[robertee]

The axis builder was KT Urban. The hotel developer is KT Urban. KT Urban sold the units to the residents by saying only a 6-story hotel or park would be built on the site. Now KT is breaking that promise and building taller. They specifically made this promise to all the residents with south facing balconies that would now look straight into hotel rooms 20' away. At the meeting, many residents said before buying they had asked why the balconies faced an adjacent property vs the street where there would be greater. The HOA residents do not have an issue with the Andy's tower as it is across a street.

I'm for a dense tower and hotel. I'm not for a bland design, poor traffic management or rewarding sleazy dishonest development practices.



Correction, the hotel proposes valet at the street corner of the building. Yes the valets would shuffle the cars to the San Pedro garage, but the concern is the amount of valet queuing space. KT urban proposes only 2 valet/ridershare street spaces. Aside from historic Saint Claire, every other hotel in downtown has much more queuing than that. During morning, lunch and dinner, it will be impossible for the hotel to manage the valet and rideshare demand for 330+ guests with only 2 parallel spaces meaning, extensive double parking on Almaden and Santa Clara. In addition, KT proposes very little trash storage there by requiring daily or twice daily trash pick-up. As a result, the trash dumpster would likely always be sitting in the street.



For point of reference, Tribune tower will have 5 valet/ride share spaces w/ valet parking storage on adjacent lot vs 3.5 blocks away. 330 guests/ 4 hours (5am-9am) = 75 guests leaving per hour but only 2 street spaces with valets shuffling cars from 3.5 blocks away (2 min run, plus 2-3 min drive in traffic). If only half the guests took a car how do you shuffle 38 cars/hr if it takes ~5 min to retrieve each car plus 2-3 min to load? 40 rideshares/hour would consume the other space. In the evening, 330 guests/3 hours (5pm-8pm) = 110 guests arriving per hour. With 55 ride shares consuming 1 space, how does the valet shuffle 55 cars through the other space? This is napkin math (not accounting for coming+goings as well as alternate transit options like walking or scooter), but it illustrates that KT is over promising of valet efficiency.

KT may say they have an operator... but their drawings do not look like it. The public restaurant is behind the security check-point meaning you can by pass security by walking thru the restaurant. Thats not acceptable for most hotel operators. In effective transportation and valet services is also not acceptable to a genuine hotel operator.

Why would they need to park at San Pedro when there is a parking garage across the street?

 

[dirt patch]

SJ needs to do better than this city since it's a bigger city. The city needs to punch its weight harder and above those pier cities. Needs to act its size: https://www.seattletimes.com/busine...unch-above-its-weight-to-the-regions-benefit/

 

[dirt patch]

San jose is 1.1 million, and Seattle is 730,000. SF is 890,000; SJ should act like a big brother to those cities since its population warrants it. The city already has world class assets: Japantown, Little Italy, Little Portugal, and Little Saigon. It has a large population with great neighborhoods: Willow Glen, Alameda, Northside, Santana Row and Midtown. It has a very modernized international airport, fancy arenas/stadiums and Bart(coming this year)/light rail, and world class shopping. Downtown is fun and vibrant. However, it needs to have a superior downtown core compared to cities mentioned above. Don't understand why people in this valley would settle for anything less since SJ has 8 Fortune 500 companies and is the hub of the valley?^^:lol:hno:

 

[Dirk_Birkin]

I like how they propose to build 0 parking, and utilize valet with nearby parking garages. Downtown parking garage utilization is so temporal. Nearly full to full 9-5 M-F, during Sharks games and maybe weekends during Xmas in the Park. Empty to a 1/4 full most late nights/overnights. A really (temporally) underutilized resource solution. Any new downtown hotels should consider this model - or be required to if X number of parking spaces within 1/4 mile?

less parking or innovative parking solutions seem to be catching on. gary d with only 645 spaces for valley title with roughly 2MM sqft, bp almaden nowhere near the 9k occupancy number, sobrato with the offsite garage, etc. this is either going to be a very good thing for san jose, or a nightmare if tenants balk because they want more spaces.

