A 25-story mixed-use tower proposed for a site near Santana Row could bring 330 condos and around 50k SF of commercial space to San Jose.

The tower, Volar (which means "to fly" in Spanish), has a shape inspired by falcon wings and will feature a circular, top-floor restaurant, putting it in sharp contrast to the two-story, 27k SF retail building that now sits on the site. Above and below are renderings of Volar from a couple of different angles.

Salvatore Caruso Design is behind the design, and Salvatore Caruso tells us the timing is right for the project, with Apple building a new 2.8M SF campus up the road in Cupertino and major corporations locating in Silicon Valley even as the area struggles with a housing shortage.

Volar will have ground-floor shops and restaurants and second-floor office space. Salvatore says the tower is more of an evolution of San Jose, bringing the experience residents may have had in other metropolitan areas to Silicon Valley.

Residents are demanding housing that is sophisticated, progressive and innovative, Salvatore tells us, and Volar offers that unique experience. The site is pursuing LEED Gold or Platinum certification, something important not only to office tenants, but increasingly to residents. The site also will feature a four-level underground parking garage with an automatic parking system.

The Volar project is one of several proposed or underway in the area, including Federal Realty's 234k SF office building at Santana Row already leased by Splunk and an adjacent 1M SF office campus; Westfield's 600k SF expansion of Valley Fair mall; and plans for a boutique hotel at 2850 Stevens Creek.

While near Federal Realty's mixed-use Santana Row, the property where the tower is proposed is owned by Winchester Plaza on the Row LLC. The owners are working with a Hong Kong-based capital partner on the project, which still needs city approval. The owners are seeking approval as a signature project.