Google is investing $200 million in San Jose as a part of its Downtown West development, dedicated to preventing resident displacement and creating more economic opportunity for locals critics say will be forced out by rising rents. San Jose and Google released their much-anticipated development agreement Tuesday, a nearly 500-page document outlining the legal obligations...
Lawmaker pushes for affordable housing in tech-heavy north San Jose
Tech heavyweights like PayPal and Cisco Systems call North San Jose home, along with Google’s San Jose offices and hundreds of smaller tech startups. But local leaders are saying another type of development—affordable housing—is missing in the white-collar heavy district. Councilmember David Cohen, who represents North San Jose, wants an increase in affordable housing in...
Will San Jose meet its affordable housing goals for the Diridon area?
San Jose wants 25% of homes in the Diridon Station Area — where Google aims to build an 80-acre campus for roughly 20,000 workers — to be designated as affordable. But how will it reach that goal? Housing policy thinktank Silicon Valley at Home and the San Jose Housing Department led a meeting this month...
Historic or racist? San Jose lawmakers debate new designation
An effort to create a new historic district in an affluent part of San Jose is raising concerns the city is memorializing segregation and racism. Elected leaders voted 4-1 at a City Council committee meeting this week to nominate a new historic district near downtown called The Alameda Park/Schiele Avenue Historic District. Councilmember Dev Davis championed...
San Jose flea market vendors worry about its demise
The hustle and bustle at the iconic San Jose Flea Market ground to a virtual halt during the early days of the pandemic. But some are concerned that vendors might be shut down again—this time for good. If that happens, vendors-turned-activists Roberto Gonazalez, Kaled Escobedo Vega and Mariana Mejia say they’d be losing a lot...
San Jose leaders to give housing developers a break on park fees
Desperate to see more housing built in San Jose, lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday to give developers a break on fees at the expense of local parks. Housing developers are required to either add parks and community centers into their project plans or pay a fee to the city that will go toward supporting parks in...
Former San Jose lawmaker has a new gig in real estate
After getting a bit of rest, former San Jose Councilmember Johnny Khamis is back at work. Not at San Jose City Hall. He just accepted a job as a part-time public relations consultant for the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors (SCCAOR). SCCAOR provides educational and networking opportunities to more than 6,000 Realtors across the county....
Collins: How COVID-19 has influenced South Bay real estate trends
COVID-19 has affected our everyday life in almost every aspect. Homebuying is no exception. The pandemic did not necessarily create new trends but rather accelerated them. Prior to COVID-19, online shopping already had been on a considerable upward swing. The pandemic just boosted it. The same can be said about remote working or working from...
How much do you need to earn to buy a home in San Jose? More than $240K a year
The housing market in Silicon Valley is notoriously expensive. But a new report from HSH.com shows just how much a resident needs to earn in San Jose to pay for a home. According to the study, to afford the principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments on a median-priced home, a buyer in San Jose must...
Collins: How does the 2021 housing market look?
Nine months ago when our world was turned upside down with a countywide stay-at-home order, none of us could have predicted the robust housing market we have been experiencing. Many of us were assuming similar outcomes as we experienced during the last great recession, but plummeting prices and mass foreclosures never materialized. In fact, sale...