Live-work Spaces Coming to Downtown San Jose?

As reported in the Silicon Valley Business Journal, developer Barry Swenson Builder is looking to build a new project in downtown San Jose that consists of flexible live-work spaces. The 13-unit residential live-work project would be located at the corner 4th Street and E. Julian Street, which is currently home to an empty lot. The units would be 3-level spaces with the bottom level as an option to use as an office or retail space, and living space on the upper floors. Or the homeowners could simply keep all 3 levels as as living space. What kind of office, work space, or retail shop could you imagine taking home in a live-work space? There are a small handful of live-work examples in the downtown area including at Park Townsend on Julian Street and Village Square on San Carlos Street. Only a handful of the live-work spaces at Park Townsend are used as work spaces which include a law office, a hair salon, and a fantastic real estate office (in the interest of full disclosure, that would be our brokerage, Silicon Valley Lofts & Conods). At Village Square, there doesn’t seem to be any one using the street facing units as work spaces. If the Barry Swenson live-work project comes to fruition, hopefully the spaces will be designed so that they are more conducive to actual offices, work spaces, or retail shops.