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San José Development News

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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
San Jose Development News



San Jose Skyline Panoramic by SkylineScenes (Bill Cobb), on Flickr


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Will downtown San Jose ever develop the type of height and density of the downtowns in San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento?
 
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#61 ·
The Barry Swenson blog is interesting. It states the number of units sold for Axis, the 88, City Heights, and Plant 51. He said that the 360 is 6% leased after 2 weeks of pre-leasing.

At the bottom of the latest entrys is

"Don't be surprised if you hear about developers pulling building permits and breaking ground on new projects. Financing is slowly coming around, and we're hopeful that the valley will continue to be a leader in attracting the brightest minds to the best companies and providing quality housing for these employees."

I know that Barry Swenson has a lot of projects still proceeding but it sounds like other developers may start doing something. The most important part though is that it sounds like that financing is slowly coming back.
http://www.barryswensonbuilder.com/bay-area-real-estate-blog/

Interesting insight, I didn't know he had a blog. Thanks!
 
#62 ·
Hello San José members!

We have a discussion at the San Francisco thread in creating a sub-forum for San Francisco Bay Area and your opinion also matters. I hope you guys can read it there since your inputs also matters. :)
Hmmm, I like the new location of this thread but does the forum have to be titled "San Francisco"?? Will it be changed to "SF Bay Area" with specific threads for SF, SJ and OAK?

<<I stand corrected, the meeting was about a major Vendome expansion on N. First St.>> I think you all will be very impressed. Check out these new renderings.>>

http://www.barryswensonbuilder.com/vendome
It's the first time Ive welcomed a BSB design. I'm also glad those vacant lots are finally going to get some good use.

It really ought to be free to ride LR between the Discovery Museum and Japantown/Ayer stations to get these people to DT restaurants and events. This development also bodes well for Japantown businesses.
 
#64 ·
San Jose redevelopment chief stepping down

By John Woolfolk
jwoolfolk@mercurynews.com
© Copyright 2011, Bay Area News Group

After multiple rounds of layoffs from plummeting tax revenues that leave few plans for new projects, the latest casualty of San Jose's redevelopment agency is its top dog. Executive Director Harry Mavrogenes announced he's stepping down June 24 -- a symbolic loss to an agency that rebuilt downtown San Jose.

"I think it's time," Mavrogenes, who presides over the state's second-largest redevelopment agency, told this newspaper Friday. "I like an environment where we're building things and making major things happen. I'll be looking for other opportunities where I can make major physical change happen."
Mayor Chuck Reed credited Mavrogenes' skill in doing more with less. Even as the agency's fortune's dwindled, he pushed ahead planning for a major league ballpark near Diridon Station and luring technology companies from Brocade to solar startups Nanosolar and Sunpower. The question now is, without that link to the agency's storied past, from where will that ambition come?

"Harry has been very effective at doing things with a relatively small budget compared to his predecessors and to keep moving projects moving ahead with a shrinking budget," Reed said. "But, of course, it's shrunk so far there's not much left to do."

Mavrogenes' departure comes as Gov. Jerry Brown continues to press for ending redevelopment statewide and shifting the proceeds to schools and local government, easing funding pressure on the deficit-plagued state budget.

Along with the city manager, clerk, attorney and auditors, Mavrogenes, 61, is among few top officials appointed directly by the City Council, which serves as his agency's board of directors. With a base salary of $234,000, he is among the city's top-paid officials and among a handful granted a $250,000 low-cost city home loan, which he must pay back after retiring. He is selling his San Jose home, but he plans to stay in the area and is courting development jobs.

It will be up to the council to appoint a successor. The agency's deputy executive director since 2008 is Janet Kern, who had previously worked as an agency attorney for eight years. But Mavrogenes expects Kern to retire soon. Recruitment for a new director is complicated by the agency's shrinking budget and continued state threats to eliminate redevelopment.

A Chicago native, Mavrogenes came to California's Central Valley as a teenager and earned a bachelor's degree in urban studies from San Francisco State. He joined San Jose's planning department in 1971, working in various planning and redevelopment jobs until 1990, when he went to Miami Beach, Fla., to become that city's economic and community development director and later assistant city manager. While there, he helped revitalize the city's main commercial street, the Lincoln Road Mall.

In 1998, Mavrogenes returned to San Jose's redevelopment agency as deputy executive director. In 2003, when the agency's chief at the time, Susan Schick, announced her retirement, Mavrogenes took over as interim executive director. The council officially appointed him executive director in November 2004.

As director, Mavrogenes continued the downtown revitalization efforts begun under longtime director Frank Taylor, who retired in 1999 after 20 years and whom Mavrogenes called "great and visionary." Mavrogenes also presided over the agency's "strong neighborhoods" program, which since 2002 has invested $136 million in neighborhood revitalization efforts.

But Mavrogenes took the reins at the agency's zenith, when it boasted a $437 million budget and employed 134 people and before a real estate market meltdown and recession tanked the tax-increment receipts that are its lifeblood. By the summer of 2009, the agency employed 119. Plans call for shrinking the current staff of 31 to eight by July.

The rapid implosion has led to criticism. Some on the council, notably downtown Councilman Sam Liccardo, have questioned whether the agency based recent budgets on overly rosy economic forecasts, forcing the city this year to absorb an additional $10 million in costs amid its own deficits when agency revenues came up short.

The agency also has repeatedly dueled in court with Santa Clara County over revenue-sharing agreements, most recently in a settlement over $62.9 million, under which the city, as part of a repayment plan, is giving the county its old City Hall building on North First Street.

