Perspectives - Santana Row, Silicon Valley, USA

game changer, a series

Making Inspiring Places of an Enduring Quality

?On the city, people make it, and it is to them not buildings that we must fit our plans.???

Jane Jacobs

Santana Row has likely been discussed more than any other project in North America. Not only did it have a colorful past, it also represents an unprecedented direction in urban development. It was one of the first large scale vertically integrated-use developments in America to successfully implemented an “experience based” model. Today we call this model?Whole Living?. In truth, it had a controversial beginning, as most mega-scale pioneering projects do, particularly when they represent efforts of a publicly traded company. Santana Row shared a plethora of challenges; the implementation of an unprecedented and pioneering vision, an incredulous Wall Street, a national economic down-turn, due to the dot.com bust and more. Regardless, Santana Row prevailed to surpass all expectations. It exceeded all of the economic benchmarks and demonstrated that the impact of a hallmark vision can be transformative for both community and investors.?Referred to as the “Santana Row Effect,” the District’s impact has been a game changer and arguably contributed enormously to disrupting traditional urban development practices and city planning world-wide.?

The Santana Row District is a total of 18 blocks, with a central main street of approximately 1,500 feet (500 meters) and multiple of secondary streets. It consist of a dense vertically integrated set of uses, including: hospitality, entertainment, residential, office, retail, food and beverage.?At the street level the unbroken rhythm of narrow shops and restaurants blur the line between indoor and outdoor and this pattern continues from block-to-block. The streets are narrow in most places and with several parks throughout the District. The sidewalks are very wide, mostly shaded with tree canopy and arcades. They are immersed with people, merchandise, dinning and serendipitously positioned buskers. The blocks are short, giving way to alternative movement off main street and beyond. The District is drivable, but parking is largely out of sight, making pedestrian traffic, and not vehicles, central to the experience.?Its character, continuity and ubiquitous use of art, culture and artifacts promote a high level of engagement, curiosity and discovery, ideal attributes for its pedestrian oriented environment. This is a place conceived for people and social exchange. Unlike the planning of the past where neighborhoods were segregated by use, the density and synergy of Santana Row’s mix of uses establishes a 24/7 dynamic. The District never goes dark.?It is diverse, authentic and integrated with a broad appeal.

The vision for Santana Row was “to create the greatest street in America” and this was its guiding principle throughout its making. As Santana Row now celebrates its 19th?year anniversary, the street experience remains one of the most compelling aspects to its popularity and its economic driver. It is the street environment that makes the experience meaningful.?

To be sure, Santana Row has provided Boulevard Properties LLC’s practice with a wealth of insights, both from a city-making perspective and by its unique approach to management methodology. Its lessons are numerous. What makes Santana Row appealing to so many people? There are many contributors, but we’re convinced that the emphasis on public space sets the framework for its allure. As stated by Boulevard Properties LLC’s CEO, who led the organization to envision and develop Santana Row, from visioning to operations, “it’s the space between the buildings that creates the magic and brings people back to the district over and over.” Today the District receives 35,000 visitors per day and nearly 14.0 million per year. This is twice the visitor footfall per square foot than traditional single-use districts.?

In making such a district, the challenge is in the translation and execution of the vision. To create the “greatest street in America,” is nothing less than staggering and perhaps unachievable. In the case of Santana Row, the vision was its mantra and it was expressed in every decision from beginning to end. The vision sparked the organization’s resolve to pursue an idea and instilled in the team a determination to establish a benchmark for the industry. There is no doubt that the genius of Santana Row’s creation is in its ability to understand and resolutely implement three critical principles; first, that Santana Row was not about shopping, second, that people are the most important consideration, and third, that the life between the buildings is the most meaningful to the user. Ultimately, these affirmations were the economic engine for the District. This turned out to be completely true and foreseeing.?

Santana Row is the region’s cultural and entertainment hub for millions of people. It demonstrates that people and the experience of place can enrich community benefits and economic gain.?From the beginning, Santana Row consistently demonstrated profitability, performing significantly above the market in all asset classes. As a place for gathering it imbues?Whole Living??principles, and as a result, has become a sustainable regional magnet for people.?

