Proposal looks to turn San Jose hotel development site into housing

SAN JOSE — A housing development that would produce hundreds of units has emerged for a San Jose site where a hotel was once proposed but later scrapped in the face of a weakened Bay Area hospitality market.

With 1,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, the proposal envisions a 213-unit apartment complex at 1470-1472 West San Carlos St. in the Buena Vista neighborhood near downtown. The homes would be rental units, project plans state.

An estimated 5% of the units would be reserved for low-income households, according to plans on file at San Jose City Hall.

The apartment complex would consist of 155 one-bedroom units and 58 two-bedroom units, the proposal states. The 11 below-market-rate units would include eight one-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom units.

The development site is owned by an affiliate controlled by South Bay business executives Thahn Nguyen, Dylan Nguyen and Margaret Pham, who have addresses in San Jose and Monte Sereno, state public records show. A Nguyen- and Pham-linked affiliate is listed as the project applicant.

The property owners had initially proposed a hotel on the site but switched gears to housing. The Schoennauer Co., a land-use and planning consultancy, is assisting with entitlements for the project. City staffers were expected to give final approval this week.

The Bay Area hotel market has nosedived for years as waves of failed loans, plunging values and foreclosures have battered the region’s hospitality sector.

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 11:59 AM.