Downtown San Jose

Skating in
the round
downtown
Opening ceremony Nov. 26 for breath-taking rink
The newly relocated Downtown Ice will
take your breath away before even stepping
onto the ice.
Set amid the trees of the Circle of Palms,
skaters can spin inside, through and around
the palms, under the stars and within sight
of Christmas in the Park. It’s the best
location yet for the outdoor skating
rink, now in its ninth season. The rink
itself will match the geometry of its
surroundings. Four passageways will
connect an outer ring around the dual
rows of 32 palms with an inner – and perfectly
circular rink. In all, skaters can enjoy 8,100 square
feet of ice surface.
Knight Ridder is title sponsor for Downtown Ice,
presented by Applied Materials.
the city tree lighting and
opening of Christmas in
the Park – celebrating its
25th anniversary – occurs
across the street in Plaza
de Cesar Chavez. Ice
skating continues until
midnight.
The two combined
ceremonies will provide
a fitting start to the
“Downtown for the
Holidays” season. Other activities such as Winter
Wonderland, special arts performances including
“The Nutcracker,” special museum exhibits, and
great dining and shopping will also attract people
to the core area during November and December.
The rink will be open daily through Jan. 17, 2005.
For the first few weeks, the rink will be open noon
to 10 p.m. weeknights and noon-midnight
weekends. Hours will be extended Dec. 18-Jan. 2.
Construction work on the rink began the end
of October. Weather permitting, the ice should
be ready for skaters at 5 p.m. Nov. 24, the first of
two preview days. The rink will also open from
3-10 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
On opening day, Nov. 26, skaters will line up for a
noon start. Grand opening ceremonies take place
at 5 p.m. featuring American Ice Theatre and other
surprises. Following that half-hour presentation,
To add to the good feel and excitement of the
area, neighboring businesses will provide concessions and the art museum will extend its hours.
Cost to skate is $10 for 12-under and $12 for 13over. Unlike past years when there were specific
Police adjust tactics at closing time
Along with the opening of the California Theatre
in the South First Area came another welcome
sight to SoFA businesses: a less intimidating
presence by San Jose police officers at closing
time for the entertainment district.
Instead of utilizing the controversial tactics of
parking squad cars in the middle of intersections
at about 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, and
aggressively ushering night club patrons out of
the area, police instead park at curbs and use
cones to divert traffic away from the pedestrian
district. The change occurred in the weeks since
the reopening of the California Theatre.
“This makes a huge difference and we definitely
appreciate it,” said Eric Sahn, owner of South
First Billiards, who has taken a lead role in
business-police relations for SJDA.
The change in operations was also tied to closure
of the B-Hive, which moved to a bigger
location on San Pedro Street and was renamed
the Ambassador Lounge, said Sgt. Sergio
Carabarin, who oversees “cruise management”
in the downtown.
“The character of the area changed, allowing us
to change our tactics,” Carabarin said. “We’re
sensitive to the scene, try to adapt as much as
we can and always look to make it better.”
Police and business owners agree that the
downtown must remain safe, but many SJDA
members have long felt that some tactics used by
police are excessive, giving a wrong perception
that SoFA is a problem environment, which, in
turn, hurts attracting desirable repeat customers to
the area.
“We’re not shining lights in clubs or standing on
the streets with batons out, as some people have
suggested,” Carabarin said. “We’re working with
night clubs to make it profitable for everyone –
and profitable for us means safe.”
The change is also the result of a combination of
multiple factors, including:
Continuous advocating by the Downtown
Association;
Recent “ride-alongs” with police by
Councilmember Cindy Chavez and SJDA
President Jan Schneider, who assessed the tactics
firsthand;
Orders sent through the ranks from Police Chief
Rob Davis, who has expressed his willingness to
make adjustments;
■
■
■
Police cone off sections of the downtown starting
at 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Vehicle
traffic is diverted away from pedestrian areas near
the entertainment districts downtown, where up
to 7,000 people can gather on a given night.
