The City of San Jose has recently revamped its expedited plan review process for office and commercial tenants looking to improve their leased spaces.
Formerly known as the “Special Tenant Improvement-Industrial Tool Installation (STI-ITI) Service,” the program has been renamed to “Streamlined Tenant Alteration Review (STAR) Service” to better reflect its purpose.
The STAR Service aims to complete the plan review process within a single 90-minute meeting, which includes the full project design team and staff from all involved departments. To take advantage of this expedited service, applicants are required to pay a 50% surcharge over the regular plan review fees, as outlined in the City’s Building and Structure Permits Fee Schedule.
To ensure that the plan review can be completed within the 90-minute meeting, the City of San Jose has updated the eligibility requirements for the STAR Service. The eligible projects have been narrowed down to specific occupancies and scopes of work.
Eligibility
Eligible projects must fall under Group B-Professional Business Office uses (excluding medical and dental offices) or Group B-Offices associated with approved existing R&D facilities, warehouses (S occupancies), or factories (F occupancies). The scopes of work are limited to:
- An alteration area not exceeding 50,000 sq. ft.
- No changes to the building’s use or exiting
- The alteration area is limited to a single floor
- No additions to the building’s square footage
- No exterior site work
- No major structural alterations
By streamlining the plan review process for eligible projects, the City of San Jose’s STAR Service aims to help office and commercial tenants improve their leased spaces more efficiently. This expedited service can save valuable time and resources for businesses looking to make alterations to their premises.