Big boost envisioned in many city sectors
Google’s transit village is just one component of a dramatic revamp
SAN JOSl >> Downtown San Jose is in line for a huge increase in jobs, office space, housing, retail, entertainment, activity hubs and hotels, according to a dramatic vision for the area near the Diridon train station and SAP Center that city officials released Wednesday.
What’s more, the huge uptick in development and economic activity would be the result of much more than the transit- oriented neighborhood that Google has proposed near the rail hub, according to the city report.
“The city of San Jose and the greater Bay Area region have the unique opportunity to build an internationally prominent transportation hub and to develop a worldclass destination within the area around the Diridon Station,” city officials stated in the draft report for the Diridon Station Area Plan.
The development plans suggest that the Diridon Station area could experience, over the next 20 years, wide-ranging new development:
• Residential: up to 12,900 units
• Offices: up to 13.7 million square feet, which would more than double the amount of office space currently in downtown San Jose
• Active uses and retail: up to 1.04 million square feet
• Hotel facilities: Up to 300 rooms
The amount of office space alone could potentially accommodate 55,000 workers.
“As Google continues to make strides with its exciting campus, the city of San Jose is working hard to accelerate the development of its well- thoughtout plans for a city of the future,” said Erik Hayden, founder and managing partner with Urban Catalyst, a development and investment company active downtown.
To be sure, Google’s Downtown West project is expected to be a game changer for the urban core of San Jose. Nevertheless, the anticipated development next to the Google transit village could rival the tech titan’s proposals in size and scope.
The Downtown West development by Google is expected to add up to 5,900 residential units, up to 7.3 million square feet of offices, up to 500,000 square feet of retail and active uses, and up to 300 hotel rooms.
Yet the downtown sections in the Diridon Station area, but outside of the Google project footprint, are expected to add up to 7,000 residential units, up to 6.4 million square feet of office space and up to 536,000 square feet of active and retail uses, the city report estimated.
T he development vision for the Diridon Station area calls for a diverse range of building heights and a push for much greater densities.
“Incorporating a range of height limits not only prov ides transitions in building heights adjacent to lower- density residential areas but also provides opportunities for a variety of affordable housing types to be developed close to public transit,” according to the report.
Buildings could be as high as 290 feet tall, especially in the southern part of the Diridon Station area near San Carlos Street. Other sections might have buildings no taller than 65 feet or 90 feet, the plan shows.
The Diridon Area Neighborhood Group, or DANG, has expressed concerns about the height limits contemplated in some sections of the downtown, primarily the San Carlos Street area.
“DANG is supportive of not just any development, but good development,” said Bob Staedler, a landuse and planning expert who is consulting with the Diridon Area Neighborhood Group. “There is a difference between the two, and the public knows it when it sees it.”
Google’s development plans propose that building heights are layered so they blend in with adjacent and older residential neighborhoods, Staedler said.
The plans for the western edges of downtown San Jose are being crafted so that the anticipated surge of development will maintain economic, demographic and racial equity in the area, the draft plan for the Diridon Station area states.
“This amended plan will greatly increase capacity for both residential and commercial development, which in turn will increase opportunities for people to live and work,” the report said.
The city report recommends a goal of 25% of all housing to be affordable once the western downtown area is completely built out. That’s well above the city’s generic goal of 15% affordable housing.
San Jose officials also hope that the development of the western downtown doesn’t displace low- income residents.
“Investments in highquality transit and private development can contribute to rising rents within a half-mile” of a project, the report stated. “The plan includes the goal of no net loss of low-income renters in the Diridon Station area and its surroundings.”
T he overall plan for the Diridon Station area, which covers about 250 acres and contains the 80acre footprint of Google’s Downtown West proposed neighborhood, dramatically would expand the size of downtown San Jose.
Along those lines, Scott Knies, who is the executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, believes the entire 250acre Diridon area — and not just Google’s transit village — should be known as Downtown West.
“It will be possible for the downtown to greatly expand and densify,” Knies said. “This is how you knit together Downtown West into a much bigger city and a much bigger downtown.”