The city’s largest nonprofit housing developer is moving forward
with a 287-unit mixed-income housing project in Gilroy’s northern
reaches.
Gilroy – The city’s largest nonprofit housing developer is moving forward with a 287-unit mixed-income housing project in Gilroy’s northern reaches.
The Rancho del Sol project will blend apartments, condominiums, single-family homes, and live-work lofts on the west side of Monterey Road, opposite Cohansey Avenue. While the 36-acre project is still in the conceptual stages, South County Housing Executive Director Dennis Lalor said that 25 percent of homes would sell at market rates above $600,000, while 75 percent of the units would sell at affordable rates. One-fifth of the homes in that category will be set aside for “very low-income” families with a combined yearly income of $40,000.
“The quality of life is really impacted by the lack of affordable housing …,” Lalor said. “The philosophy of this project is to give more choice and more opportunity for the working people of this community.”
He added that the project exemplifies city planning goals embodied in the recently approved Neighborhood District Policy, a set of development guidelines intended to create well-planned neighborhoods that mesh open spaces, commercial uses and diverse housing types.
City Planner Melissa Durkin agreed that the project does “embody the tenets of the Neighborhood District Policy,” particularly in terms of housing diversity and affordability.
City Planning Manager Bill Faus added “it’s a project that’s timely, a project that’s desperately needed in our city in terms of providing housing within a sector that is not often built.”
Lalor said the Rancho del Sol project draws on lessons from past and present South County designs, including the Los Arroyos mixed-income development in north Gilroy and the Cannery project under construction downtown.
The new design will depart from Los Arroyos, a 273-unit project completed two years ago, by including a greater mix of homes on smaller lots as well as commercial space, Lalor explained. He said the Rancho del Sol project will be designed by the same architects working on the Cannery project – a 200-unit mix of apartments, live-work lofts and townhouses as well as an acre of retail space.
The Cannery project, scheduled for construction by 2008, will one day serve as a commercial and residential linchpin for the redevelopment of the downtown. Rancho del Sol, Lalor explained, is ahead of its time in terms of its location on the city’s edge, but it incorporates many of the same design principles.
“They’re very different projects,” Lalor said, “but they have a common theme – we’re trying to meet the needs of this community in terms of affordability and a variety of choice.”
South County Housing is now in the process of seeking building permits for the Rancho del Sol project. Officials hope to begin construction by 2007.
