AXIS San Jose: Exterior Rendering
AXIS San Jose: Penthouse Rendering
One: while the 22-story “Axis” in downtown San Jose (38 Almaden Boulevard) will officially open its sales and presentation center to the public this weekend (November 10th), they will not start taking reservations/deposits until late January 2008 (with priority given to those pre-registered/qualified).
The 329 condos will range from around 655 (studio) to 1,863 (three bedroom penthouse) square feet and will be priced “from the $400,000s to more than $2 million.” Initial closings and occupancy staring in May (2008). And yes, floor plans are available online.
And two: speaking of San Jose, we still need a couple of outstanding editors to champion our Silicon Valley coverage. So drop us a note (tips@socketsite.com) if you’re plugged-in, analytic, and articulate.
Axis San Jose (38 Almaden Boulevard) [axissanjose.com]
SocketSite Silicon Valley Coverage Coming Soon (sv.SocketSite.com) [SocketSite]

20 thoughts on “If This Is Old News (And You Know Even More), Then Drop Us A Line”
  1. “we still need a couple of outstanding editor’s”
    To tell you there is no apostrophe in “editors”?
    [Editor’s Note: If we weren’t laughing, we’d probably cry. (And you’re so hired.)]

  2. it was on frontsteps this morning, is that what you mean by old news or are you trying to minimize how they scooped you?
    😉
    [Editor’s Note: Tough crowd today. And no, we just didn’t feel like leading off this morning with a press release from yesterday.]

  3. I bet you this has air conditioning, deeded parking, and vented dryers. Sigh. The things we give up to live in San Francisco.

  4. “I bet you this has air conditioning, deeded parking, and vented dryers.”
    There has to be some reason for these ridiculous prices to live in the boring ghost town that is downtown San Jose, right? I can understand people wanting to live in the South Bay – but downtown San Jose? Are you serious? If you live in a suburban-style city – why not get a yard and the other good parts of a suburban-style area?
    You’re getting the bad parts of SF (high price) without the good parts (vibrant urban atmosphere). Likewise, you’re getting the bad parts of SJ (high price) without the good parts (more space, yard)
    Yuck, yuck, yuck.

  5. “There has to be some reason for these ridiculous prices to live in the boring ghost town that is downtown San Jose, right?”
    Anon, has it ever occurred to you that some of these people live down there as opposed to the city, because that’s where the jobs are? I’d imagine that some of the tech workers want to have a somewhat urban experience, even if it isn’t as vibrant as SF. These aren’t the type of folks that are looking for the white picket fence.

  6. They forgot to show pictures of the SWA jets overhead – you’re under the approaching flight path to San Jose Mineta and about 5 miles from the airport. It’s deafening noise that’s even worse in inclement weather as the flight path is reversed and the take-off is over that building and definitely noisier . Oops, they also forgot to mention San Jose lets the clubs there stay open until 3 a.m. and they are full of drunk college students in the streets yelling and puking. Wait, what about the annual Cinco de Mayo brawl with those Eastside boyz? Well, how about the lightrail…ding ding went the trolley at all hours. Hey, I forgot about the homeless mentally woman that sits on the bus benches downtown and makes strange, very loud noises all night.
    Yep, that’s classy urban living in San Jose.

  7. Pianist you are going to compare the homeless and noise in SJ to SF…lol.
    Downtown SJ is so much cleaner/safer/quieter it really isn’t even comparable, and the area around San Pedro Square is nice with many restaurants, clubs, the Shark Tank, Parks, etc…And the Airport doesnt run 24 hours it shuts down at night.
    Does it have all the amenities downtown SF has, no, but do you really want to drive or take Caltrain that far to work at Adobe?

  8. I’m only pointing out that SJ has all the downsides of big city living without the upside. I should know, I lived downtown on one of the main streets for several years and fumed over the lack of policy and planning by the city officials. There still isn’t a daily life downtown, few shops and businesses. It’s just a big bar scene that caters to 21 year olds.
    Regarding the airport, that’s shut down 11:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. as far as I recall, but that’s not the point. Those balconies shown in the illustration – forget congregating on them. You can’t even have a conversation during flight “rush hour” as the planes come in just a few minutes apart. And try putting furniture on a balcony – you will have a greasy film from the jets everywhere. The worst part is that you will never be able to open your windows during airport hours unless you have a good supply of earplugs.

