Downtown San Jose poised for boom, but challenges remain

Downtown San Jose is in an excellent position to boom, two busy developers told a gathering on Thursday, adding they expect that a top-to-bottom renovation of a historic tower should be finished by sometime in 2022.

Despite the bright prospects for downtown, key challenges loom, developers Gary Dillabough and Jeff Arrillaga said during a presentation and question-and-answer session hosted by The Silicon Valley Organization. Dillabough and Arrillaga are partners and principal executives with San Jose-based development company Urban Community.

Urban Community has teamed up with Westbank, a Canada-based developer with a global reach, to build several big projects that together would bring dramatic changes to the skyline of downtown San Jose.

“Downtown San Jose is primed right now,” Arrillaga said during the meeting on Thursday.

One of the major reasons: On the Peninsula and in the South Bay, San Jose is the best place for big tech companies to find elbow room in an urban setting besides San Francisco.

“Why is San Jose going to expand and grow this time around? For tech companies to grow at scale, there is nothing else between here and San Francisco other than San Jose,” Arrillaga said.

It’s crucial that city officials and business leaders do all they can to create a vibrant and inviting atmosphere that will help entice tech companies and their workers to downtown, Dillabough said.

Crime and homelessness issues are among the big obstacles for a successful downtown, the developers

said. City leaders and police officials are taking steps to address these problems, they added.

“People want a cup of coffee, they want a great lunch,” Dillabough said. “We want to be sure that when they are here, we have a great user experience.”

The Westbank and Urban Community alliance is planning several projects in downtown San Jose. Among these is the wideranging revamp and resto