Developers of Sacramento's newest cultural landmark like to refer to the intersection of 10th and J streets as "Main & Main," a figurative reference to the city's busiest north-south and east-west arteries.
That distinction may go unnoticed by downtown workers who for months have been forced to cross the street or change lanes to circumvent construction blockades. But when the fences come down, eyes are sure to pop.
The ochre-brick beauty of a building at 926 J St. will open its doors in November as The Citizen, an upscale, 188-room hotel with a restaurant called Grange, a bar called Scandal and the potential to rev up Sacramento's reputation as a once-sleepy agricultural town turned hip and happening city.
Renovations to the historic 1925 building have been in progress for three years, but only now is visual muscle starting to build on the structure's elegant architectural bones. It's a tailored look, but with punch; a carefully considered reflection of the city's personality and style. And it marks the first venture into the Central Valley for San Francisco-based Joie de Vivre Hospitality, a hotel management company that itself is a reflection of its tailored-with-a-punch CEO, Chip Conley.
Conley made waves in the hotel industry in 1987 when, at 26, he put his Stanford MBA to use by acquiring a gritty motel in San Francisco's Tenderloin district and turning it into a rock-and-roll magnet frequented by the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linda Ronstadt and even Timothy Leary. The success of that early venture helped propel JDV to prominence as a boutique-hotel operator whose portfolio now includes more than 30 hotels in Northern California and Los Angeles, with 15 more – including the Citizen – coming online within the next year.
Cookie-cutter they're not: While other hotel chains focus on predictability terms of price, amenities and decor, JDV properties are as diverse as the eclectic buildings they occupy, running the gamut from budget motels to luxury hotels. Yet all are held together by a certain elusive something that defines the JDV brand.
Conley, 47, calls it "mojo" and expounds on the concept at length in his third book on business management, "Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow" – a nod to psychologist Abraham Maslow.
We caught up with Conley during his most recent visit to The Citizen.
Q: In your book, you define "mojo" as the secret ingredient that gives life and vitality to your organization. What's the secret ingredient that defines the JDV brand, and how will visitors to The Citizen recognize it when they experience it?
A: If a boutique hotel gets it right, it's because we become a locals' favorite. Rather than go invent a hotel and bring it to a neighborhood, we go to the neighborhood, plop down and spend time there. Our goal is to create an experience and a habitat that is a mirror for the location.
So "mojo" comes from the idea that we're cultural anthropologists. And what gives spirit to the company is that our mission is not just to lodge people overnight but to create joie de vivre – joy of life. "Create joy" is our mantra.
Q: What makes the concept for The Citizen different from that for a hotel you might design for a San Francisco clientele?
A: Our hotels are personality driven. Every time we develop one, we pay great attention to what we call "psychographics." … The concept for each of our hotels is based on five adjectives; the goal is to connect with how people see themselves aspirationally.
Q: How did you come up with the five adjectives for Sacramento?
A: We wanted to make sure we got the zeitgeist right, so we held a series of town hall-type meetings to help us define the spirit of Sacramento. One was with a neighborhood advocacy group, one was with historical and architectural people, one was a movers-and-shakers cocktail party and discussion. The most fun one resulted when Bob Shallit put my e-mail address in his column in the Sacramento Bee and invited people to contact me. About 140 people said they'd love to participate, and 80 actually showed up.
