Empty lot to become medical/residential project
A mixed-use project with medical office space and residential
development is planned on an eight-acre parcel in Hollister between
Kmart and Southside Estates.
The front portion of the lot will be 45,000 square feet of
medical offices, said Ty Intravia, a developer/contractor for Long
Reach Associates, Inc., the company whose staff is developing the
project.
Empty lot to become medical/residential project
A mixed-use project with medical office space and residential development is planned on an eight-acre parcel in Hollister between Kmart and Southside Estates.
The front portion of the lot will be 45,000 square feet of medical offices, said Ty Intravia, a developer/contractor for Long Reach Associates, Inc., the company whose staff is developing the project.
“We’ve been contacted by a lot of doctors and other people in the industry who are interested in something like that,” Intravia said. “Most of the medical offices around here have been here for 30 years, and quite honestly they’re outdated.”
There are only a few empty units in medical office buildings, said Frankie Arballo, director of marketing and public relations for Hazel Hawkins Hospital.
“There’s definitely a demand for more physicians in the community,” Arballo said.
There will be four office buildings, Intravia said. Two will be single story and two will be two stories. Some of the suites will be for sale, but developers do not know how much they will cost.
The first building will have seven suites with 1,800 square feet each.
“The remaining buildings have not been designed yet,” Intravia said.
Medical offices tend to be smaller than other retail office space, Intravia said.
“Typically when you build a commercial building, about average when you chop something up like that would be right around 2,000 square feet, 2,500,” he said.
Construction will be done in phases.
“We’ll be starting on the construction on one [building] while we’ll be still working on the plans for another,” Intravia said.
The first medical building should be complete in mid-to-late 2009.
Residential construction will begin in two or three years, Intravia said.
Zoned for high density, residential will occupy five acres on the rear portion of the lot, Intravia said. Developers do not know how many homes there will be.
“More than likely it’s going to be apartments and single-family homes,” Intravia said. “I think we’re going to go a little different route than anybody has gone in this town. It’s going to be smaller homes but more a sense of community.
” A mixed-use project makes sense, said David Huboi, a member of Hollister’s planning commission.
“To me, that’s going back to the traditional neighborhood,” Huboi said. “We’re always looking at being creative in terms of mixing uses. That eventually would decrease the carbon footprint because you would be able to live and work in the same area.”
Developers do not know how much the houses will cost.
“I think it would be a good fit for seniors,” Intravia said. “I also think it would be a good fit for first time home buyers, because it’s a smaller home it’s going to be a little less expensive than the other homes in the area.”
Developers turned in an application for the retail side of the project with Hollister’s planning department in June.
“We’re waiting on the finalization of the fault study to make sure it doesn’t affect the project design,” said Mary Paxton, planning manager for Hollister. “After that we would start processing the application.”
There is a fault going through what will be a parking lot, Intravia said.
“That’s just what makes developing that a little harder,” Intravia said. “Seventy five feet on either side has to be open area. You can have a parking lot, you can have a street, but you can’t have an occupied building.”