Police and owners hope people leave the clubs,
get to their cars and exit as smoothly as possible.
sessions, skaters will take to the ice as space allows
and skate as long as they can or want. The rink
can accommodate up to 200 skaters at one time.
More than 30,000 skaters and 80,000 spectators
are expected at Downtown Ice this season.
A large team with plenty of ice rink experience has
assembled to prepare the rink for its opening. The
team includes:
Architect - Gilbert M. Garcia, AIA, Garcia
Teague Architecture + Interiors
Structural engineer - Kathleen Dillon and
Emory Montague, Biggs Cardosa Associates
Ice vendor - Mike Clayton, Ice Rink Events
Staging vendor - Katy Cook, Stages Unlimited
Project manager – Blage Zelalich, SJDA
■
■
■
■
■
In addition to title sponsor Knight Ridder and
presenting sponsor Applied Materials, other
sponsors include: Metro A Fund/San Jose-Silicon
Valley Chamber of Commerce, San Jose Mercury
News, San Jose Redevelopment Agency, Key Point
Credit Union, NBC 11,Telemundo, Clear Channel
Outdoor,VTA, PW Markets, Christmas in the
Park, Suntrips, Bimbo Bakeries,Wells Fargo,
Logitech, Camera Cinemas, Bank of America,
Hopkins & Carley, Elance, Squaw Valley, Bronze
The Tanning Studio, Sugar Bowl, Bear Valley, North
Star at Tahoe, Curves, Hotel Montgomery, Original
Joe’s, Kenyon & Kenyon, Ritchie Commercial,
R&J Jewelry & Loan and Sonoma Chicken Coop.
Check www.sjdowntown.com or call 279-1775,
ext. 45, for information about the rink. For
Christmas in the Park information, call 995-NOEL
or visit www.christmasinthepark.com.
Report moves
SJDA into black
VOL.15 NO. 1 1
NOVEMBER 20 04
SAN JOSE
D OW N T O W N
A S S O C I AT I O N
San Jose Downtown Association
Revenue
Expenses
accomplished its SJDA
BID
two-year goal in 48%
Management &
21%
one year and
Administration
Events,
finished fiscal year
21%
Marketing,
2003-04 with more
Parking and
RDA Promotions,
City
than $100,000 in
Shuttle
20% Beautification
11%
64%
reserves.
15%
“I’m happy to report that the financial condition of the association has
improved,” said Treasurer Bob Moore, at the annual members meeting
on Oct. 8.
The SJDA Finance Committee had planned to erase the deficit of two
years ago. By reorganizing staff, reworking vendor contracts, reducing
equipment purchases and boosting modestly its fees to Business
Improvement District members, SJDA finished the year with $121,000
in reserves, Moore reported.
The association focused on increasing productivity and spending
wisely during fiscal 2003-04, Executive Director Scott Knies said. His
message to members for the past year and years ahead is to understand
key priorities and stay the course to complete downtown.
On the business side, Sahn is gathering club
owners together in an effort to coordinate their
private security staffs and be more professional
and polite to customers.
Business Improvement District fees accounted for $495,000, one-fifth of
the association’s $2.3 million in revenues. The biggest source of income
was from SJDA events – the summer concert series and winter outdoor
ice rink. Funds were also derived from contracts with the city and
Redevelopment Agency for parking, shuttles and promotional services.
“We want SoFA to appear to be as safe as it truly
is,” Sahn said. “We’re going to continue to strive
for good solutions.”
Expenses went toward marketing the downtown, promoting events,
beautifying streets, producing member initiatives and administrating
the association staff and office.
Carlsons pass
Bella Mia torch
to new owner
Jon Murakami takes over as owner of Bella Mia as
Bill and Julie Carlson announced their retirement
from the restaurant industry. Murakami, former
GM of several California Cafes, brings with him Chef
Miles Neal, most recently of Piatti’s in Danville.
The Carlsons owned Bella Mia for 20 years, opening
first in Saratoga in 1985 and then moving to 58 S.
