San Jose unveiled new details about Jay Paul Co.’s CityView Plaza in a just-published report about the proposed 3.8 million-square-foot downtown office project.
The San Francisco-based developer says it plans to replace the existing office-and-retail campus by Cesar Chavez Park with three 19-story towers big enough to accommodate 20,000 employees, according to a 164-page supplemental environmental review posted Thursday morning on the city’s website.
If approved, the project slated for an eight-acre site in the heart of the city would break ground later this year and open for business in 2026. The developer estimates that construction would continue around the clock, six days a week for 69 straight months.
The tear-down alone is expected to last half a year.
Completing CityView Plaza is anticipated to take 27,780 cement truck round trips, a million cubic yards of exported soil, 72 feet of subterranean excavation and 500 tons of hauled-away demolition debris over the next six years.
The transportation management plan in the environmental report notes that the project is conveniently located by bike lanes on West San Fernando Street and South Almaden Boulevard, bus stops on South First, San Carlos and Second streets and a 600-foot walk from the closest VTA light rail station. Jay Paul also plans to include 776 bicycle parking spots on the ground floor of all three towers and lockers and showers in two of them.
As for car access, the report says the development will include five levels of below-ground parking with a valet section and space for 6,230 vehicles.
The environmental document describes several “areas of public controversy” for the project. Namely, increased traffic, height and massing, the way its towers interface with Cesar Chavez Plaza and induce bird strikes and the potential loss of historic structures.
Jay Paul proposes housing current tenants—which include a handful of banks—in a 15-story building on the South Almaden Boulevard property.
The application pending city approval shows that the site encompasses properties that Jay Paul is still trying to buy—such as the Wells Fargo building at 121 S. Market St.
The public has 45 days from publication of the draft review to submit feedback about it to the city. After that, San Jose planners will incorporate those comments into a final report in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act. Jay Paul, meanwhile, still has to obtain a long list of permits to get the project moving.