So true. It's too bad that Federal Realty has run out of real estate for much further large scale development at Santana Row. But, to your point about the Volar, if the owner/developer of the Volar isn't able to get financing for their project, maybe they should look to sell out to Federal Realty so that the Volar can be quickly built before the end of this business cycle. I'm fairly certain that if the Volar is built, it would be a sellout for either residential or office space in short order if marketed by Federal Realty, the developer with the golden touch.

federal realty is far from out of space at the row. if there's potential to make money on top of their current investment, they'll seize those opportunities. on top of the santana west buildings and potential expansion behind the mystery house, there's still the 900 sr site behind the new 700 parking garage. that's slated for 250k sqft, but could be expanded substantially with additional height. there's also the vacant lot just across the street from there next to the park, the volar site, best buy, and the whole neighborhood between the row and 17/880. didn't they also have their sights set on the citti florist site? i wouldn't be surprised at all to see them move westward down stevens creek either. when it's all said and done, they could easily have 5-7MM sqft within a 1/4 mile radius.

 

[gillynova]

federal realty is far from out of space at the row. if there's potential to make money on top of their current investment, they'll seize those opportunities. on top of the santana west buildings and potential expansion behind the mystery house, there's still the 900 sr site behind the new 700 parking garage. that's slated for 250k sqft, but could be expanded substantially with additional height. there's also the vacant lot just across the street from there next to the park, the volar site, best buy, and the whole neighborhood between the row and 17/880. didn't they also have their sights set on the citti florist site? i wouldn't be surprised at all to see them move westward down stevens creek either. when it's all said and done, they could easily have 5-7MM sqft within a 1/4 mile radius.

It's a dream that I would love to see in our lifetime.

 

[usedmedia]

Why America’s New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same

There is a fascinating new article up on Bloomberg about the popularity of wood-frame construction and why it's so prevalent throughout the country. A lot of the points it makes goes a long way to explain why we see so many of those boxes here in the Valley, even when parcels are zoned for higher building heights. Excellent read!

His company, Togawa Smith Martin Inc., was working at the time with the City of Los Angeles on a 100-unit affordable-housing high-rise in Little Tokyo that they “could never get to pencil out.” By putting five wood stories over a one-story concrete podium and covering more of the one-acre lot than a high-rise could fill, Smith figured out how to get the 100 apartments at 60 percent to 70 percent of the cost. The building, Casa Heiwa, opened its doors in 1996, and the five-over-one had been invented. (“Let’s put it this way,” Smith says. “No one has challenged me to say that they did it first.”) The public didn’t take note, but West Coast architects and developers did. They could now get near-high-rise densities at a wood-frame price. Soon, the rest of America could, too.

Full article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-02-13/why-america-s-new-apartment-buildings-all-look-the-same?srnd=businessweek-v2

 

[Saint.Jose(ph)]

Phase 1 of the HSR should've connected San Francisco to San Jose, we are the economic breadwinners of the state, this is just madness having it in the shithole part of the state instead. STUPID POLITICIANS

This should've been the first phase but I agree with your point.

 

[Sharkcity]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02...ifornia-bay-area-silicon-valley-gavin-newsom/

Clarification on Newsom's plan for HSR:
- payments for caltrain electrification to continue
- payments/coordination for Diridon station to continue
- no money for extending electrification from Tamien to Gilroy
- Continue EIR for complete system SF-LA

Basically Newsom is saying he wont commit additional funds beyond what currently exists at this time. When additional funds become available, he will connect to San Jose

Notably, the state will keep paying $741 million for Caltrain’s electrification project, which will replace most of the commuter rail’s fleet of diesel trains with new electric trains that are faster and more energy efficient. The bullet train would share tracks with Caltrain as it goes from San Jose to San Francisco.

