Dear Editor:
Incredible as it may seem, the City of Hollister is thinking about “loaning” (giving) a wannabe building owner $1 million to renovate a downtown landmark. Why do I say wannabe building owner?
The purchase of the building is based on whether the city will “loan” the money for the renovation. What a deal! Claim you can renovate a building and receive $1 million.
To be fair, this person claims to be an expert in historical renovations. He claims that he and his crew can accomplish this benevolent task in only four short years. Talk about a never-ending remodel. And a few things puzzle me about this whole deal.
Why would the City of Hollister be willing to give an out-of-town contractor/wannabe building owner $1 million (what happened to the local contractors)?
How can this contractor operate his crew without worker’s comp insurance, when honest local contractors are going out of business paying their worker’s comp premiums?
Why in the world would it take four years to do a renovation? How much will it really cost in the end, 1-2-3 or maybe $4 million?
And finally, should the City of Hollister be using taxpayers money to make a millionaire out of some out-of-town contractor-wannabe building owner?
Last time I checked, $1 million was still a lot of money.
In fact, with one $1 million, the City of Hollister could paint every building in downtown, install new signage on each business, replace every sidewalk with decorative tiles and still have enough money to throw one heck of a party.
So shouldn’t the Holland (Union Bank) building be renovated? Yes, of course it should be, but with private money.
The problem is, how much will it cost and what can be done with it?
One thing is clear, the City of Hollister did not consult any downtown business for input on what the best use of this building would be.
As a downtown building owner that has renovated one historical building and is in the process of renovating another, I could tell the City “exactly” how much it would cost to renovate the Holland building, give or take $500,000.
The wannabe building owner-contractor claims to have done extensive research about the building’s history. If so, why does he have all his facts wrong?
The wannabe building owner claims that originally the first floor was used as a restaurant and the second floor as hotel rooms until the renovation in the 1960s. The truth is the first floor has always been a bank and the second floor has always had offices, just ask any local. I guess, since this contractor isn’t a local, he couldn’t have known that.
Dear Hollister City Council, unless you’re prepared to make low interest loans to all those that have renovated their downtown properties at standard bank rates, I would urge all of you to stop and think long and hard before making such an important decision.
Mr. Wannabe building owner-contractor, just so you know, I was able to renovate my historical building, which has much more detail in it than the Holland building for less than $500,000 and in less than one year.
How did I accomplish such a remarkable task and where did I get the money?
It’s called SWEAT EQUITY and a BANK!
Ignacio Velazquez
Hollister
Owner of The Vault restaurant
