Orchard Supply Hardware stores across the Bay Area and beyond closed their doors early Tuesday and will shut down permanently by the end of the year, according to a company spokeswoman. Jackie Hartzell, a spokeswoman for parent company Lowe's, said employees were informed of the permanent shutdown Tuesday, and store liquidations will begin Thursday. Bought by Lowe's in 2013, Orchard Supply remained a separate brand and operating entity from the Lowe's chain and has more than

The city council of the City of San Jose voted Tuesday 11-0 to approve the sale of of five former redevelopment properties near Diridon Station to Mountain View-based Google for $67 million. The properties slated for the sale are located at: 8 South Montgomery Street, 105 South Montgomery Street, 510 W. San Fernando Street/102 S. Montgomery Street, 150 South Montgomery Street, and 645 Park Avenue. According to the terms of the compensation agreement, as outlined in a release

After more than three hours of impassioned pleas from dozens of local residents and community groups who wanted to be included, the San Jose City Council unanimously approved the creation of a controversial advisory group that will offer input on the possible Google development near Diridon Station. The group will offer community feedback to the city manager’s office as the administration works with Google to develop a proposal to present to the City Council. It was originall

On June 20, 2017, the City Council adopted a resolution authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) with Google for the acquisition of properties in the Diridon Station Area owned by the City of San Jose (7 parcels comprising 2 main sites) and properties owned by the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency(SARA)(9 parcels comprising 5 main sites). The June ENA action marked the first step in a multi-step, multi-year proc

An army of 20,000 Googlers is expected to descend upon the capital of Silicon Valley when the search giant opens a new campus here. To see what happens when an explosively growing technology company moves into downtown, look no further than Seattle. Amazon’s dramatic expansion there has wrought a profound transformation on the city, and holds lessons for San Jose. Some points are beyond dispute: rent and real estate costs in Seattle have skyrocketed, as has homelessness,

The San Jose City Council continues to grapple with housing development proposals in conflict with the need to build a tax base the way well-financed cities with fully staffed police departments do: by nurturing job growth. Tuesday it faces a test of its resolve with a proposal for housing on commercial-industrial zoned land. The proposed general plan change for a stretch along San Carlos Street was one of three that city staff recommended for early denial — that is, the prop

You can tell when a topic gets really, really heated at San Jose City Hall, incandescent white in a world of gray. A council member will put out a memo that attacks not only an opposing position, but the Mercury News, demanding that the council be given room to make its own decision. That’s what happened over the weekend with Councilman Don Rocha, who has probably set the record for bristling and unpleasant memos in his four-years-plus on the council. All of this has to do wi

The Meridian at Midtown mixed-use development has been completed in part of the vision to rehabilitate W. San Carlos Street, creating a corridor from downtown San Jose to Santana Row. The 3.5-acre site at Meridian Avenue and W. San Carlos Street, the former location of the GE Meyer Appliance building, was approved for development in 2008 with an expected completion in 2011. An unstable economy threw a wrench in plans, but development began in November 2012. The new structure

The Ohlone lives. A year after a major mixed-use project in San Jose's Midtown neighborhood seemed all but dead, the developer has reached a deal with the city that could set the stage for a groundbreaking by 2016. "We are now proceeding forward," said Michael R. Van Every of Green Republic LLC, the joint venture that is developing the 8.25-acre project at West San Carlos and Sunol streets. The San Jose Planning Commission later this month will consider a revised project prop

Nearly two decades after Cheim Lumber sold its last two-by-four, its almost five-acre site could become a hotbed of wood-frame construction itself. Fairfield Residential last week turned in a proposal to develop a 315-unit apartment community at 800 W. San Carlos St. The project promises to bring bodies and retail to the key corner at West San Carlos and Sunol Street that in recent years has served as a Hertz truck rental location. On tap: 23,500 square feet of retail, restau

The second community workshop for the West San Carlos Urban Village was held on September 23, 2013, at Sherman Oaks Community Center, with more than 80 community members participating. The input from the first meeting (held on October, 29th, 2012) helped inform the creation of draft concepts relating to urban design, land use, parks/public art, circulation, and streetscape. These draft concepts were presented to the community at this second meeting in order to receive further

San Jose’s first step toward the Envision 2040 General Plan is headed in the wrong direction. Nearly 10 years ago, the Valley Transportation Authority invited developers’ proposals for a prime parcel it planned to sell in Midtown San Jose. Green Republic won that bid with Ohlone Towers. The developer hailed the project as “designed to comply with the goals of the City of San Jose 2040 General Plan” and said it was “looking forward by embracing transit, bringing neighborhood s

A complete street is one that follows the 8-80 rule—whether you are 8 or 80 years old, the road is safe for you to use. The intersection of West San Carlos Street and South Bascom Avenue in San Jose is far from safe. Imagine being blind and crossing the intersection of West San Carlos Street and South Bascom Avenue, pictured above. People do it often, as the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center is just two blocks away. Imagine encountering this intersection with a child or a pet i

On April 28, residents donned hats and comfy shoes to join Greenbelt Alliance on a walking tour of the West San Carlos-South Bascom area of San Jose to highlight the need for “complete streets.” Greenbelt Alliance has spent the past several months meeting with neighborhood leaders and partnering with a team of San Jose State University graduate students in preparation for the City of San Jose’s upcoming process to create one of the first urban villages under the newly adopted