Meet Your Nabr: Frank Nguyen
Homeownership “seemed pretty much impossible, until Nabr came along.” The founder of Academic Coffee can’t wait to put down roots in the San Jose community he loves.
Since we’ve opened up sales at SoFA One — our first building in San Jose — we’ve been getting one question a lot: what kind of folks are reserving? In other words, who will my neighbors be? To help answer your question, we’re going to publish a series of profiles on Nabr customers.
First up? Frank Nguyen, who you may know already as the founder of Academic Coffee on South Second street. In this Q&A, Frank tells us about why he moved to San Jose, why he and his wife want to be downtown for the long term, and what he’s most excited about for his new Nabr home.
Nabr: Who are you and what do you do?
Frank Nguyen: My name is Frank Nguyen. I am the owner of Academic Coffee and we opened up our brick and mortar in the SOFA district in 2017. I actually grew up in San Francisco, lived there most of my life, stayed somewhat local, went to college at Berkeley, came back to San Francisco for a while, and I decided to settle down in San Jose.
Nabr: As a San Francisco native, what did you think San Jose was like before you actually lived there?
Frank Nguyen: I knew friends that would go to all the nightclubs in San Jose. So I think there was an era where downtown San Jose was known for the nighttime club scene. So that was my impression, not actually knowing what San Jose was.
I got to know San Jose over a period of a few years before I moved here, because my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, was from San Jose, grew up in San Jose, was living here. I would visit her all the time and found a great Asian American food scene out here. A lot of great Vietnamese restaurants, but there’s also a really great Japanese Izakaya scene as well. There were so many restaurants that I loved out here. And right before I moved here was right when San Pedro Square was still newly built. And the coffee scene was very new at the time as well, and that was just growing. So I was like, wow, this is an up and coming food scene. It seems like moving here would be the right time.
My parents still live in San Francisco. I visit them all the time and every time I visit them, I don’t miss it. I love being in San Jose right now. I can get anywhere downtown pretty easily, so that’s definitely a plus. I feel like everything that we need is within a 15 minute radius.
Nabr: Had you always wanted to start a coffee shop?
Frank Nguyen: I’ve always wanted to start a coffee shop. I’ve always been in love with coffee. That’s one of the first things I always do when I visit a new town, city. It’s just like, “Oh, where’s a good spot to get coffee?” And when I was looking at San Jose, it seemed like a good place to do it, because there weren’t that many here. There was a lot of potential here, especially downtown, since it’s so close to the heart of the residential district.
Nabr: How did opening a coffee shop impact your social life, your feeling of being in the community?
Frank Nguyen: Oh wow, it’s crazy. I’ve actually made a lot of friends through the coffee shop, it’s like a hub for the community. In the early days, when I opened every single day, other regulars would be like, “Hey, I noticed that you’re here every day. My name is so-and-so.” And then they become friends. I’ve seen people come in for their first date. I’ve gotten to know so many people. I’ve gone to their weddings, I’ve gone to their baby showers.
San Jose just feels a little bit different. It’s a big city, but it can also feel like a small town at the same time. That’s one of the feelings that I like about it.
Nabr: How did your impression of San Jose evolve once you started living there?
Frank Nguyen: I wasn’t really aware that there were so many great, accessible outdoor places in the South Bay. I knew Castle Rock was really nearby, but then you get to know like, oh wow, there’s so many great hiking places. Obviously Mission Peak is like the super popular one, but Big Basin and Little Basin are relatively close as well.
Nabr: When people come to visit you in San Jose, where do you take them?
Frank Nguyen: In the SoFA area, a good year round spot is always gonna be Paper Plane — good food, good drinks. If friends are coming and they want a nice dinner, then we might go to Petiscos, which is right on First Street.
If I’m hanging out with folks that wanna stay out late, then we might swing by Haberdasher for some late night drinks. Cash Only Bar is a great spot as well. If I know that folks are bringing their pets, then we’re gonna end up at St. Pedro Square. It’s probably the most friendly pet spot out there. And if someone wants really good tacos, but without any rowdiness or pretentiousness, then there’s a little taco truck that’s right on Second Street and San Salvador called Las Delicias. And it is delicious. It’s my go-to taco spot downtown.
Nabr: When you first moved to San Jose, were you renting or did you buy?
