Pensione Esperanza

San Jose CA | Completed 

1999

A modern SRO, Pensione Esperanza gives San Jose’s downtown a signature building and a 110-unit affordable housing edge.

Pensione Esperanza is a 109 unit single-room-occupancy hotel designed to house low income individuals, including many of San Jose’s part-time and full-time hourly wage workers. Located on the edge of the city’s central downtown district, the three-story building redefines its location as urban, creating a continuous edge along Bird Avenue, a major commercial boulevard. This frontage element is clad in cement plaster and galvanized metal and topped with a reclaimed neon sign from a car dealership. The two levels of housing top street-front retail spaces.


Project Details


Project Number
9507

Address

598 Columbia Avenue
San Jose, CA
United States



Status
Completed
1999

Number of Units
Studio
110

Total 110

Density Ratios
Project
43,000 sf
Site
40,511 sf
Acres
0.90
Units per Acre
118

Parking
Parking Spots
44
Parking Type
surface

Recognition


Awards
Best Affordable Design Award
Residential Architecture Awards
Builder’s Choice Affordable Award
Builder’s Magazine and National Association of Home Builders
Tax Credit Excellence Honorable Mention for Metropolitan and Urban Housing
Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition

Team


Client
Catholic Charities
Architect
David Baker Architects
Structural Engineer
Tipping Mar + Associates
Contractor
Barry Swenson Builders
Photographer
Brian Rose

Keywords