San Benito County planning commissioners Wednesday supported the Del Webb planned community at San Juan Oaks and sent the consideration to supervisors.
Commissioners gave their OK in a 4-1 vote—Commissioner Pat Loe was against it—sending the proposal to the county board in November. With an approval Wednesday and another OK by supervisors, Del Webb could potentially start construction on nearly 1,100 homes as part of a planned active-adult community in the spring.
Pulte Homes subsidiary Del Webb is proposing to build 1,017 single-family, age-restricted homes on the San Juan Oaks property targeted toward active adults 55 years and older, along with a host of amenities that include a resort, community center and a skilled-nursing facility. Additionally as part of the project, San Juan Oaks would build 67 market-rate homes along the golf course.
The proposal amends plans originally broached by San Juan Oaks in 2004 for 186 homes. Del Webb—which had a 4,400-unit senior community near the airport rejected by Hollister voters in 2006—first publicly broached the possibility of partnering with San Juan Oaks two years ago.
The new homes would add to the current building boom in the Hollister and San Juan Bautista areas. Other developers such as Santana Ranch and Award Homes are finally moving on construction efforts along Fairview Road as smaller developers continue building subdivisions scattered throughout the area.
If approved by county officials, the Del Webb portion of the project would target so-called “active adults” who want to scale down with the size of their homes—the one-story houses would range from 1,400 to 2,500 square feet—while benefiting from conveniences nearby such as the golf club, a planned community center, a planned 65,000 square-foot commercial facility, an array of parkland and ample social opportunities.
Some of the other requirements for such Del Webb planned communities—many are located in retirement states like Florida and Arizona while this would be the company’s first signature Bay Area development—include being relatively close to a major airport, having access to healthcare facilities and living in an area with low crime, said John Johnson, the real estate consultant representing Del Webb on the project.
If the approval process goes as planned, Del Webb would start building its allotment first, likely in the first part of the second quarter of 2016, Johnson said. The company would hope to have a model home selling by the end of 2016, he said. Plans would call for a four-phase build-out totaling four to five years once homes are sold, the consultant said, while the expectation is that commercial facilities would crop up in the second or third year of construction after establishing demand.
Del Webb is already taking reservations for the new homes at the San Juan Oaks location on its website, delwebb.com. The 67-home San Juan Oaks portion of the project would be built between the ninth and 11th holes along the golf course.
Project Highlights
Active adult community on 500 acres
1,017 age-restricted homes
67 market-rate homes
200-room resort hotel
65k-square-foot commercial/office center
Four-acre assisted living facility
17k-25k-square-foot amenity center
1,243 acres of permanent wildlife preserve
