{"id":334477,"date":"2026-05-27T14:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/334477\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T14:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:49:11","slug":"the-sheraton-grand-undergoes-a-35-million-renovation-that-honors-its-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/334477\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sheraton Grand Undergoes a $35 Million Renovation That Honors Its Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

This story is part of our May 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n


\n
\n <\/p>\n

\n In 1923, the Public Market Building opened in downtown Sacramento
\n as a central gathering place for residents. The Beavis Meat
\n Company sold every kind and cut of meat; Durang & Schmidt
\n operated a beloved delicatessen along the east wall with cheeses
\n and salads, Bondi Fruit Company sold locally sourced fruit, while
\n the Charles Williams Haberdashery made custom suits and shirts.\n<\/p>\n

\n Now more than 100 years later, the Sheraton Grand on J Street is
\n paying homage to this precursor to the shopping mall, designed by
\n famed architect Julia Morgan. Morgan designed Hearst Castle and
\n more than 700 other projects, including the Goethe House in
\n Sacramento. The 28-story luxury hotel, located in this historic
\n building, just concluded a multi-year, $35 million renovation
\n that preserves and honors its original purpose as the
\n 103-year-old Public Market Building.\n<\/p>\n

\n Since the building\u2019s merchants sold everything from baked goods
\n to fresh produce, this is where electric refrigeration (of foods
\n and the indoor climate) was put to its first tests \u2014 and where
\n you could even buy your own refrigerator. Expansive steel girders
\n continue to run the length of the building, used by aerialists
\n who performed at the hotel\u2019s grand reopening last month.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The Beavis Meat Co. was a major vendor when the site was a public
\n market from the 1920s-1970s.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey also hung entire steers from ceiling hooks. It was a
\n genuine meat market,\u201d says the hotel\u2019s general manager Jeroen
\n Gerrese. It stands to reason that if you\u2019re an international
\n hotel, the person running it should be, too. Enter Gerrese, who\u2019s
\n filled that role at the Sheraton Grand (owned by Marriott
\n International) for the past five years, seeing it through the
\n two-year partial shutdown to allow for the $35 million
\n renovation, as well as the COVID epoch, which all but\u00a0
\n closed the hotel industry worldwide.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Netherlands native has been in the hospitality business for
\n nearly two-thirds of his life, starting in the cruise line game
\n and working his way into more responsible positions around the
\n world. He\u2019s held almost every staff job \u2014 \u201cI started my career as
\n a dishwasher in my uncle\u2019s restaurant in the Netherlands,\u201d he
\n says \u2014 as well as being the boss at sea and on land. His latter
\n stints have included tenures in New York City, Philadelphia,
\n Moscow, Minneapolis, Boston, Baltimore, Brussels, England and our
\n own Central Valley. Not surprisingly, he speaks a few languages,
\n including Dutch, English and French. He and his wife, Nancy,
\n formerly in the linen business, have two grown sons.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Sheraton\u2019s ground floor restaurant and bar area have been
\n redone and restyled, with comfortable, colorful couches and
\n cushioned chairs enticing you to unwind. Sheraton went for a
\n gathering theme, creating a place for out-of-town visitors to
\n mingle with business workers attending conferences at the SAFE
\n Credit Union Convention Center next door.\n<\/p>\n

\n Among the innovations on the first floor of the three-story
\n public market is where most of this interview took place: a
\n glassed-in room which can accommodate five or six people. \u201cI
\n think the people in the room like it because while they\u2019re
\n meeting or enjoying a private lunch, the excitement of the hotel
\n passes around them,\u201d Gerrese says. And the guests who stroll by
\n and can\u2019t help but stare? He laughs. \u201cOh, I think they wonder
\n what secret, important meeting is taking place,\u201d he says, \u201cand
\n who these important people might be.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The Secretary of State utilized the office space after the market
\n closed in the 1970s. Around 1998-99, a local developer partnered
\n with the City of Sacramento under a public private partnership to
\n build the hotel adjacent to the public market building and
\n utilize the space where the market had been as a restaurant and
\n bar. The Sheraton\u2019s owners have restored, refreshed and subtly
\n reimagined the hotel, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary
\n in Sacramento this year.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The Sheraton Grand just underwent a $35 million renovation for
\n its 25th anniversary in Sacramento. (Photo by Wes Davis)\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe secret of combining the old and new is to have a great deal
\n of respect for the old,\u201d Gerrese says. As partial proof, a
\n visitor can casually stroll onto the airy mezzanine level and
\n enjoy historic photos on a wall that serves as a mini-gallery.
\n One features a mouth-watering (if you\u2019re a carnivore) array of
\n the Beavis Meat beef stands, the company\u2019s proud butchers
\n standing among fully-loaded shelves of product. Another depicts J
\n Street circa 1923, an immensely clean and startlingly unoccupied
\n downtown thoroughfare. Today, the Sheraton\u2019s valets await your
\n arrival in a carved-out road entry that carries with it its own
\n sense of excitement as commuters drive past the hotel on their
\n way to I-80, Highway 50 and beyond.\n<\/p>\n

\n The two-year project also saw the building\u2019s five original
\n artworks, which a hotel spokesperson says are valued at $1
\n million, get not only preserved but also highlighted with
\n lighting and special placement. Among them are Jennifer
\n Bartlett\u2019s \u201cNeighborhood\u201d (a 10-by-60-foot-long work composed of
\n hundreds of foot-long steel plates); a ceramic wall mural titled
\n \u201cThe Marketplace,\u201d by Viola Frey; William T. Wiley\u2019s stunning oil
\n and graphite canvas called \u201cSacramento California 2000\u201d and two
\n Robert Kushner mosaics: \u201cSacramento Georgic I & II.\u201d Sacramento
\n artist David Garibaldi performed at the grand opening
\n celebration, and you just might see one of his paintings at the
\n hotel in the future.\n<\/p>\n

\n To sum it up, the art, openness, hardwood floors smooth enough
\n you could play shuffleboard (no, that\u2019s not allowed), the 503
\n updated guest rooms and suites, and the Sheraton\u2019s undeniable
\n bustle signal the vibrancy of the building\u2019s past but also offer
\n a portal into how a carefully curated past can take a city
\n effortlessly back to the future.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u2013\n<\/p>\n

\n Stay up to date on business in the Capital Region:
\n Subscribe to the Comstock\u2019s newsletter
\n today.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of our May 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here. …\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-334477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}