VTA hopes to fight downtown San Jose blight by bulldozing building
SAN JOSE A regional transit agency is hoping to aid the fight against blight in downtown San Jose through the demolition of a building near the site of a key proposed rail station The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has begun the demolition of a building on North First Street between West Santa Clara Street and West St John Street near the future entrance of a proposed BART station in downtown San Jose Partly demolished building at and North First Street in downtown San Jose seen on Nov Robert Summa Bay Area News Group Front of a partly bulldozed building at and North First Street in downtown San Jose fenced-off front side seen on Nov George Avalos Bay Area News Group The VTA owns the building along with several other parcels on the block which is bounded by North First Street West Santa Clara Street North Realm Street and West St John Street Stacey Hendler Ross a VTA spokesperson declared the North First Street building is part of the BART Silicon Valley Phase project A partly bulldozed building at and North First Street in downtown San Jose seen on Nov George Avalos Bay Area News Group Downtown San Jose BART station entrance West Santa Clara Street between North First Street and North Industry Street concept Foster Partners That block will eventually be used for construction staging and the new downtown station Ross reported The demolition of the empty building initially focused on the rear of the structure Demolition crews fenced off the front and rear areas of the building as observed by this news organization over a period of weeks in late November and early December The BART extension that will add three more San Jose stops including two downtown and one at the corner of First and Santa Clara streets is running over budget and behind schedule The building at N First is being demolished because it s considered an attractive nuisance in its current dilapidated condition Ross explained At one point accounts and photos shared on a subreddit focused on San Jose evidenced that rubble from the demolition had spilled onto part of the sidewalk on North First Street VTA requirements to ensure that these projects are done with a focus on safety and not interfering with the right of way explained Bob Staedler principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy a land-use and planning consultancy Homeless individuals have gained unauthorized access to multiple empty buildings in downtown San Jose in latest years Intrusions and fires have posed problems for property owners and city officers who seek to tackle blight woes downtown It is vital for these vacant buildings to be demolished while waiting for large projects to start mentioned Staedler In early Westbank a Canada-based real estate giant that has proposed multiple projects in downtown San Jose bulldozed the empty Bo Town restaurant building at South Second St Westbank plans to develop a housing tower at the restaurant site although the iconic Bo Town sign remains on the San Jose property Also in downtown San Jose the Lawrence Hotel building at through East San Fernando St between Second and Third streets is now the focus of a wide-ranging effort to clear away blaze-scorched debris at the site according to Joseph Castillo a San Jose restaurant entrepreneur who is a co-owner of the historic building The owners are cleaning up the hotel property as a prelude to renovating the historic building and bringing tenants back to the site Let s hope that we can see more of these blighted buildings be demolished Staedler disclosed
