Legacy village celebrates groundbreaking
Legacy Village, a shopping center planned along the Hwy. 25
bypass that has Lowe’s as its cornerstone, is about to break
ground.
Legacy Village is the result of four years of planning, said
Frank and Jason Guerra, whose family owns the property.
Legacy village celebrates groundbreaking
Legacy Village, a shopping center planned along the Hwy. 25 bypass that has Lowe’s as its cornerstone, is about to break ground.
Legacy Village is the result of four years of planning, said Frank and Jason Guerra, whose family owns the property.
Although a groundbreaking was planned for June 24, it was postponed pending construction on Lowe’s, Frank said.
Legacy Village will have 280,000 square feet of retail space. Lowe’s will occupy half of that.
In comparison, Gilroy Crossings Shopping Center, the home of Target and Barnes and Noble booksellers, is 750,000 square feet.
In addition to Lowe’s, 13 retail buildings of various sizes are planned for Legacy, according to documents from the Guerras.
Some will have office space on the second floor, Frank said.
The build out schedule will depend on demand, Frank said.
“Basically the intent of this is not to move existing local tenants from the center [of town] and into this,” Jason said. “I think the intent is to bring regional and national tenants that Hollister needs, instead of [county residents] going to Gilroy.”
Having a Lowe’s in town will help keep sales tax dollars in town, said Doug Emerson, Hollister’s mayor.
“People in Hollister are spending a lot of money in home improvement stores, but it’s not being spent in Hollister,” Emerson said.
Hollister residents spend about $40 million per year in other towns on home improvement stores, according to a study commissioned by Hollister’s city council members, Emerson said.
So far, Lowe’s is the only tenant signed on.
“There’s some interest there,” Frank said. “We’re starting to work with a realtor who has ties to the national chains.”
A lot of chains are not opening new locations, Jason said.
“With the current market, a lot of them are holding back with new locations, but I think Hollister needs, certainly some regional and national tenants,” Jason said.
Construction of landscaping and street improvements will also begin soon, Jason said.
The Guerras will add a bus stop and a stoplight at the intersection of Vintage Way and Meridian Street.
“And a shelter and benches,” Frank said, referring to the bus stop.
They want to design something that fits the decor of the shopping center, which is a Mediterranean style, Frank said.
The landscaping will be greener than a traditional shopping center.
“It’ll look more like an orchard, in my opinion,” Frank said.
Lawns and a variety of tree species will envelop the shopping center and individual buildings. The parking lot will be interspersed with trees.
To promote retention of runoff, the green areas that surround the parking lot will include a bioswale, Frank said.
A bioswale is a basin that runoff from roofs and the parking lot will flow into, Frank said. Gravel will filter the water.
“I think we’re the first commercial center in Hollister that’s going by that,” Jason said. “We’re landscaping those areas to make them look like a little creek area.”
Some of the trees in the parking lot will catch water and transmit it towards the bioswale. A wrought iron fence will enclose the bioswale.
“We don’t want an unfinished look to the front,” Frank said.
Currently, the property is on county land, Frank said.
“As soon as the moratorium is over, we’re going to annex into the city,” Frank said. “Then we can tie into the wastewater system.”
County officials would not allow the entire shopping center to use a septic system, Frank said.
“And it’s in the middle of the city,” Jason said. “This is a county island.”
The property has been in the Guerra family since the 1940s, Frank said.
“It was orchards, like everything else there,” Frank said. “There comes a time when you can’t do agriculture right in the middle of town anymore.”
There is still a small patch of orchards on the property, Frank said.
“About 100 trees,” Frank said.
It has been about a decade since the property was a productive orchard, Frank said.
“Smack dab in the middle of town, it’s obviously destined for something like this,” Frank said.
