There have been, by Nanci Klein’s estimate, 127 public meetings about a mixed-use development planned for a historic site in San Jose’s Japantown. But until Thursday, none of them involved a shovel.
“We are here because of the toil, commitment and accomplishments of those that came before us,” said Klein, San Jose’s assistant director of economic development. “I want to call out gratitude for the people of Japantown today who have worked over many years and many, many meetings to shape the vision for this project.”
It’s not often that a ceremonial groundbreaking evokes a lot of emotion, but Thursday’s event was the exception. So many people — from Japantown community leaders to generations of elected officials — have worked over the years on the project at the former city Corporation Yard, bordered by Sixth and Seventh streets on the east and west and Jackson and Taylor streets to the north and south.
In fewer than three years, the vacant lot in the heart of a thriving, historic neighborhood and business district is expected to be replaced by the Shea Properties development — 518 residential units, 19,000 square feet of retail, a public park and plaza and an arts center that’s being separately developed by SV Creates.
“I’m a little bit emotional,” said PJ Hirabyashi, founding artistic director of San Jose Taiko, which opened the groundbreaking ceremony with a performance. She was hardly alone in her response, based on the cheers and occasional tears that erupted from members of the Japantown community who have been involved in the planning for decades.
Leaders like Carole Rast and her family, Connie Young Yu, Joe Yasutake and the late Jimi Yamaichi were just a few of the people who helped make sure the project stayed true to the character of the historic neighborhood.
San Jose’s Japantown is one of only three remaining in the country. And the site itself was once home to Heinlenville, the settlement where Chinese immigrants moved in the late 1880s after being forced out of other parts of the city. The ornate Ng Shing Gung temple was the heart of the community and hosted religious and community activities and was the last vestige of Heinlenville when it was demolished in 1948 (a replica created by the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project is at History Park).
Interrupted by the shameful internment of many of its residents during World War II, San Jose’s Japantown rebounded in the 1950s. By the 1960s, however, the Heinlenville site was turned into San Jose’s Corporation Yard, essentially a giant storage area for equipment. That’s not exactly what you would want next to the restaurants and shops of a bustling historic district, so the city began planning to move the corp yard to its present location on Senter Road.
How far back does this project go at City Hall? San Jose City Councilman Raul Peralez, whose district includes the project, spoke at the groundbreaking and acknowledged the work done by his predecessor, now-Mayor Sam Liccardo. But then he recognized the time put in by Liccardo’s predecessor, now-Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez — and her predecessor, David Pandori. The initial planning began with his predecessor, former Mayor Susan Hammer when she was the area’s councilwoman in the 1980s.
The city began actively working on a redevelopment plan for the site in 2005, launching those 127 public meetings. Over that time the project went through several iterations — along with several developers — as it languished through an economic downturn and even survived the demise of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.
But on Thursday morning, it felt like the end of a long journey — ironically to the project’s starting line — had been reached.
“I’ve been in this business a long time,” said Greg Anderson, senior vice president of multifamily development and acquisitions for Shea Properties, “and I’ve really never seen such community enthusiasm for a project, such commitment from so many people for so many years.”
