Developers who bought and demolished the San Benito Street building destroyed by a 2014 fire plan to build a mixed-use project with a commercial office in the front and townhomes behind it, a planning official confirmed.
Del Curto Brothers Construction purchased and demolished the 853 St. structure once filled with historic artifacts owned by preservationist and former building owner Tim Lantz.
The new owner submitted paperwork with the Hollister Planning Department for the mixed-use setup.
“Footprint wise, it’s going to look pretty similar,” said Jill Morales, assistant planner for the city.
Morales believed there were seven or so townhomes planned for the site, but that number could change. She expects a tentative map proposal would reach the planning commission at some point down the line.
Hollister officials were ready to spend at least $100,000 on the demolition of the burned-out downtown building destroyed by fire—after failing to reach the owner—but it turned out the developer purchased the structure and conducted its own demolition.
Hollister officials had trouble making contact with a building owner who vowed to raze the 853 San Benito St. property destroyed by a March 2014 fire, so council members in March agreed to spend $100,000 to do the work.
The city claimed its recent attempts to reach prior building owner Lantz had gone unsuccessful. For most of the time after the fire, the property and neighboring sidewalk had been blocked off from the public.
In early June, the building finally came down. City official Mike Chambless previously confirmed that Del Curto Brothers Construction purchased the site and did the demolition work as well.
