The San Jose skyline is about to change forever.
Crews broke ground Tuesday morning on a 23-story residential high-rise building downtown at the corner of Market and Santa Clara streets.
San Jose City Councilman Sam Liccardo said this is going to be a big summer for downtown San Jose. For the first time in five years there will be cranes reshaping the city skyline, putting up new skyscrapers.
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilman Liccardo helped developer Essex Property Trust break ground on One South Market, a $135 million project that is expected create about 500 construction jobs.
Once it is complete, in about 20 months, the building will contain over 300 rental units, which the city hopes will bring more people downtown and ultimately revitalize this area.
The developer thinks the timing is right given that, in his opinion, the Great Recession is over.
“I think the Great Recession has been over in San Jose for some time,” said Essex President and CEO Michael Schall. “San Jose…has incredible job growth, has a very vibrant technology sector and life-science sectors that are really a big difference compared to the national economy.”
“Residential living is really the lynchpin, the critical path for revitalization of cities throughout the western United States,” said Liccardo.
Liccardo adds that over the summer developers will also break ground on a new hotel and another residential high-rise in the downtown area.
All this development is spurred not only by confidence in the Silicon Valley economy, but also reduced construction fees the city has agreed to cut in half.
