Vacant Fortino’s building under consideration by college
The former Fortino’s building on Tres Pinos Road appears to be
the preferred choice for an expansion of Gavilan College classroom
space in Hollister, though negotiations continue.
Vacant Fortino’s building under consideration by college
The former Fortino’s building on Tres Pinos Road appears to be the preferred choice for an expansion of Gavilan College classroom space in Hollister, though negotiations continue.
For the past few months, the college has been in talks with John Klauer of K&S Properties regarding using the former furniture and appliance store or the building on the northwest corner of Fourth and San Benito streets downtown to accommodate the need for additional classroom space.
A 12 percent jump in enrollment this year has meant that Gavilan’s satellite site on the lower level of the Fourth Street parking garage has been bursting at the seams, with six classrooms serving nearly 1,000 students in 75 class sections. Gavilan President Steve Kinsella has said the college needs an additional 20,000 square feet of space to meet the growing demand.
Klauer confirmed that K&S and Gavilan remain in negotiations and are “focusing on a particular location.” The most recent Gavilan Board of Trustees agenda listed only the Fortino’s location, also owned by K&S, on its closed session agenda.
“They have until June, and I think the next 30 days or so are going to be pivotal in terms of their decision,” Klauer said.
Gavilan officials have said that adding new classroom space would require approval by an accrediting committee, which meets only twice a year – in June and January – so time is of the essence.
The Hollister Redevelopment Agency has been involved in negotiations with Klauer, proposing a loan to Klauer of up to $1.3 million to renovate his downtown building, which previously housed The Pinnacle offices, county mental health offices, and once was a JC Penney store. The loan would help address seismic issues and pay for structural and facade improvements to the building, which is located across the street from Gavilan’s Briggs Building location.
Klauer, who has said such a renovation would cost upward of $2 million, agreed with city officials who expressed an interest in keeping the Gavilan expansion downtown.
With the former Fortino’s location apparently moving to the top of the list for the college’s classroom expansion, Klauer said he has asked city officials if the proposed RDA renovation loan offer could be shifted to the Fortino’s site.
“We’re basically waiting to find out from them,” he said. “Up until then, everything’s up in the air. The only thing we’ve been told is that staff is going to discuss it.”
Klauer said that the Fortino’s location “obviously … would take less funding to retrofit than would the downtown location” and that it “potentially” could work as classroom space even without the RDA funding.
RDA Executive Director Bill Chow said Tuesday that he had not yet seen Klauer’s request to shift the proposed loan to the Fortino’s building, but he did say he was “not sure we’re going to provide assistance” for the Tres Pinos Road site.
“We did agree to provide assistance if Gavilan was going to move to the downtown location, but right now there hasn’t been any discussion on my part with them on funding for the Fortino’s location,” he said.
The Fourth Street site was an early favorite of city officials who said the benefits included increasing foot traffic downtown, filling a sparsely-populated building and upgrading its facade, and increasing the assessed valuation of the building.
“If we’re going to spend money to help Gavilan College we want them to be in the downtown location to stimulate businesses in the downtown,” Chow said. “Whether or not we will assist them in the Fortino’s location, we’re not sure yet.”
Kinsella, who could not be reached for comment by press time, previously said that it would take at least a year to get final approval on whatever site is chosen for classroom expansion.
The college plans to develop an 80-acre campus at the intersection of Airline Highway and Fairview Road, east of Ridgemark Golf and Country Club, over the next 20 to 30 years.