First St. in 1993. “They helped bring the restaurant
business downtown to a new level,” said Chuck
Hammers, SJDA vice president of marketing.
“Their success paved the way for many.” Call
280-1993 or check bellamia.com for more info.
In other restaurant and night club news:
Making announcements to open and actually
opening eateries are two entirely separate ideas.
Summer came and went and we’re still waiting for
The Melting Pot at South First Street near Post
Street; Lee’s Sandwiches and Flames Coffee Shop
in the Fourth Street Garage; Capers at 90 S. Second
St.; and Zyng Asian Grill at 210 S. First St.
On the other hand, The Vault opened early, unlocking
its doors in August. Check out The Vault, 81 W.
Santa Clara St., vaultultralounge.com. The Vault and
Pete Escovedo’s, 400 S. First St., led several other
recent new (and recycled) club openings:
B-Hive is gone from its perch atop Eulipia in SoFA
and has rebranded itself as the Ambassador Lounge
at 175 N. San Pedro St.
SoFA Lounge, will open soon in the spot above
Eulipia at 347 S. First St., says Michael Borkenhagen, son of Eulipia’s Steve Borkenhagen.
Deep includes three different lounges, candy dancers,
VIP rooms with plasma screens, projections for visual effects, and a large outdoor patio for dining. Deep
is at 87 N. San Pedro St., replacing the short-lived
Blue Tattoo. Call 287-3337 or visit deepsj.com.
General News
New owners for Pavilion: Ownership of the Pavilion
retail and office complex on South First and Second
streets between San Fernando and Paseo de San Antonio
is transferring from Forest City Enterprises to Global
Innovation Partners. The Menlo Park-based firm
purchased the 180,000-square-foot building for
$36.5 million. The building includes the 128,000square-foot AboveNet Communications Inc. data center,
and 52,000 square feet of retail occupied by Waldenbooks, Pinnacle Fitness, Starbuck’s, Johnny Rockets,
Chinese Express, Quiznos and House of Siam.
The Pavilion, a joint public-private investment project
between Melvin Simon & Associates and the San Jose
Redevelopment Agency, opened in 1988 as a high-end
fashion retail center. Forest City acquired the complex
in 1998 from Simon and converted the interior of the
John Jerde-designed open-air mall into a data center.
Dimensions to be only one-dimensional – flat:
Although San Jose Redevelopment Agency and Mesa
SoFA Partners of Chicago have not yet come up with a
developer agreement for the site, the building that was
once home to Dimensions night club on South First
Street could be leveled by month’s end, said Sharon
Landers, assistant executive director of the agency.
Progress on the razing of the site has been slowed
because it served as a staging area for California
Theatre construction.
The site will be used for additional South First Area
parking, operated by the city, until the parcel is approved
for development. The building is part of a 1.1-acre site
that abuts South First, San Salvador and Market streets.
Funds approved for Fallon House: After hearing
appeals by former SJDA Deputy Director Judy Stabile,
History San Jose director David Crosson and others,
the city will repair the historic Fallon House on West St.
John Street. Preservation advocates estimated that
$250,000 is needed to fix leaks and drainage to put a halt
to flooding in the basement. Money for the repairs is to
be taken from the downtown business investment pool
recommended in December 2003 by the Downtown
Association. The 149-year-old city landmark, former
home of Thomas Fallon, an early mayor, is a museum.
Rosie and Alex Yimghuen have opened Starmars
Café at 80 S. First St. Freshly made food – sandwiches, burgers, salads, and breakfast – are served.
The menu includes hot Ethiopian food, such as
Siga Beggumen (collared greens with tender lamb)
and breakfast all day. Call 995-0924.
Parking improved at Market-San Pedro: Revenue
control equipment is now in place at the Market/San
Pedro Square garage, making all six levels accessible to
monthly parkers and short-time visitors. Previously,
visitors without monthly passes were restricted to just a
portion of the garage and on busy days would arrive at
the garage to find “lot full” signs at the entrances, though
seemingly hundreds of spots appeared vacant. Other
advantages of the new system: customers can use
multiple forms of payment and should be able to exit
the garage more quickly.
