The 13-story Spartan Village on the Paseo project at 170 South Market St. opens today, less than a year after the city approved its conversion from a hotel to residential building last October.
The school worked with developer Throckmorton Partners to transform one of the two towers of the Signia by Hilton San Jose hotel, formerly the Fairmont Hotel. After temporarily closing in 2021, the hotel was renamed and operations consolidated in its north tower.
“Reusing an underused building is a great model, as is the fact that nearly 700 students live in the heart of downtown San Jose and in the center of downtown’s largest car-free corridor. The daily activities of these students and residence hall staff will represent a significant revitalization of the area,” said Charlie Faas, San Jose State’s vice president for administration and finance.
In the wake of telecommuting and the decline in tourism, developers and Bay Area officials have floated proposals to convert office space and other commercial buildings into housing. But San Jose State University and Throckmorton are the first to do so on a large scale. In San Francisco, projects have been proposed but haven’t begun to move forward, in part due to high construction costs. Separately, San Francisco Mayor London Breed has sought to bring more university campuses downtown.
“The uniqueness of this project comes from the fact that SJSU is the only truly downtown campus in the California State University system,” Faas said. “But I believe it can be a model for urban student housing.”
Throckmorton Partners purchased the south tower in 2023 for $73.1 million and invested $40 million in renovations. San Jose State University currently leases the project and has agreed to purchase the property after 25 months for $165 million.
Demolition began in April and construction began a month later. The project will be entirely occupied by students, who will move in this week.
Rooms include doubles, triples and quadruples. Rents listed on the project’s website range from $6,154 to $7,571 for the four-month fall semester. More than 120 beds are designed to be affordable for qualified students.
“The schedule was the biggest challenge. The accelerated schedule to meet the August 15 deadline for student move-in was a sprint,” Faas said.
Hotels have advantages over offices when it comes to converting living space. Hotels already have individual bedrooms and bathrooms, while offices typically have large, open floor plans.
Spartan Village amenities include an on-site restaurant, fitness center, study rooms, movie theater and game room, and a community kitchen. The project is approximately a seven-minute walk from San Jose State’s main campus.
Reach Roland Li: [email protected]; Twitter: @rolandlisf
