College releases details surrounding Coyote Valley deal, but
won’t reveal price for land
Gilroy – Gavilan College officials are on the verge of trimming millions of dollars from the price tag for a Coyote Valley satellite campus, according to a land-sale contract the school released Wednesday.
Officials refused to disclose the purchase price, but the tentative agreement states that John A. Sobrato, whose family owns a Bay Area development company, would donate at least 23 of the 55 acres the college is seeking. Sobrato would also “donate” the difference, if any, between the appraised value of the remaining land and price the school pays for it.
Bill Reimal, a local commercial real estate broker, said that industrial land in Gilroy sells for $430,000 per acre, though prices vary depending on parcel size and other factors.
Sobrato, who could not be reached for comment, previously donated land for Ann Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill and, more recently, $1.5 million in loans and grants for transitional housing in Gilroy.
His latest gift is a rectangular piece of land zoned for industrial use that lies south of Bailey Avenue, just southwest of the IBM campus in Coyote Valley. San Jose officials envision the area as the economic engine for a future community of 80,000 residents.
“It’s very expensive for land in that area,” Gavilan College President Steven Kinsella said. “It’s just an unbelievable savings – millions I would say – though the value will be set by an appraiser.”
Officials released a “term sheet” containing the details of the agreement in response to a Public Records Act request by the Dispatch, but blacked out the purchase price.
“[T]he property owner has requested and the college district’s negotiators have agreed to keep certain of the details of the negotiation confidential until a final agreement is reached,” an attorney for the college wrote.
Kinsella said the sale price is largely locked in, subject to potential “minor changes” that he would not specify.
He said the sale price would be released three days before the Gavilan board of trustees meets in January to vote on approval. If approved, the school can proceed with the purchase using a portion of $39.6-million in bond money. School officials have set aside $8.4 million of the voter-approved funds for the new campus.
They plan to reserve 30 acres of the property for buildings and 20 acres for parking, though that figure could shrink if San Jose officials help finance a parking structure for the new campus.
Gavilan, which is based in Gilroy, has satellite campuses in Morgan Hill and San Benito County serving more than 6,000 students. Kinsella said Gavilan loses 2,000 students a semester to junior colleges in San Jose because the school lacks a presence in Coyote Valley.
San Jose officials had tagged the 55 acres in Coyote Valley for high-tech offices and a road network serving the 50,000 jobs slated for the area. After revealing the school’s plans in recent weeks at a meeting of the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force, Kinsella came under fire from San Jose officials and developers who demanded that the school redesign the project or look elsewhere for land.
The Sobrato deal includes a trump card for Gavilan against its opponents, Kinsella said, saying that the college could build athletic facilities on site if San Jose officials refuse to cooperate on a shared facility. A lack of athletic facilities would undermine Gavilan since students can’t transfer to either of the state’s school systems without physical education credits.
“I think the thing that’s changed at this point is that they realize how serious we are about this,” Kinsella said of the Coyote Valley planners. “They very easily could have worked with us in the beginning to get us to a location. It’s not our intent to ruin the plan, but it’s in our interest to make sure the higher-education needs of the community are met. That’s not an interest that, as far as I can tell, the task force ever considered.”