South Bay officials are still planning an expansion of San Jose’s Diridon Station, which is proposed as a major transportation hub serving not only high-speed rail, but also BART, Caltrain, the VTA, ACE and Amtrak.

“All this is continuing the focus and pursuing additional funds to connect what we’re already building and will be running service on in the Central Valley, both here in the Bay Area and in Southern California,” Boris Lipkin, the Northern California regional director of the High-Speed Rail Authority, said at a meeting Thursday.

 

[jpk122s]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02...ifornia-bay-area-silicon-valley-gavin-newsom/

Clarification on Newsom's plan for HSR:
- payments for caltrain electrification to continue
- payments/coordination for Diridon station to continue
- no money for extending electrification from Tamien to Gilroy
- Continue EIR for complete system SF-LA

Basically Newsom is saying he wont commit additional funds beyond what currently exists at this time. When additional funds become available, he will connect to San Jose

This was my reading too, Unfortunately this means no immediate State money for Diridon which likely means all the fancy ideas of raising the tracks will go away and we will have pretty much the current station for a long time.

I think Gavin really screwed up the messaging on this. The message that we are going to blow $3.5B of federal money in the Central Valley and not even try to fund any workable segment is not going to go down too well in Congress, especially when VTA goes asking for $1.5B from Congress this year for BART to San Jose.

We could well end up with no HSR and no BART either.

 

[Sharkcity]

https://www.bicycling.com/news/a26311615/bike-lanes-video/

San Jose bike infrastructure/culture highlighted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=189&v=6-RYhnS0IMc

 

[siliconvalleyjoe]

So true. It's too bad that Federal Realty has run out of real estate for much further large scale development at Santana Row. But, to your point about the Volar, if the owner/developer of the Volar isn't able to get financing for their project, maybe they should look to sell out to Federal Realty so that the Volar can be quickly built before the end of this business cycle. I'm fairly certain that if the Volar is built, it would be a sellout for either residential or office space in short order if marketed by Federal Realty, the developer with the golden touch.

Don't think that will happen given the history of the site. Federal Realty years ago did have a deal to buy that building & lot. They ended up pulling out & the seller sued them for breach of contract. He won. Federal paid out, I believe at the time, some $12 million or maybe it was $20 million (can't remember now) to the seller (who kept it & later sold for another $12 million)

Can't see Federal revisiting such a sore point for them.

 

[bobby_guz_man]

Phase 1 of the HSR should've connected San Francisco to San Jose, we are the economic breadwinners of the state, this is just madness having it in the shithole part of the state instead. STUPID POLITICIANS

That is not the intention of HSR. It is an inter-region train, not an intra-region train. We have BART and Caltrain for intra-region.

HSR is meant to connect the metros of California: Bay Area, Sac, Central Valley, LA Basin, and San Diego.

 

[bobby_guz_man]

This was my reading too, Unfortunately this means no immediate State money for Diridon which likely means all the fancy ideas of raising the tracks will go away and we will have pretty much the current station for a long time.

I think Gavin really screwed up the messaging on this. The message that we are going to blow $3.5B of federal money in the Central Valley and not even try to fund any workable segment is not going to go down too well in Congress, especially when VTA goes asking for $1.5B from Congress this year for BART to San Jose.

We could well end up with no HSR and no BART either.

BART will come, it is cheap enough that we can finance it here within the region. And it HAS to come to Downtown. If it stops at Berryessa, then all we got from BART is a quick and efficient way to export our residents to go work in Milpitas, Fremont, East Bay, Oakland, and SF. It would have been a terrible waste of San Jose taxpayer money just to worsen our J:ER ratio and plunge our city into financial ruins. It would have been one of the worst decisions made by the City.

So come hell or highwater, BART must go to Downtown. It MUST.