Check out Mission Ale Carvery at 93 E. Santa Clara
St. The extension of Mission Ale House is family
friendly, and offers paninis with fresh carved meats.
Merchants should exchange their validation stamp and
stickers with new magnetic stripe ticket validations, said
John Teliha, off-street parking manager.
And Muchos! is open now for breakfast, serving
breakfast burritos at 8 a.m.
City expands parking domain: The city is poised to
take over the lease on a state-owned, 119-space parking
lot beneath Interstate 280 at South First Street this
month. Plans to upgrade the lot will help ease increased
parking demand in the South First Area (SoFA) resulting
from the reopening of the California Theatre and anticipated expansion of the Convention Center. The city’s
lease of the lot is consistent with the objectives identified
in the 2002 SoFA Strategic Plan.
Dive bar has full bar, lounge, music and billiards. It
is at 78 E. Santa Clara St between Second and Third
streets. Call 288-5252 or visit sjdivebar.com.
Turning from drink to food:
More new businesses:
EB Games, sells pre-played and new video games
and movies at 125 E. San Carlos St. The local store
is owned by Paul Quach, 289-8601. Or check
ebgames.com.
Gavin Mora at Ideal Home Loans, 571 Almaden
Ave., provides financial consulting as well as home
loans. Call 823-4608.
Hair/Color Salon, 54 W. Santa Clara St., features new
stylist Lito, specializing in professional cuts for men.
Check haircolorsalon.com or call 294-9562 for more.
Parkers beware: Warning to Business Improvement
District members and their customers who use city
parking garages: do not drive into the forward space or
back into a space. The city – which has an ordinance
against such practices – is issuing tickets to offenders.
Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., 225 W. Santa Clara St.,
Suite 160, provides flight information for private,
corporate and commercial air travel as well as
meteorological services. Managing director is
Bob Overby. Jeppesen is a division of Boeing, Inc.
Call 961-2825.
Forest City earns management award: The
Building Owners and Managers Association of Silicon
Valley (BOMA) recently honored Forest City Commercial
with a top award for its management of Fairmont Plaza at
50 W. San Fernando St. Forest City led the “office building 250,000-499,000 square feet” category.
Add a personal touch onto your website, email
messages or digital business cards by producing a
streaming video introduction using VideoIntros.com,
300 S. First St., Suite 228. Call owner Mike Elias,
975-9325, for details.
Gensler’s architectural gem: Gensler Architecture,
Design and Planning Worldwide, which has an office in
the SoFA district, won a Gold Nugget Grand Award of
Merit from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.
Gensler earned its “best in the west” award for redeveloping Bay Meadows racetrack and stable in San Mateo
into Park Place Bay Meadows, a mixed-use project of
200,000 square feet office space and 100,000 square feet
of retail space with underground parking.
Wealth Management Group of Silicon Valley, owned
by Sue Harford Ferdig, offers long-term financial
advising needs, insurance and retirement plans. Go
to 99 Almaden Blvd., No. 740, or phone 292-1777.
Besides managing administrative support services at
SJDA, she handles human resources, technical support
and board meeting details. Arnold take over the position
held by Terry Lee the past two years. Lee left to join a
Sunnyvale startup company.
SJDA News
SJDA elects new board members: Six new faces
have been added to the Downtown Association’s Board of
Directors. In addition, three members return to the board
after earlier terms expired and three others have been
re-elected to serve another three-year term.
Friday market still the place to go: If it’s Friday,
the Downtown San Jose Farmers’ Market is still the place
to people watch, be seen – and pick up late-season fresh
fruits and vegetables. In addition, several stands sell
gourmet treats. And new this year, several vendors sell
their specialty arts and crafts, which are perfect for holiday decorations and giving. It all happens from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. at San Pedro Square. Take note: there will not
be a market on Friday, Nov. 26. The market will be open
Dec. 3, 10 and 17, before closing for the season.
