Hollister
– The City Council voted Monday to loan up to $1.5 million to a
trio local businessmen who have plans to remodel the former Good
Times Bowl and turn it into a Honda PowerHouse dealership – a
unique franchise that will sell a variety of Honda products.
Hollister – The City Council voted Monday to loan up to $1.5 million to a trio local businessmen who have plans to remodel the former Good Times Bowl and turn it into a Honda PowerHouse dealership – a unique franchise that will sell a variety of Honda products.
The council agreed to loan a maximum of $1.5 million of Hollister Redevelopment Agency funds to Dave Galtman and Mike and Marty Greenwood, who bought the vacant bowling alley on San Felipe Road in 2004 with plans to turn it into a motorcycle dealership. The loan will fund the remodel of the dilapidated building so it meets Honda’s design requirements. While there is a cap on the amount that the RDA will loan, the actual loan amount has not been determined, according Development Services Director Bill Avera.
“It’s a loan to rehabilitate the building and run the business of the Honda store,” Avera said before the meeting.
The remodel will cost about $1.7 million, according to Galtman. In addition to the RDA loan Galtman and the Greenwoods have a bank loan, he said.
PowerHouse dealerships, of which there is just one in the state, sell most everything Honda makes, such as motorcycles and ATVs, and have a service center. Once remodeled, the bowling alley will be transformed and have an indoor showroom and office areas. The exterior will be outfitted with new windows and landscaping. The building, which is green, will also get a new gray, red and black color scheme. Avera has said that the PowerHouse will set the standard for development in the city’s north gateway.
Council members have been enthusiastic about a PowerHouse coming to Hollister since the possibility first arose months ago. In November, the council gave tentative support to the project when it sent a letter to Honda saying that the city intended to loan money for the remodel – which is a Honda requirement. The PowerHouse, they say, holds a variety of benefits for Hollister. It will create more than 20 jobs, increase tax revenue and draw people into the city while at the same time improving a run-down building, according to city staff.
“It’s definitely a plus for the community,” Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia said in an interview before the Monday meeting. “It’s more business for the community.”
Councilwoman Monica Johnson agreed, adding that, because the state’s only PowerHouse is in Southern California, the new dealership will attract people to Hollister. Those who come for the PowerHouse may stay and see the other things Hollister has to offer, she said.
“There’s the potential of customers coming from other places … and make it into downtown,” she said.
Galtman said that PowerHouses, because they are rare, typically draw people from a 200-mile radius.
Galtman said that he is eager to get the remodel started and get the dealership open. The Hollister Planning Commission approved the remodel design for the building last month. Local architect David Huboi, who is working with Honda on the remodel, said that he is preparing to go out to bid for a contractor to do the physical work. Galtman said that he hopes the PowerHouse will be open for business by fall or early winter of this year.
While there is support for the PowerHouse, some in Hollister are still mourning the loss of the city’s only bowling alley, which closed its doors for good last summer.
The lanes had been a part of Hollister since 1963 – first known as Hollister Family Bowl, then as Hollister Lanes and finally Good Times Bowl. Galtman has said that he and his partners tried retain a lane or two for local kingpins, but that there wasn’t enough demand for bowling to make it financially viable.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
