The new owners are planning an extensive upgrade to the 239 rooms and common areas, said Rob Cohen, vice president of Pacific Coast. The work will start in the second quarter of this year and will take about a year, he said.

The partners looked at the San Jose hotel market and saw a market in more affordable rooms for business travelers, especially in walking distance of the convention center, he said. The average daily rate for the seven downtown hotels was $128.72 in November, according to the San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau.

''We just thought that at our purchase price, plus our renovations, we would have a newer-feeling hotel at a price that's much lower than it would cost to build a new hotel,'' Cohen said. He didn't disclose the purchase price, but hotel market-watchers put it at $17.2 million.

The nine-story Crowne Plaza was built in 1974. Its amenities include a business center, fitness center, sauna, restaurant and sports bar, as well as 6,643 square feet of meeting space that includes a ballroom and executive boardroom. Additionally, the hotel has an adjacent four-story parking structure.

DiNapoli Capital Partners last year bought the 403,700-square-foot Almaden Financial Plaza downtown from developer and Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff. The DiNapoli family also has investments in the San Jose Fairmont and Hilton hotels.

''We think the hotel benefits from local ownership and people that have local market expertise,'' said company president Matt DiNapoli.