The new directors are:
Diana Florian, general manager of Forest City
Commercial Management
Sparky Harlan, executive director of Bill Wilson
Center
Greg Mauldin, general manager of Hotel Montgomery
Hope Shapiro, director of sales and marketing for
Le Petit Trianon
Hank Sprintz, owner of Copy Club
Troy Tibbils, owner and managing general partner of
Zanotto’s Downtown Market
■
■
■
■
Downtown Facts
■
■
Bottles of “orange” sauce: La Victoria’s two downtown locations share 180 12-ounce bottles of custom
salsa every three months. That means that on average
each La Victoria “loses” one bottle of sauce per day.
The vast majority of “borrowers” of the bottles full of
the famed and delicious “orange” sauce used to top
La Victorias’ Mexican food offerings don’t bother
returning the bottles. But here’s a reminder:
La Victoria, indeed, sells the sauce for $6.
Returning to the board are:
Henry Cord, owner of Cord Associates real estate
firm, who served as SJDA’s president during 2001-02
and was on the board from 1997-2002
Dan Doherty, owner of Mission Ale House and
Kliedon’s Building, who served from 1996-2001
Dan Pulcrano, editor and publisher of Metro
Newspaper, former board president (1987-88) and
member of SJDA’s founding board (1986-93).
■
■
■
Next BOD m e e t i n g
Those directors re-elected to the board are:
Don Gagliardi, partner in the downtown law firm
Bergeson Elioupolos, LLP
Randy Knox, director of real estate, facilities
and security at Adobe Systems, Inc.
Bob Moore, owner of Data Direct and current
board treasurer.
All Business Improvement District members are invited
to attend the end-of-year meeting of the San Jose
Downtown Association Board of Directors. The meeting
will be at 8 a.m. Dec. 10 at Camera 12 Cinemas, Second
Street at Paseo de San Antonio. At the meeting:
SJDA Executive Director Scott Knies will recap 2004
downtown highlights
Golden Nail awards for contributing to the downtown’s
beautification efforts will be presented.
Term-limited board members will be thanked for their
years of service to the association and downtown.
■
■
■
■
Twenty-three board members are set to remain on the
board. The board has 36 total members: Their three-year
terms begin Jan. 1. Board members whose terms end
Dec. 31 are Bill Carlson, Chuck Hammers and
Mary Velez.
■
■
Please call SJDA, 279-1775, to reserve a spot.
New events-promotions manager: Holly Miller
begins her new job as events and
promotions manager for the
Downtown Association this month.
Miller, a graduate of San Jose
State’s Master of Public
Administration program, has
managed events, promotions and
budgets for a number of years with
San Jose State University and
Holly Miller
Santa Clara University.
At the Convention Center
Nov. 4-6: California Reading Assoc. Conference (5,000)
Nov. 6-7: San Jose Reptile Show (3,000)
Nov. 12-14: Ski and Snowboard Show (10,000)
Nov. 12-14: Gift and Fashion Expo (10,000)
Nov. 26-28: Harvest Festival (12,000)
(expected attendance)
Downtown Dimension
is published monthly by
the San Jose Downtown
Association, a nonprofit
membership organization established in 1986
to serve the Downtown
business community.
Call (408) 279-1775
for information.
The downtown resident will manage myriad event
production and promotional details as they relate to
SJDA’s year-round calendar, which includes two summer
music series, winter skating rink and nearly year-round
farmers’ market. She will also act as the association’s
liaison to the San Jose Downtown Foundation. This is a
new position at the Downtown Association.
New office manager: Jennifer Arnold is the
Downtown Association’s new office manager. She has a
long resume of office management, customer service,
database handling and project leadership, most recently
from Wyldwood Press in Boulder Creek.
28
SAN
N.
Editor-in-Chief: Scott Knies
Executive Editor: Rick Jensen
www.sjdowntown.com
FIRST
ST.
SUITE
1000
JOS E,
CA
95113
408.279.1775
re t u rn service re q u e s t e d
Presort Standard
U.S. Postage
Paid
Permit No. 5116
San Jose, CA