The Registry
12/20/18

New Hotel Slated for Downtown San Jose Amidst Bay Area Hotel Boom
By Meghan Hall

New Hotel Slated for Downtown San José Amidst Bay Area Hotel Boom

The San Francisco Bay Area is known as a top destination for both work and play, and 2018 has been a record-breaking year for hotel development according to Atlas Hospitality Group’s 2018 Mid-Year report. Santa Clara County, in particular, topped other Northern California submarkets in the number of hotels opened during the first half of 2018 with 17 hotels and 2,657 rooms, an indicator of bullish investors and developers capitalizing on the region’s healthy hospitality market. A new, 105-room hotel planned for 375 and 383 South Baywood Ave. in San José near Santana Row and Google’s proposed Diridon development would capitalize on the economic vibrancy of Silicon Valley once completed.

The project application for the hotel was submitted by San Jose-based Cord Associates on behalf of the property owner, a private individual. According to Marcus and Millichap’s Second Quarter California Hospitality report, San Jose in particular makes up for between seven and eight percent of existing rooms under construction, higher than much of the Bay Area and even San Francisco, whose share of the pie counted between one and three percent. The same report states that San Jose had just over 200 rooms under construction as of June 2018.

In addition to the 105 rooms proposed for the third through 11th floors, the project would include a fitness room and sauna, conference rooms and a library. An outdoor recreation center on the 11th floor is also proposed, as are two floors of below-grade parking with 71 spaces. Additional outdoor space and patios will be accessible on the third, fourth, sixth and ninth floors. According to project plans, there will be two pedestrian entrances to the off of both Hemlock Ave. and Baywood Ave.

The City of San José has issued its environmental report for the project, and the public commentary period for the development will end in January 2019. The proposed project currently complies with the existing zoning for the site, although a Special Use permit must be acquired to allow the demolition of the current residences on the site. Once the development team secures the necessary permits in the coming months, the project can break ground. Demolition and construction of the proposed hotel would take approximately 22 months, according to project documents.

Situated right next to Santa Row and a few miles away from San José’s downtown urban core, the 0.3-acre project site itself is in a transitional area of town, straddling the line between high density urban development and a quieter single-family neighborhood. Two one-story single-family homes built in 1946 currently occupy the site, and the property is surrounded by one-story residences to the north, east and west. To the south is a four-story apartment building and parking lot. However, as Mountain View-based Google enters the area with its plans to construct a massive mixed-use, transit-oriented development, the area will continue to evolve as thousands of new employees flock to the area.

According to reports, the project has yet to announce a brand partner to manage and market the hotel.

Cord Associates did not immediately return The Registry’s request for comment.