SAN JOSE — Sharks Sports & Entertainment president Jonathan Becher said Friday he’s been encouraged about what he has heard from city council members after he pleaded last week that proposed downtown developments around the Diridon train station would endanger the NHL’s team future at SAP Center.
The Sharks sent a letter to the team’s fans Nov. 12 saying new construction planned for the area would threaten access and the amount of parking available near the downtown arena, which would not be viable if those plans went into effect.
“I think our message was heard loud and clear,” Becher said. “With thousands of pages of documents, frankly a lot of people probably hadn’t read them through. Part of what we were trying to do was educate people about what the consequence was of some of the decisions that are being made.
“I think a lot of people got educated and voiced their opinions, which luckily elected officials heard and are now, it seems like, taking into account.”
The Sharks’ agreement with San Jose requires the city to ensure 4,850 parking spaces are available within one-third of a mile of SAP Center. Google struck a deal to buy from the city the SAP Center parking lots that would provide part of the land for the Downtown West development.
The Sharks’ largest concern is the proposal to reduce traffic lanes on Santa Clara and Autumn streets, which intersect in front of the arena. Becher said if that is addressed, and the city upholds its parking agreement with the Sharks, that would alleviate many of the team’s concerns.
“If they do those two things, which seems more likely now than before, that goes a long way,” Becher said.
Google plans a transit-oriented development of office buildings, homes, shops, restaurants, entertainment hubs, cultural centers and parks near the train station that totals 7.5 million square feet.
More development, also roughly 7.5 million square feet in size, is planned for areas adjacent to that project, and the Sharks are concerned with parking, traffic gridlock and the impact of ongoing construction.
The Diridon train station is slated to also become a BART stop. Caltrain, which also uses the station, is undergoing modernization and a high speed rail system could also make use of the station in the future.
“The City of San Jose has been engaged with the Sharks and all the parties to the Downtown West development for many months, and City staff are very aware of and attuned to the need for the SAP Arena and all the events it hosts to be successful,” said Nanci Klein, Director of Economic Development for the City of San Jose, in a statement Friday to this newspaper.
“We fully intend to pursue our work with all parties to ensure continued operation of the Arena, as well as a smooth construction plan that can maintain the economic growth of the downtown area.”
The Sharks are asking for better integration between all of the various projects.
“Somebody’s got to masterplan,” the projects, Becher said. “Because each of those projects, just the nature of construction, is going to shut down roadways temporarily. But temporarily could be months, not weeks.”
If all of those projects take place simultaneously, Becher said, “you couldn’t physically even walk to the building, let alone drive to the building. Seems like common sense that no one would let that happen, but all five of those things are happening independently, so someone has to step in and govern those five. That would be the city.”
The Sharks urged fans who shared those concerns to contact local elected officials in advance of a City Council study session that was held on Monday. Becher also chimed in during open forum at the meeting, and said Friday he wanted to express the team’s option and that it went on record.
“We’ve had lots of really interesting conversations, not just the last couple of days — over the last three years,” Becher said. “The heart of the message I was trying to get across is, we need more than just talk.
“This is not the time for talk, this is the time for action. Essentially the window closes in the spring, because many of these decisions will be made.”
Staff writer George Avalos contributed to this story.