  9. That was my point as well – all of the cost and annoyances of SF, with ZERO amenties. If you’re looking for a slightly urban environment in Silicon Valley, try downtown Mountain View or Palo Alto.

  10. Sure you could try downtown Mountain View or Palo Alto, but how many homes are being built there and at what cost? If you want to experience those towns, you will end up driving there not living there (unless you pay a small fortune for a single family home nearby).
    With the amount of development going on in downtown SJ and the number of jobs already there, I would place my bets on the future growth of SJ.

  11. I see so many negative comments abt SJ – understandable, as this is SF website. What do you expect from an rich snobby ultra psuedo socialists. I am in SF and I have to say SJ is not bad. Last time I stayed there for a week in one of the downtown hotels, I see more good things than bad. More police on streets, no homeless, clean streets(for god’s sake you can walk on sideways and not smell), ok nightlife and one more thing I found out was its not a suburb, more people commute from SF to south bay now-a-days.
    So, its not that bad. As far as this development is concerned, its not that great. Well if a google engg can spend 1 mil to buy a 1000sq ft condo in sf, may be he can buy a 2000 sq ft in san jose…I guess…

  12. “With the amount of development going on in downtown SJ and the number of jobs already there, I would place my bets on the future growth of SJ.”
    Indeed! It is after all the LARGEST city in the Bay Area, and also the economic powerhourse for the region. The South Bay and Peninsula are the real creators of wealth for the Bay Area, not the so called “wall street of the west” as the financial district used to be called before Los Angeles seized almost everything.

  13. The South Bay is an economic powerhouse, San Jose specifically is NOT. San Jose is the bedroom community of Silicon Valley – the vast majority of the jobs are in Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. San Jose is the largest city in the nation to LOSE population during the day – making it a bedroom community:
    http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2005/10/31/story7.html
    Trust me, I don’t think that SF is the center of the economic engine in the Bay Area anymore – but it also isn’t San Jose – it’s the little NIMBY cities to the north that want all of the jobs, but none of the housing.

  14. So, its not that bad. As far as this development is concerned, its not that great. Well if a google engg can spend 1 mil to buy a 1000sq ft condo in sf, may be he can buy a 2000 sq ft in san jose…I guess…
    If places in downtown SJ were half the price, sure that would make sense – but they’re not. When they drop to half the price per sqft, even I might be interested in living in a ghost town.

  15. This location is actually quite nice. There is easy access to parks, transit, museums, library, opera, and most important South First Street which doesn’t suck despite the ongoing struggle with San Jose authorities who are averse to chaos. The units seem like very uninspired condos with expensive materials and boxy plans. Maybe at lower prices or in the next boom some units might be combined.

  16. “They forgot to show pictures of the SWA jets overhead – you’re under the approaching flight path to San Jose Mineta and about 5 miles from the airport. It’s deafening noise that’s even worse in inclement weather as the flight path is reversed and the take-off is over that building and definitely noisier.”
    It really isn’t nearly that bad. There is a place called the Capital Club on top of one of the SJ high-rises that has 2 very large outdoor balconies (17th floor) with tables, couches etc. I go out there all the time and it is an incredibly pleasant experience. You get a great view and the noise is marginal. You could easily have a conversation or just kick back and relax with a drink. Downtown SJ isn’t what it was 5 or 10 years ago and really has become a pretty nice place to live or just hang out.

  17. at 400K i would say not worth it…
    any condo at 400K isnt worth it considering
    most condos that size were only selling for 80-90K
    10 years ago and now at 500K? no thanks…
    rents on similar rentals are around 1200-1300/mon
    vs 2500-3000 mortgage? Yep you an expect a 50% haircut to compete with rentals which there are plenty.

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