SAN JOSE — A downtown San Jose food hall that had been proceeding in a hush-hush mode now sports “coming soon” signs at a time when considerable progress is being made inside the historic building that will host the venture.
The signs indicate the stealth project that’s being guided by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick is edging closer to an opening date.
Kalanick, former chief executive officer of ride-hailing company, is the CEO of CloudKitchens, a ghost kitchens enterprise developing the project at 82 through 96 East Santa Clara St. The food hall is being developed on the ground floor of the Odd Fellows building, a prominent downtown San Jose structure built in 1885.
In recent days, the front doors of the building were open several times, creating opportunities to peer inside at the first-floor construction work and interior improvements. Visible were cooking areas, areas for potential sit-down counter dining, and a combination of wide-open areas and more intimate sections, as well as multiple rooms.
Perhaps the building’s most prominent exterior alteration appeared in early May. The sign “San Jose’s Downtown Food Hall,” scripted in the style of the furniture store sign that once adorned the building, has been visible for several weeks.
Limited details are available, even in San Jose planning documents, about the upcoming venture inside the historic building. Some information has emerged, however.
The San Jose food hall is slated to accommodate 26 kitchens, according to documents on file with city planners.
The food hall venture also features a dine-in restaurant that will total about 1,000 square feet and a coffee bar next to the dining establishment, the city planning documents show.
The downtown food hall would be on the ground floor, according to the proposal. Jeffrey Eaton, principal executive with E2 Architecture, is listed as the project architect.
Over the decades, the property has been a boxing gym, a hall for the fraternal Oddfellows group and a furniture store. Now, it’s poised to be the site of a cutting-edge commercial kitchen venture.
In 2018, a real estate venture led by Kalanick paid $7.3 million for the historic building, documents on file at the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.
At the time of the purchase, Wall Street behemoth Goldman Sachs provided $100 million in financing to the group Kalanick headed up. The public loan documents, however, suggested that the funding could be used for multiple properties, including the downtown San Jose project.
The “San Jose’s Downtown Food Hall” signs are consistent with what the Kalanick-led CloudKitchens venture has filed with city planners.
The food hall signs also evoke memories of the retro look of the sign for Hank Coca’s Downtown Furniture Store, which was a decades-long fixture in downtown San Jose until the retailer closed its doors a few years ago.
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