Land Banking in San Jose

There is an article in the Mercury News about land banking by the San Jose Redevelopment organization. This article just mentions the land purchases in the recent years. The Redevelopment agency has been doing this for quite a long time. I've agreed with some of the purchases and disagreed with others but all in all I think it has been a good idea.

The recent purchases include a group of parcels which are for the North San Pedro area which I think is likely to be built in the somewhat near future because Barry Swenson Builder is involved in the development of that area and that company has built a lot of projects over the years and seems to be less dependent on outside money.

Most of the other purchases were originally purchased for the hopefully but now unlikely Major League Baseball stadium. Those purchases are part of the future redevelopment area of the Diridon Arena area.

That area is interesting because there are currently many surface parking lots which are across the street from the HP Pavilion. Some of those lots are also the main lots for the Caltrain train station. A rendering of the development area done for the California High Speed Rail Authority shows what I believe that San Jose wants from that area. All of the lots now used for the train station are planned to either be part of the new Diridon station or buildings with retail on the bottom and residences or offices above.

Other complications for any plans for this area include BART and the California High Speed Trains. Even though BART and the high speed trains are not for certain, they do impact on how the land will be developed.

Any development of a surface parking lot would initially cause a loss of parking for Caltrain and the HP Pavilion even if parking will be built as part of the development. This is where the new plots of land come in. They can be used temporarily as parking for Caltrain while the lots closest to the train station and the HP Pavilion are built. After those lots are developed, then the new land can be developed.

The Old New or New Old Santa Clara Station Proposal

There is a website for the proposed development of the area around the current Santa Clara Caltrain station and the possibly future BART station and the people mover connection to the San Jose airport. This area covers a large area southwest of the airport.

There are 2 proposed alternatives. The one thing that is not mentioned in this whole website is the possible use of the San Jose area for a new Soccer statium. The new stadium would probably drastically change any plans for this area.

Both alternatives would have mostly retail and housing in the Santa Clara part with mostly offices in the San Jose part.