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...
San Jose could allow homeless residents to sleep outdoors
San Jose is considering adding safe sleeping sites to its long-running list of homelessness responses—an idea officials have shot down before. Amid the city declaring homelessness an emergency last week, local leaders want supervised outdoor living spaces with supportive services for the city’s unhoused residents. Safe sleeping sites are already in place in San Diego and...
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...
San Jose foster youth hub ready for construction
An affordable housing development centered on homeless foster youth will break ground in San Jose next month. The San Jose City Council approved nearly $40 million in state bonds on Tuesday to construct 81 affordable apartments—with half reserved for foster youth ages 15-24—on Parkmoor Avenue near San Jose City College. The remaining apartments will be...
A win for San Jose: VTA approves homeless housing site
After a monthslong debate between local leaders, North San Jose is set to receive 200 temporary homes for homeless residents. The VTA board of directors unanimously approved building the homes at its Cerone bus yard on Thursday. The consensus by the 12-person board comes as a surprise after deep political divides and ongoing disputes threatened...
Will downtown San Jose church become historic landmark?
A downtown San Jose church is on the cusp of becoming a historic landmark, potentially ending a yearslong battle to shield the 1940s-era building from redevelopment. The San Jose City Council will vote in the next few weeks to designate Grace Baptist Church as a historic landmark—protecting it, ideally, indefinitely. Councilmember Omar Torres’ request for the...
San Jose officials pressure VTA for homeless housing
Whether a result of politics or caution, San Jose’s hopes of opening an interim housing site at a public transit lot in the northern part of the city may not happen exactly how leaders want. The VTA board of directors is voting Thursday on where to build 200 homes for homeless residents. The 12-person board...
Silicon Valley homeless nonprofit accused of racial profiling
NAACP representatives have accused HomeFirst of racially profiling employees and voiced their anger in front of the homeless service provider’s headquarters. The allegations include displaying photos of former Black employees in a handbook “like criminal mugshots,” rescheduling Black employees who needed child care and recently firing a Black employee who is now facing homelessness himself...
East San Jose store faces outcry for obtaining liquor license
An East San Jose convenience store with a controversial history has received a permit to sell alcohol, despite concerns of underage drinking and increasing crime in the area. The San Jose Planning Commission on Sept. 27 granted Fast Mart, a convenience store at 1484 S. White Road in the Mount Pleasant South neighborhood, a conditional use...
New San Jose programs approve permits in days—not months
San Jose’s Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement Department is streamlining its permitting process to generate faster turnaround times. The online process is two-fold. One feature—Best Prepared Designer—is aimed at design professionals and contractors who have a good track record with the city on small projects like single-family remodels and commercial projects. The program aims to...