Innovation zone sprouts in west San Jose
Area designed to nurture new technologies and ventures
SAN JOSE >> San Jose officials and tech leaders launched an innovation zone on the city’s west side Thursday, hoping to nurture the creation of cutting-edge technologies in Silicon Valley.
The zone, located in west San Jose near Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair, is designed to spur tech companies and startups to pilot new technologies.
“It’s really important to have a place for our innovators to play,” San Jose City Councilwoman Dev Davis said in an interview Thursday. “San Jose is a place that welcomes innovation.”
The city believes that if tech companies of all sizes are encouraged to establish test beds for new technologies in the innovation zone, then they might also decide to create new headquarters or major operations in the Bay Area’s largest city.
“We’re going to see an increase in modernized technology and collaboration, a testament to the spirit of Silicon Valley,” San Jose Vice Mayor Chappie Jones said.
The event to announce the innovation center was hosted by Santana Row, an iconic mixed-use west San Jose complex of office buildings, shops, restaurants, entertainment hubs, housing, and hotel facilities.
Developed and owned by Federal Realty Investment Trust, Santana Row has reinvented itself on multiple occasions since it opened in 2002. Seth Bland, a senior vice president with Federal
Realty, said Santana Row also has been a site for innovation in development and said the company was pleased to be part of San Jose’s new innovation zone.
“We have always thought of Santana Row as an innovation zone, as a land-use Petrie dish,” Bland said. “We continue to change the recipe for Santana Row.”
Vice Mayor Jones is seeking out a “testing hub” in the west San Jose zone to provide a physical space where new and emerging concepts could be created and tested.
“San Jose’s commitment to creating the space needed for innovators to test and develop their products is something we hope other cities might learn from,” said Christopher Brown, head of government partnerships with Bird, a hightech scooter and mobility company.
The testing hub location would be publicly accessible and provide a platform to connect the local community with new technologies.
“The innovation zone is a way of throwing out a welcome mat and letting tech companies know that we are here for them and we want to work with them,” Councilwoman Davis said.