Seeking Silver in San Jose

Second and Santa Clara, a $23 million condominium/retail complex in the city's downtown, is applying for silver certification from the United States Green Building Council. To achieve that status, the building was designed to be in the 20-percentile range in the energy-efficiency category. The use of low-emitting materials also will earn points.

By Robert Carlsen

The urban landscape of San Jose's downtown core should get a "green" boost when a $23 million mixed-use project is completed early next year.

Second and Santa Clara, a development of Los Angeles-based CIM Group and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, is applying for silver certification from the Unites States Green Building Council, said Scott Lee, vice president and principal at San Francisco-based SB Architects.

The general contractor, San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders, will refer to a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification checklist and will attempt to adhere to several points based on the budget and timeline, Lee said. For example, the building was designed to be in the 20-percentile range in the energy-efficiency category. Specific efforts such as lower-voltage lighting are required to optimize energy performance to a range of 30 percent or higher. Additionally, the use of low-emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, carpet and composite wood will earn multiple points on the checklist.

Second and Santa Clara will feature 80 rental and for-sale residential condominium units, ranging in size from 850 to 1,700 sq. ft. (studios to three-bedrooms). The development is comprised of two components: three levels of apartments built over one level of ground floor retail that opens onto Second Street and an approximately five-story condominium building facing Third Street.

The street level will include the 17,000-sq.-ft. Lucky Strike Bowling Alley, retail outletsand some condominiums that open to a private landscaped courtyard, which intersects a mid-block pedestrian paseo running the length of the site. The complex also will include a 172-space, two-level, underground parking garage.

Swinerton is now working on the garage's B1 level, pouring the last half of concrete on the mid-deck. Jason Smith, Swinerton's LEED-accredited project manager, said the concrete phase should be finished by the end of April. The framing of the superstructure should be done by October and the exterior skin by early 2006, he said.

"We're building in an urban location, right in the middle of downtown, with one traffic lane next to the site," Smith said. "We have an 11-ft. access corridor. It won't be easy."

Scott Lee

Swinerton recently completed construction of its corporate office in San Francisco, a project that was gold-certified by the USGBC. This is SB Architects' first project to seek LEED certification.

Hollywood-based CIM Group and SB Architects also are working on Central Place, a larger mixed-use development on San Fernando Street. CIM and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency has dubbed Second and Santa Clara Street and Central Place as "Heart of the City," a major effort to revitalize downtown San Jose.

Central Place will not be seeking LEED-certification, Lee said.

The first phase of the $135 million Central Place project will feature 150 residential condominium units in a 20-story tower, five levels of parking (two underground, three above grade) and 36,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The San Jose office of Hensel Phelps Construction is the general contractor.

Phase two features are still being finalized, but is expected to include at least 340 total units and 68,000 total sq. ft. of retail. Construction of the first phase is scheduled to begin in late fall, with completion 24 to 30 months later.