When Downtown thrives, San José thrives. Neighborhood business districts drive shared prosperity and placemaking citywide.
What’s going well
New business districts are bringing investment back. Improvements to public spaces, growing Convention Center bookings, and higher hotel demand are helping strengthen San José’s economy.
Challenges
Downtown still faces negative perception and quality of life concerns. There is a citywide challenge around commercial and office vacancy, and increased costs of doing business.
What the City is doing
We’re strengthening Downtown and neighborhood business districts through proactive business attraction, retention, and placemaking efforts. This includes partnering with businesses, creating stronger district connections, forming a new business improvement district, and launching two small business grant programs, and streamlining a small business process.
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Commercial Renewal Downtown: Generate five commercial lease renewal commitments in Downtown of 5,000 square feet or more by June 2026.
- Business Attraction Downtown: Facilitate five new ground-floor business attractions to Downtown by June 2026.
- Downtown Placemaking: Implementation of four Downtown placemaking initiatives by June 2026.
- Business Improvement District: Formation of one new business improvement district by June 2026.
- Small Business Grant Programs: Implement two new small business grant programs and assess need and interest by business and project type.
- Speeding Up Small Business Approvals: Accelerate small businesses by streamlining one City process.
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