Advocates say Google is hiding a data center inside a planned research and development lab in North San Jose. The tech giant’s plans at 5079 and 5087 Disk Drive call for demolishing an existing warehouse and parking lot to construct up to three research and development (R&D) facilities across nearly 483,000 square feet. Architectural blueprints...
Battle lines drawn in San Jose housing plan overhaul
San Jose housing advocates and neighborhood groups are getting organized as the City Council prepares to take up a raft of proposals that could determine the course of housing development in the city for years to come. The package of recommendations, part of the city’s once-every-four-year review of its general plan, makes changes to the city’s...
Supreme Court ruling allows San Jose to penalize homeless people
San Jose hasn’t hesitated to implement a wave of policies and programs aimed at tamping down homelessness since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the floodgates to ban homeless people in public spaces. Since the Johnson v. Grants Pass ruling two years ago, San Jose has wasted no time extending its ban on the hours...
Santa Clara County could see a bump in affordable homes
Santa Clara County may see another funding boost to build more affordable housing—if voters approve a bond measure in November. On June 25, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a $11.25 billion affordable housing bond measure that would provide funding for home ownership, permanent supportive housing and the preservation of affordable housing. The bond would break out $1.25 billion...
RV bans in San Jose reduce vehicles on streets by 60%
RVs that used to be ubiquitous on San Jose’s streets have dropped by more than half since the city began upping the pressure on people living in vehicles. While officials say this has created cleaner and safer neighborhoods, those vulnerable say these policies are pushing them over the edge. Since last January when San Jose...
Santa Clara County and state seek immediate halt to ICE facility
State and local South Bay leaders have escalated their legal campaign to block a planned ICE facility near Gilroy. California Attorney General Rob Bonta along with Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti filed a preliminary injunction in federal court Wednesday seeking to halt construction of a project that appears to be on course to create...
Silicon Valley office market still shaky, despite gains
An uptick in leasing activity in Silicon Valley’s commercial real estate market has offered a glimmer of hope that a stronger post-pandemic economic recovery may be taking hold. But market watchers caution that high office vacancies are likely to remain for years to come. The rate of commercial lease deals over the first quarter of...
San Jose nonprofit buys property to help homeless people
A San Jose home that was part of a national Catholic movement to provide a “house of hospitality” to the marginalized is transferring hands, though its mission to help homeless people will remain. Catholic Worker San Jose is selling its seven-bedroom home on North Sixth Street, known as Casa de Clara, to nonprofit Amigos de Guadalupe...
State budget shortchanges Santa Clara County homeless response
At a time when the U.S. is reeling from social safety net cuts, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget makes it even more challenging for groups to effectively address homelessness in Santa Clara County, nonprofit leaders and advocates said. The governor’s proposed budget includes $500 million for Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) statewide for the...
Santa Clara County expands protections to include more renters
Santa Clara County is expanding the types of renters covered under its eviction protection laws — and the amount landlords will pay to help displaced tenants relocate. The Board of Supervisors on June 2 voted 4-1 — with District 5 Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga voting no — to revise the county’s 1993 tenant protection law, which...