In 2002, Santana Row replaced an aging mall. The pathbreaking development brought 14 blocks of intense urbanism to auto-dependent West San Jose. Along its walkable streets, restaurants and shops are topped with offices, lofts, and a hotel. Santana Row’s success led Federal Realty to acquire adjacent parcels and pursue entitlements for more housing, offices, and retail.
Federal Realty also proactively commissioned a robust transportation demand management plan. To attract and retain tenants, satisfied customers and employees are critical. The plan therefore aims to provide a high-quality access experience for customers, employees, and residents. A second key goal is reducing motor vehicle trips and pollution, in order to maintain friendly relations with neighbors and the City, and to meet Federal Realty’s sustainability goals.
Patrick Siegman led the planning effort while a Principal at Nelson\Nygaard. The plan includes 23 recommendations for improving transportation choices. They draw on our experience designing and implementing strategies that have yielded impressive results at nearby suburban sites, such as Stanford, Genentech, and LinkedIn.
All modes are covered, including transit, carpools, vanpools, cycling, and walking. Recommendations range from expanding shuttles, to travel marketing, to providing on-site carshare and childcare, to options for pricing parking without discouraging customers. Staffing, marketing, monitoring and performance assessment are also covered. Finally, the plan’s effects on parking demand and car trips are estimated.
The plan’s parking occupancy counts found hundreds of spaces unused at even the busiest hours. Yet many perceived a parking shortage. To fix this, the plan also proposes a detailed parking management strategy, including providing real-time parking availability, improving wayfinding, and ways to keep workers out of prime customer spots.
Images courtesy of Federal Realty