MOIR BUILDING GETS MAKEOVER
The site of the St. James Hotel will be upgraded in the hopes of appealing to smaller tech companies wishing to join the downtown revitalization projects
SAN JOSE » A historic building in downtown San Jose that’s perched next to St. James Park is undergoing a far-reaching makeover, a fresh indicator of widening investment interest in the urban core of the nation’s 10th-largest city.
The Moir Building, also known as the St. James Hotel, is being refurbished and recast as a cool location for small technology companies or other firms, an upgrade being led by realty investor Gary Dillabough and veteran development and construction company Swenson.
“This is a beautiful old building,” said Dillabough, a venture capitalist and realty entrepreneur who also is leading a major upgrade of the historic Bank of Italy office tower two blocks away at First and Santa Clara streets. “The Moir Building has beautiful historic bones.”
Constructed in 1894, the 30,000-square-foot Moir Building is located on a light-rail line and is a short distance fromres- idences that are under construction or that are planned next to the park.
“When we are done with the upgrade, it will be a state-of-theart building,” Dillabough said. “The project will celebrate the history of the building and yet make it completely modern.”
The renovations are aimed at taking advantage of the best features of the old building. A walk through the property revealed in-
tentional exposures of brick walls, wooden beams and metal components.
“We are going to be putting more than $1 million into the building renovation,” said Joshua Burroughs, a senior development director with San Jose-based Swenson.
At the same time, the developers will add modern elements related to heating and cooling systems, as well as inviting as much natural light as possible, from sources such as a big third- floor skylight and large windows throughout the building. Modern windows will replace all of the existing panes in the building.
“In the old work styles, everyone had their own of f ices with a reception area, but now that’s changing,” Dillabough said. “Now it’s all about how to open up the private spaces, how you have everyone working in open environments. The goals are good workflow, energy efficiency, making this a very comfortable environment.”
Open work areas that invite easy collaboration appeal to technology companies, both small and large. The project developers believe they will get plenty of interest from tech firms.
“It’s been an adventure to design this renovation, to marry the historic and the modern,” said Valarie Klopping, a Swenson development manager. “It’s an exciting challenge.”
Dillabough, with his knowledge of new technologies due to his experience as a venture capitalist, hopes to use that expertise to ensure cutting- edge tech in the Moir Building, the Bank of Italy office tower and other downtown ventures.
“We will be testing a lot of technology in these buildings,” Dillabough said. “This is where the old meets the new.”
Dillabough and Swenson seek improvements to neglected buildings in San Jose.
“We want to invest in these older pockets of downtown San Jose,” Burroughs said. “Renovations of these older buildings is going to help the viability of the downtown.”
The development and expansion plans by technology giants Google and Adobe in downtown San Jose have intensified interest in properties throughout the city’s urban core, and the Moir Building is expected to benefit from that as well. Even so, Dillabough doesn’t want the Moir to be a quick buck.
“We want this renovation of the Moir Building to last a long time,” Dillabough said. “We want these energy efficiencies to create long-term benefits in this building, to create healthy and productive work spaces for employees. We are not just going to spin this into a sale in three years.”