 

[cardinal2007]

The Graduate - Feb 11, 2018:

The facade is a bit different on the top floors

 

[gillynova]

BART will come, it is cheap enough that we can finance it here within the region. And it HAS to come to Downtown. If it stops at Berryessa, then all we got from BART is a quick and efficient way to export our residents to go work in Milpitas, Fremont, East Bay, Oakland, and SF. It would have been a terrible waste of San Jose taxpayer money just to worsen our J:ER ratio and plunge our city into financial ruins. It would have been one of the worst decisions made by the City.

So come hell or highwater, BART must go to Downtown. It MUST.

To me, extending it to Milpitas and Berryessa is a win. We provide our region with 2 additional stops, hell, 3 if you count Warm Springs. It gives an alternative transportation for our residents and it SHOULD remove cars from our road.

For me previously and other people I know, it would save us a trip driving to Warm Springs and just heading to Milpitas/Berryessa to go to San Francisco for work. Even finding parking spots will be easier. Before Warm Springs, it was a bloodbath to find parking in Fremont. Now, people will have the option for more stops and a closer drive to BART

But I do believe BART will come to downtown San Jose. In my opinion, it will be 2028 and not the 2026 date they keep mentioning :lol:

 

[flubuk]

https://www.bicycling.com/news/a26311615/bike-lanes-video/

San Jose bike infrastructure/culture highlighted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=189&v=6-RYhnS0IMc

Wow, they managed to ride the entire San Fernando bike lane the ONLY time there weren't 6 or 7 Uber's or trucks or VTA buses parked in the bike lane. I'll say it again: "Paint is not a 'protected' bike lane. You have to physically prevent cars from parking/driving in it or it's useless."

 

[aphelion2100]

This was my reading too, Unfortunately this means no immediate State money for Diridon which likely means all the fancy ideas of raising the tracks will go away and we will have pretty much the current station for a long time.

I think Gavin really screwed up the messaging on this. The message that we are going to blow $3.5B of federal money in the Central Valley and not even try to fund any workable segment is not going to go down too well in Congress, especially when VTA goes asking for $1.5B from Congress this year for BART to San Jose.

We could well end up with no HSR and no BART either.

As of now, there will be no CHSR to San Jose since there is no source of funding unless California passes a $50 billion bond measure which is not likely to happen anytime soon. Even former governor Brown, the strongest advocate for CHSR was reluctant to step up to the plate to push for such funding. I believe that the best hope is that congress in the future will pass a national transportation infrastructure program that will include substantial funding for states with a strong interest in building high speed rail. (see link below for the many States that are very keen on developing their own high speed rail). With federal funds available, it will then be much easier for states to pass their own funding measures.

The $1.5 billion grant that the VTA applied for from the FTA won't be decided by congress, but rather by the U.S Department of Transportation & secretary Elaine Chao, who last year signed off on Caltrain's $647 million electrification program despite some doubts.

Congress is responsible for funding the FTA, whereupon the FTA makes the decision to dole out the funds for individual transportation programs with the congressional appropriations. I believe that congress may have already appropriated funds for fiscal 2019 to the U.S. Department of Transportation programs & therefore to the FTA. If so, the final approval will have to come from Secretary Elaine Chao. Last year, despite some drama about Caltrain's electrification funding, Ms. Chao finally gave here approval. In fiscal 2018, the FTA doled out about $13.2 billion in grants for various transportation programs. https://www.transit.dot.gov/about-fta

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/...high-speed-rail-plan-bullet-train/2861594002/

It's so important to get one up and running," said Andy Kunz, CEO of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, an advocacy group. By focusing on a single working leg, Newsom can show people the potential – building enthusiasm that could foster other projects around the country, he said. Instead of connecting two of the nation's largest cities, the 119-mile line will run through sparsely populated farmland between the agricultural hubs Bakersfield and Merced.

Paul Dyson, president of the Rail Passengers Association of California, said a line that won't connect San Francisco and Los Angeles doesn't make sense. "We're in favor of high-speed rail, but it has to be a viable proposition."

