GILROY
– More than two acres of land near Gilroy’s newest elementary
school will pay off for the district as it builds new schools and
implements a 25-year Facilities Master Plan.
Gilroy Unified School District obtained nine housing permits for
2.46 acres of unused land near Antonio Del Buono Elementary School
in north Gilroy.
GILROY – More than two acres of land near Gilroy’s newest elementary school will pay off for the district as it builds new schools and implements a 25-year Facilities Master Plan.
Gilroy Unified School District obtained nine housing permits for 2.46 acres of unused land near Antonio Del Buono Elementary School in north Gilroy.
“That makes it nice, it makes it much more valuable,” said Steve Brinkman, assistant superintendent of administrative services.
The district will also hire a local civil engineering firm to perform preliminary engineering and design work that can be carried over to the buyer, making the land even more valuable.
As is, the property near Wren and Vickery avenues is worth $541,000. By hiring Hanna & Burnetti to do first-phase design, GUSD will increase the land’s value to $1.13 million.
“You can either give that to a developer, or you can keep it in the district and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Brinkman said.
GUSD will pay the firm’s fee of $44,800 from its developer fees fund and replace the money after it sells the land.
The land was declared “surplus” by the district’s Surplus Land Committee and the school board earlier this year. The city already purchased a portion of the property to build a new park.
GUSD had its timing right, obtaining the nine housing permits just before the city ran out. Small housing projects with 12 units or fewer are exempt from the city’s regular housing permit process, which limits the amount of homes that can be built per year. The city had allocated 150 units for small projects for a 10-year cycle, and the district was the next to last small project approved before all the permits were given out.
Brinkman said the district will consider proposals from developers to buy the land once the preliminary work is done.
“We don’t think we’re going to have any trouble with getting developers to take interest in it,” he said. “It’s a very attractive piece: You’ve got a nice neighborhood with nice houses and you’ve got it right across the street from a city park and a school.”