Undoubtedly, as stated by Jan Gehl,?“People are attracted to other people”?and the Santana Row District understood this dynamic from its inception. For all of the challenges Santana Row experienced, clearly it got one of the most critical idea’s correct, staying true to?Whole Living??principles. Personally, looking back at this achievement, it gives me great solace to have led the organization in creating such an outcome. What could be better than to make such a contribution to both community and investor. I can only hope that, for decades to come, it continues to captured the heart and soul of the community. As a global hallmark, it undeniably demonstrates, as noted in Jan Gehl’s book?Cities for People, that?“first life, then space, then buildings, the other way never works.”?The Santana Row District is a testament to this truth.?

Perspectives - game changers, a series

These hallmark districts, represented in the Perspective series, demonstrate that their vision goes beyond best practices and local market considerations, typically formed by: supply and demand models, capture areas, customer segmentation and absorption rates. Consistently, these districts set new global standards for livability and reset economics, previously unimagined. They are nothing less than global game changers. They shift planning paradigms and are the vanguard in city-making. They illustrate how livability, focused on people-first places and synergy of uses can become integrated destination hubs and catalyst for urban transformation. They are dramatically changing use patterns, transforming regional economics and enhancing cultural identity.?

In our rapidly transforming cities,?Whole Living???principles are becoming increasing vital for urban livability and economic vitality. As the lines between home, work, education, retail and entertainment are blurred, new user expectations and urban transformation is taking place world-wide in unprecedented ways.?Now more then ever global city-makers must rethink traditional models to accommodate changing patterns. We utilize this principles in our own efforts and remain committed to do one thing: to create inspiring places of an enduring quality.?We are pleased to share these insights with you, so that together, we can make our communities and cities world-wide more economically viable, sustainable and meaningful to those who experience them.?

It is our sincere hope that the?Perspectives?series, combined with our recent presentation of the?Whole Living??principles will offer you insight and guidance for your own endeavors. In this series we will explore hallmark examples of inspiring places that represent exemplary illustrations of?Whole Living???principles and highlight the extraordinary value of integrated-use districts world-wide.?They all share characteristics that significantly impact their communities and demonstrate compelling economics. To be sure, they are global benchmarks for excellence in their asset class and represent true pioneering insights for city-making and are reshaping global trends in urban living.?

The Santana Row District in San Jose, California, and in the heart of Silicon Valley, is one game changing example.

Whole Living??Series

Boulevard Properties LLC invites you to explore its guiding principles as part of the?Whole Living??series. These principles have been formulated from years of practice and global observation of urban trends worldwide. You can receive the complete?Whole Living??series copy by making a request, via email at:[email protected].?

Who We Are

We are thinkers, makers and doers.?For over three decades we have endeavored to make a difference by creating meaningful places world-wide. As a real estate development company with a global perspective, we are committed to building teams, leading real estate development ventures, and implementing mega-scale projects throughout the world, as partners, alliances, or as advisors. It is our aim to positively impact the lives of people and create sustainable investments for shareholders. To better understand how to achieve this we have been careful observers and makers of highly complex, multi-purposed places, crafting our understanding of what makes meaningful places for people and sustainable economics throughout the world.

What sets us apart is the innovation, leadership and years of practice that we bring to our collaborations. We continue to explore trends globally and evolve our thinking to make our work more meaningful to the user, and thoroughly understand, that by taking care of our customer, you also take care of the investors.

Globally, we have witnessed tremendous change, due to technology, urban migration and shifting demographics. Today as a result, the way we live, work, learn, entertain and trade must be reimagined. Beginning with Santana Row, we have carefully deconstructed and evolved our thinking about city-making, in rapidly changing times and how best to provide sustainable returns to the investor. They are inseparable. We now know, more vividly today, that the right direction for change is by integrating uses that successfully achieve synergy.?We call this?Whole Living?.

Anthony Flanagan,?CEO & Chairman

www.boulevardpropertiesllc.com

Boulevard Properties LLC?Winner of the 2020 BUILD Award - Most Innovative Urban Real Estate Development Company

image: Santana Row park, San Jose, California (?image contributed by Anthony Flanagan)