SAN JOSE — Developers hope to gallop to the finish line to complete a San Jose hotel in time for a big Nvidia conference that packed the city’s downtown with throngs of tech workers and visitors last year.
The under-construction downtown San Jose hotel developed by Bay Area real estate firm Urban Catalyst would add 176 rooms to the city’s lodging supply once it’s completed.
Interior construction work on the courtyard of a Marriott TowneSuites Hotel at 495 West San Carlos Street in downtown San Jose, as seen in July 2024. (Urban Catalyst)
The hotel is located at 495 West San Carlos Street, just a few blocks from the San Jose Convention Center and down the street from SAP Center, where Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang delivered a keynote address for the tech titan’s 2024 conference.
“We are expecting to open the hotel in March,” said Eric Hayden, founder and managing partner with Urban Catalyst.
The Urban Catalyst affiliate that owns the hotel property received a $48 million loan from Poppy Bank in 2023 to finance the construction of the eight-story hotel, according to documents on file with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
San Jose-based Urban Catalyst has taken steps to ensure the hotel construction is on enough of a fast track to ensure it’s finished in time for the Nvidia events in downtown San Jose.
“We received approval to do construction on Saturday to make the work go faster,” Hayden said.
Nvidia GTC is scheduled to occur in San Jose from March 17 through 21 of this year, according to a post on the company’s website.
The March 2024 conference was expected to attract 16,000 attendees to San Jose although some estimates placed the actual number higher.
Either way, the 2025 Nvidia GTC event is expected to generate a significant economic boom in San Jose, particularly in the downtown district when attendees seek lodging, meals and entertainment before or after events. That was the case with the 2024 event, although precise numbers weren’t available.
“It could mean $500,000 in revenue if we can open in time for that conference,” Hayden said.
