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Overview

When built in 1911, the Hotel Montgomery was considered one of San Jose's most elegant establishments. It functioned from 1911 until the late twentieth century; in 2000, it was moved about 185 feet south from its original site at the corner of South 1st Street and Paseo de San Antonio to its current spot at 211 South 1st Street. Transportation was deemed necessary in order to make room for a 13-floor addition to the posh Fairmont San Jose Hotel. Contractors succeeded in performing what became the fifth-heaviest building move in history, at 4,816 tons. (See Andrew F. Hamm, Silicon Valley Business Journal, 06/18/2004, "Montgomery Hotel to re-open in San Jose," accessed 01/25/2017.)

Building History

Real estate dealer and investor Thomas S. Montgomery (1856-1944) commissioned the San Jose architectural firm of Binder and Curtis to design the Hotel Montgomery. Montgomery operated two firms involved in real estate development, lending, insurance and investment, first, Montgomery, Rea and Company (founded in 11/1887) and, later, T.S. Montgomery and Son. In 1924, Montgomery also served as the Vice-President/Manager of the Mercantile Trust Company in San Jose. In 1924, he resided in the Hotel Montgomery. T.S. Montgomery and Son had its office in the same year at 40 West San Antonio Street. (See San Jose, California, City Directory, 1924, n.p.) The Hotel was San Jose's first to be constructed of reinforced concrete, providing it the advantages of being both resistant to fires--a persistent problem in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries--and earthquakes like the one that leveled San Francisco five years earlier.

According to a San Jose architectural history web site, History San Jose.org, Binder and Curtis worked more than once with T.S. Montgomery designing other buildings on South 1st Street: "Between 1900 and 1920, architect William Binder worked closely with T.S. Montgomery, an investor and real estate developer who developed South First Street in downtown San José. Binder designed most of Montgomery’s projects during this period." (See History San Jose.org, "The Montgomery Hotel, San José, CA, c. 1925," accessed 02/22/2017.)

Owned by Montgomery Hotel LLC and managed by Divco West Properties, the hotel was moved and renovated at a cost of $25.8 million. It reopened as the Hotel Montgomery in 2004, but became the Four Points by Sheraton soon thereafter. In 2016, it was owned by Khanna Enterprises, III, LLC, of Santa Ana, CA.

In 2016-2017, a new addition to the hotel was being built designed by TCA Architects of San Francisco. A press release said of the addition: "Careful to not overpower the smaller historical landmark, the design for the new 24-story tower features a 5-story glass atrium that serves to bridge the history of the original structure with the modernity of the new. While the Montgomery Hotel currently operates as a Four-Points by Sheraton, the combined structures are expected to operate as a single hotel under the Starwood Brand, Tribute, a moniker reserved for historical properties, upon completion in 2019." (See The Registry, "San Jose’s Montgomery Hotel Has New Design Elements," accessed 01/25/2017.)

Building Notes

C.H. Burkhardt served as Manager of the Hotel Montgomery in 1911. Its motto at this time was an awkward: "In every respect as good as America's perfect hotels."

J.B. Zeller managed the Hotel Montgomery in 1924. (See San Jose, California, City Directory, 1924,n.p.)