San José can tell you exactly how close one smoke shop can be to another. It can tell you where cannabis dispensaries can operate, how far they must be from neighborhoods and how much their owners must pay annually for regulatory oversight. But ask how close a massive data center should be allowed to operate […]
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What Was the City Council Told About 650 Harry Road?
Months before San José approved the former IBM site’s rezoning, Blackstart and its partners were already talking publicly about AI and data centers at the property. The City’s own permit record also connected Blackstart Digital directly to the rezoning. The Big Picture On August 18, the San José City Council considered what was described as […]
Read Full Article →California’s Largest Landowner-in-the-Making
The Stealthy Pivot For nearly two decades, Californians have debated High-Speed Rail as a transportation project. The public discussion has focused on construction costs, ridership forecasts, travel times, funding gaps, environmental impacts, and whether the system will ever connect San Francisco and Los Angeles as originally promised. The newly released 2026 Business Plan suggests that […]
Read Full Article →Proposition 45 Is Bad for California’s Neighborhoods. Vote No.
California’s neighborhoods are worth protecting. Unfortunately, Proposition 45 threatens the environmental protections that help keep our communities healthy, safe, and desirable places to live. This November, voters have an opportunity to reject a measure backed by data center developers and polluting corporate interests that puts corporate profits ahead of California neighborhoods. Proposition 45 deserves a […]
Read Full Article →Palo Alto looks to rezoning to limit impacts of state bill
Palo Alto looks to rezoning to limit impacts of state bill – San José Spotlight The Big PicturePalo Alto is moving quickly to get ahead of Senate Bill 79, a state law that significantly increases allowable housing density near transit. The city is exploring a mix of rezoning and historic preservation strategies to blunt the […]
Read Full Article →San Jose’s Last Railroad Trestle Sparks Preservation Fight Amid Trail Expansion Plans
San Jose residents rally to save railroad trestle – San José Spotlight The Big Picture A growing coalition in San Jose is pushing to preserve the century-old Coyote Creek Trestle, a 1922 railroad bridge now caught in the middle of a planned trail expansion. City officials had leaned toward demolishing the structure to make way […]
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The Grad Sells for $205 Million, Showing Strength of Downtown San José Student Housing
San Jose student housing tower sale fetches more than $200 million The Big Picture: The Grad, a 19-story student housing tower near San José State University, has sold for $204.8 million. Brookfield and Coastal Ridge Real Estate acquired the 260-unit, 1,039-bed property at 88 East San Carlos Street. The sale price exceeded the property’s assessed […]
Read Full Article →Downtown San José Can’t Afford to Tolerate Blight
The Big Picture A vacant lot at 605 S. Second Street in San José’s SoFA District has become the latest example of a growing problem facing downtown: blight. The site was once approved for a 29-story affordable housing tower, but today it sits overgrown with weeds, surrounded by a damaged fence, and subject to city […]
Read Full Article →New affordable housing project breaks ground in San Francisco
San Francisco Affordable Project Lands $78M in Financing – Multi-Housing News The Big PictureA major affordable housing development known as “Marvel in the Mission” (also called La Maravilla) has officially broken ground in San Francisco’s Mission District after years of delays, financing challenges, and community debate. The multi-phase project will ultimately deliver about 382 fully […]
Read Full Article →Zoom’s Downtown San José Headquarters Campus Sells for $82 Million
Downtown San Jose Zoom HQ sells at 55% discount The Big Picture: A three-building office campus in downtown San José, home to Zoom Communications’ headquarters, has sold for $82 million in an all-cash transaction. SFF Realty Partners acquired the 416,100-square-foot property at 1, 55, and 99 Almaden Boulevard, along with a 1,264-space parking garage. The […]
Read Full Article →Silicon Valley Ranks Among Nation’s Most Expensive Markets for Virtual Offices
Virtual office subscriptions hit $209/month in San Jose area – Silicon Valley Business Journal The Big Picture: Silicon Valley is tied for fourth nationally in virtual office costs, with a median monthly subscription of $209, according to a new CoworkingCafe study. That compares to the national median of $179. Virtual offices provide businesses with professional […]
Read Full Article →Restaurants, shops, data center proposed for downtown San Jose building
The Big Picture Hines is proposing to breathe new life into the long-struggling Paseo de San Antonio by reopening 11 vacant storefronts, adding restaurants and retailers, improving the pedestrian environment, and modernizing the building at 150 South First Street. But the economic engine behind the project is the reactivation and major expansion of a dormant […]
Read Full Article →PG&E Doubles Santa Teresa Substation Capacity, Plans More Expansion to Power AI Growth
The Big Picture PG&E has doubled the capacity of its Santa Teresa Substation in South San José from 40 megawatts to 80 megawatts, adding new infrastructure to support growing electricity demand driven by data centers and artificial intelligence. The expansion was undertaken to meet an additional 40-megawatt power request from data center operator Equinix, and […]
Read Full Article →Palo Alto group buys Coyote Valley farmland in San Jose for $5.3 million
Palo Alto group buys Coyote Valley farmland in San Jose for $5.3 million The Big PictureA new land deal continues to solidify the long-term direction of Coyote Valley as protected open space rather than future development land. The Peninsula Open Space Trust acquired a 71-acre farm for $5.3 million that had been in the same […]
Read Full Article →New South Bay power substation to be built at existing site
New South Bay power substation to be built at existing site – San José Spotlight The Big Picture The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved relocating a major energy project to the existing Metcalf Substation instead of building a new facility in Coyote Valley. The decision allows LS Power to move forward with its high-voltage […]
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San José Knows Better. So Why Are Its Data Center Standards So Weak?
Proposition 45 Is Bad for California’s Neighborhoods. Vote No.
The Grad Sells for $205 Million, Showing Strength of Downtown San José Student Housing
Zoom’s Downtown San José Headquarters Campus Sells for $82 Million
Silicon Valley Ranks Among Nation’s Most Expensive Markets for Virtual Offices
What Was the City Council Told About 650 Harry Road?