Protect San Jose's Riparian Corridors

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The Almaden Office Building goes to SJ Planning Commission Wednesday 8/25, (Long 4-story curved building with two 16-story towers and 3 level underground garage along the Guadalupe River in Downtown SJ). This project is less than 30 feet from the riparian edge of the river. 

Follow this Zoom link at 6:30pm Wednesday to give public comment, asking the Planning Commission to deny the project as proposed (item 5a): https://sanjoseca.zoom.us/j/96011876532

Talking Points:

  • This Project will cause irreversible damage to the Guadalupe River. This is the first project in SJ that allows this level of intrusion into the Riparian setbacks and it erodes achievements we fought for years. This will create irreparable damage to the river as a whole. 

  • Bird safety measures are less stringent than what is required by the City’s Downtown Design Guidelines and Standards. If Woz Way (another project across the street) can retrofit the entire building and abide by the Bird Safety Standards, the Almaden Office Project should do the same.

  • The scale of this project is so humongous that it will dwarf the river and the Children’s Discovery Museum - public spaces that the community loves.

  • The entire development will be about 1.4 million square feet of office space. In contrast, Google’s Downtown West development includes 7.3 million square feet. Google gave the City 200 million square feet of benefits, and committed to 4000 housing units. This project - a fifth of the Google project - will provide zero housing and zero public benefits.

  • The over 4-year construction of this development will create long-term air and noise pollution from the construction site, disturbing the adjacent riparian ecosystems and neighborhoods. 

Pictured: an aerial view of Boston Properties’ Almaden Office Project in Downtown San Jose (from project Notice of Preparation)

Pictured: an aerial view of Boston Properties’ Almaden Office Project in Downtown San Jose (from project Notice of Preparation)