A March state controller's report noted San Jose's agency had the highest debt of 18 agencies reviewed -- $3.6 billion -- as well as the highest director salary and questioned its practice of paying a portion of the mayor and council salaries.

The state has only added to the agency's money woes. Apart from the governor's plan, the agency earlier this month had to pay $13 million to California officials, the balance of $75 million owed as part of a $2 billion state redevelopment grab in 2009. Two credit agencies in April downgraded bond ratings on $1.8 billion of the agency's debt.

"It's been very, very tough the last three to five years," Mavrogenes said. "I'm just taking a bit of a pause."
 
#69 ·
Downtown San Jose Development News

This is a thread dedicated to development projects in Downtown San Jose.

Here's a link to a future highrise map that shows projects that were recently completed, in planning, proposed, or under development (I'll try to keep it up to date as much as possible): http://sjhighrise.shorturl.com/

This might be a little too hyperlocal for this forum, but here is also a list of all 200 or so restaurants in San Jose: goo.gl/Qe7Pr

Major Projects in Dev or Proposed

San Pedro Square Urban Market (ETA Summer 2011)



Convention Center Expansion (2012)



Little Italy San Jose (Ongoing)



A's Stadium (Proposed)



Diridon Area (Planning)



North San Pedro (Permitted)



Part View Towers (Permitted)



Livingston Tower (Permitted)

 
#70 ·
BSB makes almost $100m a year in revenue and they're deeply invested in SJ. I'm pretty confident that the next major highrise to break ground will be involve them in some form.

The Barry Swenson blog is interesting. It states the number of units sold for Axis, the 88, City Heights, and Plant 51. He said that the 360 is 6% leased after 2 weeks of pre-leasing.

At the bottom of the latest entrys is

"Don't be surprised if you hear about developers pulling building permits and breaking ground on new projects. Financing is slowly coming around, and we're hopeful that the valley will continue to be a leader in attracting the brightest minds to the best companies and providing quality housing for these employees."

I know that Barry Swenson has a lot of projects still proceeding but it sounds like other developers may start doing something. The most important part though is that it sounds like that financing is slowly coming back.
 
#74 ·
What happened to our other forum?! Anyways. glad to see we are up and started again. BTW, I started a new blog thinkbiggersanjose.blog.com... Check it out.
It's in here but it got locked. Basically we got the shaft. I'm sure a bunch of other people are wondering where that forum went as well.
 
#76 ·
It's in here but it got locked. Basically we got the shaft. I'm sure a bunch of other people are wondering where that forum went as well.
I think theyre trying to get more people on the SF threads...screwing with the SJ thread is just a casualty of that (despite the fact we're the most active California thread...).
 
#79 · (Edited)
Can you guys just post relevant issues and stop complaining? No injustice to San José was shown here. No more issues with name changing and this is a fair warning to all of you. The admins have already thought of banning those who are still disruptive and I have told them to leave you guys alone.

Is it really a big deal to have San José to be the limelight? Just look up at the thread topics and everyone is treated equally. By the way, it was Jan's (forum owner) idea to name it "San Francisco" and I have told them to call it "San Francisco Bay Area" because its really what it's called and to keep it equal for everyone.

If you want more activity in the San José thread (its not a forum), then post more articles and projects instead of trolling around. I have checked some of your members IP's and I saw multiple accounts. I will lock this thread up if its just a topic about your bitching. This is a final warning.

It's in here but it got locked. Basically we got the shaft. I'm sure a bunch of other people are wondering where that forum went as well.
I think theyre trying to get more people on the SF threads...screwing with the SJ thread is just a casualty of that (despite the fact we're the most active California thread...).
I believe the forum San Francisco Bay Area should be changed to San Francisco/San Jose Bay Area.
I think it should be called the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose Bay Area

Or maybe, once a week, we can have the mods change the name between "San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland Bay Area, San Jose Bay Area and just The Bay Area.
 
#80 · (Edited)
Animo, with all due respect we are not the trolls here. We had a really good community going and have contributed a massive amount of data to this forum. All we want is a place that we can post information related to the development of San Jose and just an ounce of respect for what we spent 5 years trying to accomplish.

I kindly ask that you take a step back and try to see this from our shoes. Pretend you have spent hundreds of hours reading and contributing to a forum that has been locked. Of course there are going to be some complaints.

Also please try to understand that most of the people in the old forum did not want to be associated with San Francisco. We are our own city with a unique culture and development processes, so not everyone is happy to log into a main forum with the word San Francisco and seeing half a dozen stickied threads all saying San Francisco somewhere.

Please take this as constructive criticism. We are not trying to cause problems here but just want to have a community like we did before the changes. That is all we are asking for.



Can you guys just post relevant issues and stop complaining? No injustice to San José was shown here. No more issues with name changing and this is a fair warning to all of you. The admins have already thought of banning those who are still disruptive and I have told them to leave you guys alone.

Is it really a big deal to have San José to be the limelight? Just look up at the thread topics and everyone is treated equally. By the way, it was Jan's (forum owner) idea to name it "San Francisco" and I have told them to call it "San Francisco Bay Area" because its really what it's called and to keep it equal for everyone.

If you want more activity in the San José thread (its not a forum), then post more articles and projects instead of trolling around. I have checked some of your members IP's and I saw multiple accounts. I will lock this thread up if its just a topic about your bitching. This is a final warning.
 
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