SUPPORT USING SAN JOSE DOWNTOWN CARLYSLE BLOCK FOR ENTERTAINMENT VENUE RATHER THAN MORE WALL-TO-WALL RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

Our Notre Dame Dog Park, next to the Axis building (corner of Carlysle St. & N Almaden) is being sold by the city to the property owners of Andy Pet Store. Their intention is to then flip both properties to a builder to build another high rise residential unit on the entire block (between W St. John St/Carlysle and Notre Dame Ave/N Almaden Blvd).

We the residents and visitors to downtown San Jose, would like to see the San Jose City Council leverage the entire block for a modern urban entertainment venue that reflects Silicon Valley and helps fill a gap in lifestyle in downtown San Jose. We have many restaurants and bars, but we do not have a destination venue where we can engage in day-to-day activities such as Luxury Cinemas, Modern Bowling Alley, High Tech Golfing, Basic Services, Retail, Dog Park, etc. Currently we have to drive to other cities for these activities and services which results in lost revenue to San Jose.

This block has high volumes of foot traffic and is a key strategic bridge between San Pedro Market and Little Italy/SAP Center. There are over 6,000 residential units either under construction or in planning stage and we are very supportive of continued urban growth, but there are very few prime properties like this that can support a concentrated destination entertainment complex that serves the needs of residents, attracts visitors, compelling to retailers and generates revenue for the city.

The block also has great historical significance as IBM invented the first hard drive in the old court house (99 Notre Dame Ave) which was an integral part to the start of Silicon Valley. This should be preserved and integrated into the venue.

We highly encourage City Council to consider our needs and not just build another residential building in this lot when there are many alternative opportunities for residential development.