Frank Nguyen: Renting. I’ve been renting the entire time that I’ve been here. Homeownership just always seemed so elusive in Silicon Valley. When I first moved here, I hadn’t started the coffee shop yet and I was working an office job. My wife and I, we actually tried to buy a home, and we put out some bids, and every time we got outbid. Anything in our price range quickly became out of reach. It was a matter of wanting a single family home. Then it was a matter of, okay, whatever we can afford. And then it was a matter of like, okay, there’s nothing we can afford. And so after a period of time, we gave up. This was maybe 2015, 2016, and every year since then, it’s actually gotten more out of reach, because prices have just skyrocketed. So it seemed pretty much impossible, until Nabr came along.
Nabr: Why did you choose to reserve a home at SoFA One?
Frank Nguyen: As soon as I heard about the Nabr project, I was following it. The idea that you could rent to own is a novel idea. Even now, I don’t know of anyone in the Bay Area that is doing it, let alone the West Coast. As soon as I saw that, I was telling my wife Kathy, “I think this is our chance to own.”
We’ve lived in several places in downtown San Jose. We’ve moved four times in the past, I don’t know, nine years because of rent. Every time we’ve moved, it’s always been downtown. We see ourselves as living downtown long term. Our lifestyle is to be down here.
So when this opportunity came up, I signed up for the mailing list right away, and then as soon as the waitlist opened up, we jumped on the waitlist. And then as soon as a slot opened up with a rent to own opportunity, we put down a reservation right away. I’m excited for it because, at the rate that things are going, this might be my only chance for homeownership. And it looks amazing.
Nabr: So who do you imagine or hope that your neighbors will be?
Frank Nguyen: I would imagine them to be folks that also work in San Jose. It would be great if some of them are people that I already know, from our surrounding areas. I have conversations with other small businesses and other folks downtown all the time, where they’re like: “You know what? I’m gonna have to move eventually, because I can’t afford to live here anymore. Or I’ll have to move eventually because I’ll never be able to own a place in San Jose.” I would hope that some of those folks are gonna end up in this building too.
Nabr: What are you looking forward to in terms of living in this new building?
Frank Nguyen: I really love outdoor spaces, and the number one feature for me is the outdoor balconies. They are gonna allow you to grow plants and grill outside, and I really love that. I told my partner, like, “Whatever you want inside, that’s totally fine with me! I just want a little outdoor sanctuary.” And it’s like a substantial amount of space. I think the average size is like nearly three hundred square feet, which is so much. As someone who grew up in San Francisco with a concrete backyard, you can do a lot with nearly three hundred square feet.
Nabr: What does owning in downtown San Jose mean to you?
Frank Nguyen: I don’t wanna speak for my wife, but I know, for her it’s really important to put down roots somewhere. And the main reason why we settled in downtown San Jose was that the community here was so important to her. After having lived here for close to a decade now, I see why it was so important to her. Being in downtown is the first time where I really got a sense of community.
Especially during the pandemic. As soon as lockdown happened, very quickly, a bunch of small businesses and organizations came together and started a nonprofit. You heard about all the shortages: no toilet paper, no food, no supplies, no hand sanitizer. Us small businesses, we were still able to get access to all these things through wholesale suppliers. So all these restaurants and business suppliers were just sitting on their inventory at the time initially. So we were able to get all these supplies and start a group called San Jose Ship Kits and redistribute them to those in need. And we sent out probably close to a hundred thousand packages of supplies to people in need in the San Jose South Bay area. And it happened really quickly, because people were already connected and in contact. A couple of folks, Gary Dillabough and Jeff Arrillaga started an email chain, and I think half the people on the email chain already knew each other and had each other’s contact info. So we all just got on a conference call, texted, called each other, and then just rallied and got things done pretty quickly. Seeing everybody come together to support each other downtown was huge.
Nabr: Anything I didn’t ask you about that you think is important to note?
Frank Nguyen: Another thing that I really like about the building is the focus on sustainability. I don’t know if people know enough about it. I think people are just excited because the building looks amazing, super modern, and it’s so, like, sparkly that people might forget about all the great sustainability efforts that it’s making. For academic coffee, we’re known as being that sustainable coffee shop, sustainable business. Our cups are compostable, our coffee bags are compostable. We try to do everything we can to be the business that we aspire to be. So that’s another reason, too. The alignment of ideals is there.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Want to know more about SoFA One’s community spaces? Read here.
