In 2001, House of Blues signed a 15-year deal with the city and planned to turn San Jose's old Woolworth's on First Street into a 24,000-sf, 1,200-seat nightclub featuring live music acts and a smaller restaurant. As part of the deal, the city would put more than $1 million into the building and the nightclub would pay no rent for the first five years unless it generated more than $8 million in gross sales on an annual basis.
After months of negotiating and preparation, however, the Hollywood-based company's plans fell through due to a lack of funding, causing the company back out of the deal recently. The upside is it freed up the redevelopment agency to issue a request for proposals by developers and would-be tenants.
Now the San Jose Redevelopment Agency has five possible developers proposing a variety of ideas, including a jazz club and a rock-climbing gym. According to city officials, the proposals have not yet been completed but the redevelopment agency plans to bring these options to the city council next month, including details regarding public subsidy for each of the proposals.
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