New Renderings Revealed for 147 East Santa Clara Street, Downtown San Jose

Several new renderings have been revealed with a detailed look at the block-sized mixed-use development proposed by Urban Catalyst for 147 East Santa Clara Street in Downtown San Jose. The project would add new offices, housing, and retail in the burgeoning area around city hall as San Jose’s sustained growth establishes a more urban core for the capital of Silicon Valley. The proposal is part of the Urban Catalyst Opportunity Zone Fund II, launched earlier this year.

Icon Echo Towers level nine open-deck terrace, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

Icon Echo Towers roof deck, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

Icon Echo Towers roof terrace, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

Icon Echo Towers residential lobby, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

Icon Echo Towers office floor plan, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

Icon Echo Towers exterior lobby, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

The 282-foot tall office tower will create 450,000 square feet of new office space. Next to the offices, the 267-foot tall apartment complex will create over three hundred residential units above 8,500 square feet of ground-level retail. It has not yet been shared what percentage of housing will be priced as affordable. Four levels of parking will provide space for a 1,134-car garage for the whole development.

Icon Echo Towers elevations, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

WRNS Studio is listed as the project architect, with GLS Landscape Architects hired as the landscape architect. The design scheme will vary from office to apartment building. The office building massing is a collage of setback shapes covered with curtainwall skin. Outdoor decks are situated across the building, with stairways connecting a few floors directly with the open terrace. By contrast, the residential tower has balcony-and-window facades pointing north-south and solid-material wall screens on the east-west facades.

Icon Echo Towers apartment building sky view, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

The proposed block is across from where Bayview Development Group is finishing construction on the 630-unit MIRO apartment towers. On the same 4th and East Santa Clara Street intersection, Bayview has proposed adaptive re-use of 17 South 4th Street for more offices. The developments are guided by the Envision San José 2040 General Plan, masterminded by city hall to develop a more comfortable high-density urban design for the capital of Silicon Valley.

The number of new high-rise proposals for Downtown San Jose is provoking a reimagination for the South Bay city, with more pro-housing legislation from the state capital giving unusual hope that the proposed towers may survive the daunting process of getting put up in the golden state. Some proposed buildings for the city center include the starchitect proposals developed by Westbank, the Sobrato Organization’s 282 South Market Street, 280 Woz Way by KT Urban, and more to be found here.

Icon Echo Towers, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

The project will require the demolition of an existing gas station, church, and low-rise commercial building. An estimated completion date has not been announced. Residents and office employees will find nearby access to VTA light rail, seven minutes from the existing Caltrain Diridon station by bicycle and right by the proposed Downtown San Jose BART station that is expected to open by the end of the decade.

Icon Echo Towers residential pool deck, rendering courtesy Urban Catalyst

The details come from Urban Catalyst, who launched the Urban Catalyst Opportunity Zone Fund II LLC earlier this year or “Fund II.” Fund II will focus on building multi-family rentals and office space in Downtown San Jose over a ten-year timeline with a minimum investment of $250,000.

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