If the high-speed line can be connected to commuter rail lines serving the Bay Area or other transportation from Los Angeles in the south, it could be a success, said Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, which has pushed for high-speed routes from Chicago to cities such as Detroit; Cincinnati; St. Paul, Minnesota; and St. Louis.

Also, Nancy Pelosi who was responsible for getting the $3.5 billion of federal funding for CHSR will continue to push for a national transportation infrastructure bill. She has been a strong supporter of high speed rail from the get go & will have a huge say as the leader of the House. If a democrat is elected to the presidency in 2020 then the odds will increase exponentially that such a program will more likely come to pass. There are numerous Red states along with Blue states that are clamoring for funds for major transportation infrastructure repair & renovation programs.

https://gvwire.com/2018/12/19/costa-says-dem-takeover-of-congress-good-for-high-speed-rail/

The Fresno Democrat has always supported the bullet train and publicly taken on its critics. The estimated $77 billion dollar project is in the midst of construction in and around the Central Valley — and controversy up and down the state.

With Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) likely to ascend as Speaker of the House, Costa said that would bolster federal support for the project.

“Leader Pelosi has been a strong advocate for the funding of, and support of high-speed rail. So, I think we’ll have opportunities in the next Congress,” Costa said.

 

[sjn]

The city council, per the February 26th council agenda, will discuss the height limits survey. The council is recommended to select Scenario 4. From there, the recommendation is to "direct the Administration to initiate amendments, as determined applicable, to the General Plan and other key policy documents to incorporate the above recommendations and conduct outreach with the downtown development community to provide information and guidance on development height restrictions."

There's a presentation, too, which provides this useful image on where height increases could come:

 

[Dirk_Birkin]

The city council, per the February 26th council agenda, will discuss the height limits survey. The council is recommended to select Scenario 4. From there, the recommendation is to "direct the Administration to initiate amendments, as determined applicable, to the General Plan and other key policy documents to incorporate the above recommendations and conduct outreach with the downtown development community to provide information and guidance on development height restrictions."

There's a presentation, too, which provides this useful image on where height increases could come:

this map is very counter-intuitive. they're adding height in the DT core areas most effected by the flight path, not away from it. the closer to the path, the more bump you get. logic and reason would prescribe the exact opposite. north diridon also seems way to tall. with those new limits, you'd basically be able to plop down the comerica building where platform 16 is slated to go up. northbound approach angles must be getting much steeper, it's the only way they to accommodate that kind of height.

gary d, jay paul, and dinapoli should all be happy though. city view, museum place, and 200 park all get room for 2 or more floors. block 8 gets room for at least 1. adobe could likely add 3, i wonder if another redesign is in the works over there. this is going to be very interesting to watch play out.

 

[cardinal2007]

To me, extending it to Milpitas and Berryessa is a win. We provide our region with 2 additional stops, hell, 3 if you count Warm Springs. It gives an alternative transportation for our residents and it SHOULD remove cars from our road.

For me previously and other people I know, it would save us a trip driving to Warm Springs and just heading to Milpitas/Berryessa to go to San Francisco for work. Even finding parking spots will be easier. Before Warm Springs, it was a bloodbath to find parking in Fremont. Now, people will have the option for more stops and a closer drive to BART

But I do believe BART will come to downtown San Jose. In my opinion, it will be 2028 and not the 2026 date they keep mentioning :lol:

There was a map once of job density in various places in Santa Clara county, and DTSJ had the highest job density by far. And as far as I am concerned ridership will need to come from jobs near transit more so than housing near transit. This is for 2 reasons.

1. Offices have more people per sqft.
2. When it comes to first mile vs last mile, for transit the latter is the bigger pain point, as the former can be somewhat addressed by biking or park and ride more easily.

Basically that is why BART is going to DTSJ, and not some office park off 237 or in Mt. View, there may be jobs there, but people aren't going to take BART to get there just to walk 20-30 minutes to the office afterwards. Jobs are within 1/2 mile of the station, or it is really going to be a bust