Downtown San Jose housing tower is starting to fill up
SAN JOSE >> Tenants have begun to rent and occupy rooms in a downtown San Jose residential tower that is poised to increase the housing stock in the urban core of the Bay Area’s largest city.
The Grad San Jose, a housing highrise jointly developed by Swenson and Amcal near San Jose State University, is now about two-thirds leased, with more potential residents seeking the remaining rooms.
Despite uncertainties over coronaviruslinked university operations, The Grad, located on East San Carlos Street between South Second Street and South Third Street, is steadily filling up.
“We are still seeing interest in leasing,” said Christy Marbry, senior development manager with San Jose-based Swenson, a storied Bay Area real estate developer.
The Grad is roughly 65% leased and tenants have started to move in, according to Swenson.
“We continue to receive inquiries from prospective residents,” Marbry said.
The Grad contains 260 units and is 19 stories high, Swenson officials said.
The tower’s amenities include an academic study center with both Macintosh and Windows-based computers, group study rooms, other types of study rooms on every residential floor, and what’s described as Wifi service throughout the complex at “blazing” speeds.
During leisure time, residents will have access to ping-pong tables and a recreational lawn, a poolside lounge, a jumbotron television set on the recreation deck, a barbecue deck, and a dining area.
Amid the coronavirus and restrictions imposed by state and local government agencies, The Grad is being flexible in the way it provides access to amenities.
Available amenities fluctuate depending on current guidance from the county,” Marbry said. “The pool is currently open and is regulated by the current county guidelines. To keep occupancy within the limits allowed the management team has implemented a reservation system to allow the use of the pool.”
Several new projects being planned or constructed in downtown San Jose greatly raise the prospects of success for The Grad, the project’s developers believe.
Among the new projects in downtown San Jose:
• Office towers being built or planned by veteran developer Jay Paul Co.
• A new office high-rise being constructed by tech titan Adobe
• Several projects being actively planned by up-andcoming developer Urban Catalyst.
• Several proposals for major projects by a joint venture of global developer Westbank and local developer Urban Community.
• Google’s game-changing transit village near the Diridon train station.
“Downtown San Jose is growing,” Marbry said. “As new developments activate the area in positive ways, we expect to see increased interest in the future” in The Grad.
The wave of new development proposals has instilled a hopeful outlook for Swenson executives.
“The long-term prospects offer lots of new opportunities, Marbry said.
Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167.
Archbishop Mitty High School has named the first person of color to lead the prestigious San Jose Catholic school in a groundbreaking move months after dozens of alumni spoke out about a culture of racism and discrimination that they said administrators did little to expunge.
Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of San Jose and the school’s board of regents announced this week that Latanya Nailah Hilton, a former Mitty alumna and administrator, will be returning to her alma mater to serve as the school’s new president starting July 1, 2021.
“Ms. Hilton is a recognized leader in education and social justice advocacy with a passion for Catholic education and its power to develop leaders who will impact the world for good,” Cantú said in a statement.
Hilton, who grew up in San Jose, graduated from Mitty in 1992 and returned as an administrator for an eight-year span in 2004, serving in the roles of director of admissions, assistant principal, and executive director for advancement. More recently, she worked as a vice president for the nonprofit Center for Youth Wellness and was a founder of a media company called The Ambassadors Circle, a diverse and creative collective with a mission statement to “do more good.”
Hilton has been a member of Mitty’s newly established Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee since its creation over the summer.
“The stakes are high, and there is no better time for current and future students to know that each and every single one of us has the capacity to shatter barriers, contribute at the highest levels, and change the world,” Hilton said in a statement. “As a Mitty alumna, a wife, mother, and social justice warrior with deep family roots in education, I will serve this community with a continued commitment to faith, healing, justice, equity, and most of all, compassionate leadership.”
Earlier this summer, as demands for racial justice consumed the country in the wake of the police killings of Black Americans such as George Floyd and Breanna Taylor, dozens of alumni of Archbishop Mitty took to social media to share their stories of enduring racism and discrimination at school. The students’ stories ranged from teachers using the “n” word to minority students facing harsher punishments than their white peers to a lack of recourse for those who were subjected to the discrimination.
Since then, the school has created a diversity, equity and inclusion committee as well as a new diversity administrator position, hired a consultant to create a plan to address systemic racism within the school and held a handful of listening sessions with alumni, parents, staff and faculty. The school also created a new page on its website to keep all interested parties abreast of their progress and initiatives.
Former Mitty President Tim Brosnan retired in August after 30 years at the school and Principal Kate Caputo has been serving as the interim president since then.
After conducting a national search and weighing feedback from the Mitty community, the search committee and board of regents found Hilton to be “the kind of visionary leader they were seeking,” according to a statement from the Diocese.
“We are confident that Latanya will be an incredible advocate for, and leader to, the Mitty community,” Johnny Gilmore, board president and chair of the search committee, said in a statement. “Her wealth of relevant experience, her drive and passion, and her warmth and humility led us to the conclusion that she is absolutely the right leader for the school going forward — she will lead us all, with grace, in driving the school to reach even higher levels of excellence in the years ahead.”