This Sunday afternoon, The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County will be holding a workshop to discuss First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Programs offered by The Housing Trust. This will include information about the new Equity Share Co-Investment (ESCO) Program being offered by The Housing Trust. Prospective homebuyers as well as the general public are encouraged to attend to learn more about these programs. The Housing Trust can help homebuyers with down payment assistance loans up to $75,000 for qualified homebuyers. The Housing Trust provides various assistance programs for qualified homebuyers including an equity share program, closing cost assistance, down payment assistance, and mortgage assistance. These loans are generally low interest, secondary financing mortages. If you are looking to purchase your first condo in downtown San Jose or any neighboring areas, The Housing Trust is a great opportunity to help you get into that first home.

The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County is one of the largest housing trusts in the country. The goal of The Housing Trust is to make housing in the Silicon Valley more affordable and to assist qualified homebuyers purchase their first home.

First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Program Workshop
The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County
Sunday, February 21, 2010
3:00pm - 5:00pm
Martin Luther King Library
150 E. San Fernando Street
Downtown San Jose

For more information, see The Housing Trust website.

The San Jose Downtown Residents Association (SJDRA) will be holding its evening social this Thursday, February 18, at 19Market, the modern Vietnamese bistro and bar located in downtown San Jose. The SJDRA’s evening social is a great way for downtown residents to mingle and interact with other downtown residents and discover various downtown eateries and establishments. This installment of the evening social is being hosted at 19Market which is located about two doors down from Sonoma Chicken Coop on Market Street. The restaurant and bar at 19Market offers a contemporary twist on some very authentic Vietnamese dishes. The menu at 19Market includes classics such as spring rolls but also offers variations such as duck spring rolls, basa spring rolls, and crab and avocado spring rolls. Entrees at 19Market feature mango chicken, saigon steak, shaking beef, steamed lemongrass seabass, and tiger prawns. The bar at 19Market also features some creative concoctions to their libations such as the saketini, VungTau Long Island, and 19Market-hito. The restaurant itself offers an elegant yet stylish dining room. Check out 19Market this Thursday evening with other downtown residents and get 15%off your tab.

San Jose Downtown Residents Association
Evening Social
Thursday, February 18, 2010
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location: 19Market
19 N. Market Street
Downtown San Jose

To RSVP or for more information about the SJDRA Evening Social, please call (408) 535-0123.

San Jose was ranked as the second best city in the country to find a job by Juju.com, an internet job search engine. The results were determined by dividing the number of umemployed workers in a metropolitan area by the number of jobs in Juju.com’s index of online jobs in the country. Based on this calculation, San Jose counted 2.68 unemployed residents for every advertised job. At the top of the list of best places to find a job was Washington, D.C. The remaining top five cities to find a job were Baltimore, Boston and New York. At the bottom of the list and ranking as the worst city to find a job was Detroit which has 20.76 unemployed individuals for every advertised job.

For more information on the Juju.com article, see this CNBC.com slideshow.

A public meeting will be held this Wednesday evening, February 10, from 6p to 8p, to discuss the proposed new family court facility in downtown San Jose. The new San Jose Family Justice Center would consolidate six currently leased facilities and house 20 courtrooms including all family-related services such as Family Court, Juvenile Dependency, and Drug Court in the proposed 193,400 square foot building. The new San Jose Family Justice Center would be located on the current court parking lot on the block from Market to First Streets and St. James to Devine Streets. The public meeting on Wednesday evening by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will allow the community and interested parties an opportunity to comment on the draft California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) report and the overall project.

All downtown residents and neighbors are welcome and encouraged to attend. This project espeically affects the residents in the St. James Historic District, particularly those at Park Townsend, The Plaza, St. James Place, City Heights, and One East Julian.

Public Meeting
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Old Courthouse
161 N. First Street
Department 17

For more information about the proposed San Jose Family Justice Center, visit the Santa Clara County Superior Court website.

So the San Jose City Council is giving the green light on loosening up restrictions on signs in San Jose and even allowing more electronic signs in downtown San Jose and certain other locations. The City Council gave preliminary approval on policies that would permit more downtown business to put up programmable electronic signs similar to the ones currently at the downtown Flames and the new Market by Safeway. The permission to install these bright, programmable signs in downtown would obviously be encouraging for current and future businesses in downtown San Jose and this is obviously one of the motivations for allowing the new policies. Plus, having these ever-changing signs that shine and display various messages throughout the day would undoubtedly help create an illusion of downtown being a vibrant and energetic destination. But before we start installing bright lights all over downtown, let’s make sure that these digital displays make sense. Afterall, we don’t want to be a cheesey version of all the signs that make Las Vegas glow. I’m sure there will lots of critics who will protest against the bright lights as intrusive, ugly, and will complain that these lights shine right into their bedrooms. And these are probably very legitimate complaints especially with more and more residents moving downtown. This is where common sense should come into play that allows appropriate signage that fits in to what the current environment of the neighborhood. We need the signs to be the right size and brightness so that its not gawdy and doesn’t change the characteristics of our downtown.

The rock band Tesla had a popular hit song with the title “Signs”. The chorus goes:

Signs, Signs
Everywhere there’s signs
Blocking up the scenery
Breaking up my mind

Let’s keep downtown San Jose scenic and clean. But go ahead and add a little bit of bright color to it.

I usually don’t talk about any one specific property here on the blog but this one I’ve got to show off a bit. Not to mention that its one of my own listings but that’s beside the point. This is an incredible condo and nothing short of spectacular. This penthouse condo is over 2,400 square feet of luxury and is located in the Park Townsend complex in downtown San Jose. The floor plan includes an expansive living area, solarium, gourmet kitchen, master bedroom suite, and upstairs loft area. If you are looking for a downtown home to entertain family, friends, or clients, this is the perfect place.

When you first walk into this penthouse unit, you will notice the beautiful hardwood floors, dramatic high ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows in the solarium. You will also find that the walls have been floated and sanded for an exquisite smooth finish. The centerpiece of this grand home is the fireplace feature which is designed and textured to replicate an old world building. The fireplace feature is complete with exposed brick effects, open vent holes, and an appearance of dripping water from drain pipes. It really is amazing to see and brings an old world charm to an upscale modern condo. Check out the video below.

There is plenty of space in this penthouse condo. The master bedroom suite is spacious and roomy. The walk-in closet and wardrobe closet are both outfitted with solid wood closet organizers. Very nice indeed. The loft upstairs is the perfect spot for a home office, television/entertainment area, or guest bedroom. This is the ideal condo for anyone looking to downsize but still needing more room or someone looking for a luxurious downtown penthouse that is already decked out.

You can also watch the video on YouTube. The interior of this home was professionally designed by Bethe Cohen and Skye Duncan of Bethe Cohen Design Associates. The faux paint and fireplace feature was custom designed by Chris Collins Adkins of Chameleon Design.