal overdoses from methamphetamine laced with fentanyl in the past month, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Fentanyl, a synthetic...
Has San Jose mayor accomplished his housing goals?
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo four years ago proposed an ambitious 15-point plan to address the city’s housing crisis. And while the city has checked off many of those points over the years, it’s still shy of reaching one major housing goal. One of the plan’s most important metrics is to build 25,000 homes by...
Second Harvest food bank finds new home in North San Jose
To keep up with growing demand, Silicon Valley’s largest food bank is moving to a new home in the Alviso area of North San Jose. The new location for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley will consist of three connected single-story buildings covering approximately 250,000 square feet. The space will consolidate the food bank’s three locations to reduce costs and...
Santa Clara County limits water handouts for homeless residents
Some activists claim the county is no longer providing them water to take to homeless encampments—a service offered over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gail Osmer, an advocate for houseless communities, said throughout the pandemic she’s gotten multiple cases of water from the county Office of Supportive Housing to distribute. But earlier this month, she says the...