Mahan Motel Conversion Push Hits Caravelle Inn Site

A motel in north San Jose is poised to gain new life as a residential complex as the city works toward state housing goals.

Planners with the City of San Jose are reviewing a proposal to convert the Caravelle Inn & Suites at 1310 North First Street into more than 100 residences, Mercury News reported.

The project from an unnamed developer would unfold in two phases. The first portion would turn the existing 58-room hotel into 58 apartments, consisting of 52 studios and six other units in differing floor plans. The second phase would add a five-story, 45-unit apartment building on a section of the parcel behind the existing hotels, according to city documents cited by Hoodline.

It isn’t the only motel on this stretch of North First Street to be considered for conversion into housing. The Santa Clara County Housing Authority’s 2027 plan notes the former Comfort Suites property at 1510 North First Street as an adaptive reuse target able to produce 58 studios, according to Hoodline. That site fell into default in 2022 and is now permanently closed.

Projects like this align with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s push to transform motel properties across the city. Mahan has touted San Jose’s strategy of converting motels into housing while out on the campaign trail for the California governor’s race, The Real Deal previously reported. The mayor is currently polling in the single digits — ranking among the lowest preferred candidates in the crowded field, according to the Los Angeles Times — but has garnered support from players in the real estate industry.

Hotels are just one type of property the city is targeting for conversion projects. In downtown San Jose, Westbank and Urban Community recently began work on the conversion of the historic Bank of Italy building at 12 South First Street into 109 housing units across 14 stories.

Under its state-mandated housing goals, the City of San Jose must plan to build 62,200 new units of housing by 2031.

— Chris Malone Méndez