It’s been three years since a fire raged through the Lawrence Hotel building in downtown San Jose, but it looks like the fire happened just a couple of days ago. Since the four-alarm fire on Jan. 7, 2021, the historic building on San Fernando and Third streets has been in disrepair with burn marks on the exterior brick wall, debris and a chained fence between the boarded up building and sidewalk. San Jose officials have tried to work with the property owner to get started on demolition and repairs, but their efforts have fallen flat — and owner Eagles Hills Property LLC is at risk of incurring ..read more

Nationwide changes in the way real estate agents are compensated might not make a difference in Silicon Valley. A pending settlement from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) could be an industry game changer that upends the commissions homebuyers pay real estate agents. The key changes could come as soon as July. This includes real estate agents no longer seeing commissions on the multiple listing service, and having a written agreement with the buyer showing form of payment. Michelle Perry, president of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, said these changes are unlikel ..read more

An empty commercial space in downtown San Jose where a Safeway was previously located is still vacant nearly five years later, after an oral wellness company backed out of a deal to move there last summer. Downtown advocates and residents remain hopeful another grocery store can fill the space, but officials say that could still be months or even years away. “Having conversations with our small business community and residents, they want more options for grocery stores downtown, as we haven’t had an official grocery store downtown since Safeway left,” District 3 Councilmember Omar Torres, who ..read more

For years, homeless veterans housed at an emergency facility in San Jose have lived with bed bugs, black mildew, fire hazards and a lack of warm water — and they’re relying on outdated evacuation plans, disconnected fire sprinklers and unsafe electrical systems. These are the conditions described in a Santa Clara County inspection report for the property at 10 Kirk Ave. in San Jose. This comes less than two months after the county acquired the eight, single-story buildings on 4.26 acres for $14.5 million last November from one of San Jose’s largest developers, Swenson Builders. It’s uncle ..read more

Fans of hearty burritos and saucy enchiladas may have felt a pang of absence when Angelou’s Mexican Grill closed its doors at 21 N. Second St. in downtown San Jose at the end of 2023. But devotees of the San Jose institution can take comfort knowing Angelou’s is set to resume slinging Cali burritos, carne asada fries, chile relleno and orange sauce as soon as early February from a new downtown location at 78 S. First St. After being in business in the Realty Building on Second Street for 17 years, the restaurant is in the final stages of relocating due to a developer’s plan to convert the ..read more

Months after work crews removed tattered tarps and worn wraps from a languishing, historic former church in downtown San Jose, preservationists are worried city officials have lost urgency around protecting the building for the long term. The former First Church of Christ Scientist near St. James Park has been exposed to public view since late August, but multiple proposals from city officials last year to stem concerns over the fate of the building have since been ditched or are stalled. “We haven’t seen follow-through by the city or the owner, so it’s sort of back to square one,” Ben Leech ..read more

San Jose is one of the worst U.S. cities for someone looking for the most bang for their buck on housing. According to a report from All Star Home, San Jose ranks second worst when it comes to homeowners’ happiness with their homes and neighborhoods, compared to the price they pay to live there. San Francisco ranked the worst and Seattle came in third out of 25 cities from the American Housing Survey. On the other end, Detroit ranked No.1 for best housing value, with Rochester, New York in second and Birmingham, Alabama in third. All Star Home’s report on housing value lists the top 10 and wor ..read more

Santa Clara County is the second most expensive county in the nation to buy a home, yet demand is still strong. The county’s No. 2 ranking helps secure the Bay Area as the most expensive metro area in the U.S. for the eighth consecutive year, according to PropertyShark, a blog covering real estate trends. Its latest report analyzes the 100 most expensive ZIP codes in America by median home sales price from the beginning of the year through Oct. 20. Santa Clara County leads the Bay Area with 16 ZIP codes in the top 100. Los Angeles County tops the nation overall with 20 ZIP codes. In Santa ..read more

Median home sale prices have skyrocketed in Silicon Valley’s hottest housing markets and  residents are moving out. A new study by Joint Venture Silicon Valley found the region’s median home sale price reached a peak of $1.53 million in 2022, bolstered by three top competitive markets — Fremont, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. Heidi Young, senior researcher at Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies, part of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, said the high demand of these “hot” housing markets in Fremont, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale hasn’t saved these cities from more people moving out than mov ..read more

With an exodus of teachers fleeing pricey Silicon Valley, the city’s largest university is weighing how to create affordable housing for educators on district-owned land. San Jose State University envisions partnering with public school districts across Santa Clara County to combat the housing crisis and the soaring cost of living dilemma that has driven teachers and students out of the Bay Area. The university is also considering how it can use the Alquist building, acquired in January 2020, to house its faculty, staff and graduate students, plus teachers and employees from various schoo ..read more