Four-story complex on 10th Street would house mix of condos and
townhomes at old motorcycle plant
Gilroy – A four-story condominium complex could tower over 10th Street traffic if a former councilman can thread the project around a number of the city’s zoning regulations. Even if successful, city leaders may extract a pound of flesh from developers in the form of affordable housing.
On Monday, city council members and planning commissioners got their first glimpse of the San Ysidro Square project, a 200-unit mix of condominiums and townhomes proposed for the defunct Indian Motorcycle plant at 200 East 10th St. The 6.2-acre parcel, which lies within walking distance of two shopping centers as well as the historic downtown corridor, once served as headquarters for Nob Hill Foods before changing over into a motorcycle assembly plant. It has sat vacant since the plant closed in 2003.
Former councilman and project representative Tony Sudol explained that the condominium, which will include a mix of two, three and four-bedroom units, would face the Tenth Street corridor. Seventy-eight town homes would lie on the south side of the project, which includes a pool and clubhouse.
Sudol could not provide figures on the number of new residents and schoolchildren the project would generate. He said demographic studies are nearly complete, but predicted that the housing community would attract “empty nesters who don’t want to maintain big houses,” as well as young professionals and married couples.
In pitching the project for the first time Monday night, Sudol seemed to have torn a page out of the script of developer James Suner, who recently got approval for a 94-unit project across the railroad tracks on Monterey Road.
Sudol invoked the “affordability by design” assurance early in the presentation, echoing comments Suner made two weeks earlier before council. The developers maintain that a larger number of small units will naturally deflate prices, making homes affordable without restricting the price of units through contractual agreements. Sudol said that the homes in San Ysidro Square “would start at under $400,000.”
But unlike Suner, who received unanimous council approval for his project, Sudol and his client, property owner and Hollister developer Ken Gimelli, are asking for special treatment from the city.
Sudol and Gimelli hope to sidestep the city’s growth control measure by incorporating the land into an area governed by the Downtown Specific Plan, a document approved by council last year. If successful, Sudol plans to draw down on the 1,700 building permits available for the area over the next 15 years. Otherwise, the project must idle until the next citywide competition for building permits in 2013.
While trying to capitalize on permits earmarked for downtown projects, Sudol hopes to avoid conforming to the specific plan’s vision of mixed-use development. Mixed-use projects that blend housing with retail or business space form the heart of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts. Sudol told officials that commercial uses were eliminated from San Ysidro Square to avoid undercutting businesses along Tenth Street and in the downtown corridor.
Sudol also sought to minimize concerns about traffic, pointing out that the Indian Motorcycle plant once generated multiple daily trips by its 300-plus employees before shutting down in 2003. But that was before two major shopping centers fleshed out east of Highway 101. In the last two years, traffic snarls have grown into a daily event along the Tenth Street corridor leading to the Pacheco Pass shopping centers, especially since the Wal-Mart Supercenter opened last fall. Officials expect the problem will only get worse as nearly 2,000 homes are constructed in the next decade. The bulk of those homes will lie in the city’s southwest quadrant, around Christmas Hill Park and Solorsano Middle School. The new housing developments will have a direct connection to the 10th Street corridor through a bridge spanning Uvas Creek, scheduled for construction by 2011.
Despite the planning and traffic obstacles, the project has curried favor among city officials and staff eager to see the conversion of a defunct industrial site. Such plans jibe with anti-sprawl policies that promote inward growth.
Councilmen gave little indication Monday night if the merits of the project outweigh concerns.
Sudol mentioned several times that he too used to sit on the council dais. He retains close contact with Councilman Craig Gartman, who in 1997 served as Sudol’s campaign treasurer during his one and only successful bid for council. Gartman said they became friends during the tech-boom years when they shared a morning commute to Silicon Valley. They no longer have jobs in the tech industry, but they work out together several mornings a week at Planet Fitness, a downtown gym on Monterey Street.
In an interview after Sudol’s presentation, Gartman set a premium on shaping the project around the city’s vision, rather than that of the developer.
“We need to make sure that there is a retail or professional component, some type of business on the first floor, similar to what 11th Street (Commons) is doing,” Gartman said, referring to Suner’s project. “If they want the benefits of the downtown plan, they need to make sure the project conforms to the downtown plan.”
In hopes of winning support for the project, Sudol has gone as far afield as the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, pitching San Ysidro Square to the group in recent days as a transit-friendly project. The leadership group has few friends in Gilroy, where officials chafe at the prospect of increased county taxes to finance a commuter rail extension from the Bay Area to San Jose, the business group’s pet project.
The toughest critic of the San Ysidro Square project was absent Monday night.
Mayor Al Pinheiro did not attend the study session, but said in an interview beforehand that the time has come for the city to adopt a zoning policy that forces developers of large projects to price a percentage of homes at affordable rates. A majority of councilmen have expressed interest in such a policy, and San Ysidro Square could end up as a test case.
And despite the fact that a number of city staff and officials view San Ysidro as a southern cornerstone for downtown redevelopment, Pinheiro does not seem eager to grant the developer any special favors. In fact, he believes the project will shift focus away from redevelopment efforts along the historic core on Monterey Street.
“There are other projects that are more important to the downtown,” Pinheiro said. “I’m just not too excited about that project right now.”
San Ysidro Square
A new 204-unit housing project proposed for the old Indian Motorcycle plant would include:
– Condominium complex with 84 two bedrooms, 26 three bedrooms and 16 four bedrooms
– 78 townhomes
– Prices starting at under $400,000
– A community pool and parking garage
