Levitt Pavilion is moving closer to becoming reality in San Jose, providing the first phase of the city’s plan to revitalize and transform St. James Park
The city is negotiating an agreement for the development and operation of the future Levitt Pavilion with the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation and Friends of Levitt Pavilion that would run until 2041. Under the terms, San Jose would provide $15 million of the project’s $20 million estimated cost, while Friends of Levitt Pavilion intends to raise the remaining capital costs needed for construction of the concert venue over the next 1-2 years.
Once the project is constructed, the Levitt Foundation would provide $1.1 million total in seed money for operating costs over the first five years.
“This would be a great reason to come downtown and spend some time,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said. “I think that it has the potential to really add to the entire urban fabric of our city and have a transformational impact.”
Two years after San Jose first engaged with the Levitt Foundation about exploring a partnership in 2013, the City Council established the St. James Capital Vision project with the goal of turning the 7.6-acre historic park “into a vibrant and amazing public space.”
The Levitt Foundation partners with communities to transform underutilized spaces into destinations for people from all walks of life through free public concerts. If the project is completed, San Jose would be the eighth city in the country to have a Levitt Pavilion.
“The Levitt Foundation realized the potential of St. James Park to be an ideal location for a Levitt Pavilion and that is why we’ve stayed on this journey, stayed part of the conversation for over ten years to get to this milestone day,” Levitt Foundation CEO Sharon Yazowski said.
While the master plan for St. James Park has loftier aspirations for turning the park into a landmark destination, including a price tag that could exceed $70 million, San Jose opted to chip away at it through multiple phases.
But when the city approved a historic preservation permit in 2020, the Sainte Claire Historic Preservation Foundation filed a lawsuit to prevent the redevelopment, claiming the city did not account for the impact on historic structures in the area when it issued the permit.
Although the courts found that the city did not violate the California Environmental Quality Act, the Sixth District Court of Appeal found that the city violated the historic preservation ordinance.
Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Director Chris Burton said that the city would have to amend its historic preservation ordinance due to last year’s legal setback, but city officials have expressed optimism that the transformational project is within sight of becoming a reality in the near future.
Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Director Jon Cicirelli said he expected the designs for the pavilion project to be completed by the end of the 2025 calendar year and if all goes well, the city could conceivably award a contract for construction in the first quarter of 2026.
Cicirelli said construction could take between a year and about 16 months if everything aligns.
The tri-party agreement requires the Friend of Levitt Pavilion, which would operate the venue, to raise its $5 million contribution before construction can begin.
Friends of Levitt Pavilion board member Michelle Dreyband said the organization’s ability to raise $450,000 for popup concerts spoke to the readiness and viability of launching a capital campaign.
Although the project faced legal challenges, it has received a wide breadth of support, including from former mayor and current Congressman Sam Liccardo, who was key to pushing the project forward a decade ago.
“Future generations will have much to cheer if the city can leverage the passion and commitment of our local community to help forge a new city landmark,” Liccardo wrote in a letter to the City Council. “Had we not been halted by unnecessary and vexatious legislation, a hopeful and ambitious City Council would have moved forward on this project a decade ago.”
While St. James Park has seen better days, business owners also have renewed optimism that the project will be as transformational and beneficial to the city as envisioned.
“When I was looking at downtown, one of the things that gave me great confidence was having a conversation with (Friends of Levitt Pavilion Chair) Fil (Maresca) about the vision for the park, which is only a block away from our new location,” said Camille Chijate, president of Hobee’s California Restaurants. “I was kind of concerned coming here today and talking about ra-ra music because of everything that’s going on in our world but seeing how this process works and all the things we heard this afternoon and all the people’s opinions and experiences, I have so much confidence in being in San Jose now that we are forward thinking … we want what’s best for our community and I believe that this is it.”