The Signia by Hilton San Jose is a

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

high-rise hotel at 170 South Market Street in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, located on the

Plaza de César Chávez The Plaza de César Chávez is an urban plaza and park in Downtown San Jose, California. The plaza's origins date to 1797 as the ''plaza mayor'' of the Alta California, Spanish ''Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe'', making it the oldest public sp ...

Downtown San Jose Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California, San Jose, California, United States. Downtown is one of the largest tech Business cluster, clusters in Silicon Valley, as well as the cultural and political center of Sa ...

. Constructed in 1987 as the Fairmont San Jose, it reopened as a Hilton hotel in 2022. The former south tower of the hotel is now a student residence for

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, Spartan Village on the Paseo.

Description

The hotel is a 22-story tower designed in postmodern style by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum with Nishkian Menninger as structural engineers, with 500 rooms and 42 suites. It includes 65,000 square feet of meeting space, including a large ballroom. There is a fitness center and a rooftop swimming pool and deck with a specially designed windscreen to create a

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

designed to be acceptable for sunbathing and swimming.

History

The hotel stands on the site of San Jose's first Chinese enclave, the

Market Street Chinatown Market Street Chinatown ( zh, 孖結街唐人埠) or Plaza Chinatown refers to two successive Chinatowns in San Jose, California, during the 19th century. Both were destroyed by arson with the tacit support of officials. The site was rediscover ...

, which existed from 1866 until its destruction by arson in 1887. A plaque on the hotel's exterior commemorates the racist attack. The hotel was planned in the 1980s as part of an urban renewal project funded by the Redevelopment Agency of San Jose, which also included the Silicon Valley Financial Center and Circle of Palms Plaza; it was developed by The Swig Company. Construction led to a hasty salvage excavation of artifacts from the former Chinatown. The hotel opened on October 5, 1987 as the Fairmont San Jose, part of the

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotel that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada. The company originated from two hotel businesses established in the late 19th century, the Canadian Pac ...

chain. It was purchased in 1996 by Light Tower Associates, led by developer Lewis Wolff. In 2002, a 13-story, 264-room annex opened. Designed by Gensler and Associates and Moore Ruble Yudell Architects, This second tower was built on the site of the historic Hotel Montgomery, which was moved to the south and restored; it is now the Four Points by Sheraton San Jose Downtown hotel. In January 2018, the Fairmont San Jose was sold to SJ SC Holdings, an investment group led by Eagle Canyon Capital. On March 5, 2021, FMT SJ LLC, the then owner, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, closing the hotel while it sought a new management partner and extended the existing mortgage debt. The owner stated that as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, occupancy had been less than 7%, and the hotel had lost at least $18 million in 2020 and was projected to lose at least another $20 million in 2021. The hotel reopened in April 2022 as Signia by Hilton San Jose, a Hilton property with 805 rooms. The owners subsequently downsized, vacating the south tower annex and selling it in 2023 to Throckmorton Partners, a developer. That tower was converted the following year into a residence for

students, Spartan Village on the Paseo, which opened in August 2024. The university is leasing the building for 25 months and will then purchase it. On October 31, 2024, workers at the Signia ratified new labor contracts. This occurred in the aftermath of a three day strike which took place at the Signia over the 2024 Labor Day weekend in September.

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Signia by Hilton San Jose
Official website
Hotels in San Jose Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotels Swig Company Tourist attractions in the San Francisco Bay Area Skyscrapers in San Jose, California Skyscraper hotels in California Hotels established in 2022 Hotel buildings completed in 1987