Gavilan Joint Community College District has all but completed
plans to acquire an 85-acre parcel of land near the city’s airport,
which will be used to develop a Hollister satellite school and
eventually a full-service campus.
Hollister – Gavilan Joint Community College District has all but completed plans to acquire an 85-acre parcel of land near the city’s airport, which will be used to develop a Hollister satellite school and eventually a full-service campus.
“This is a really exciting time for Gavilan College, and for San Benito County,” said Jan Bernstein Chargin, Gavilan’s Director of Public Information.
The Gavilan College Board of Trustees will vote whether to approve a proposed purchase and sale agreement at its Jan. 10 board meeting. The parcel is question is an 85-acre plot of land situated just off San Felipe Road, near the Hollister Municipal Airport. College officials say several sites in the general vicinity were considered, but eventually the site was selected based upon its value to the district, dollar for dollar.
“The land is flat, it’s prime non-agricultural land,” said College President Steve Kinsella. “It’s easy to develop and there’s a minimal cost to build on it.”
According to the sale agreement, the District will pay $50,000 per acre, on top of an initial $50,000 deposit – a little more than $4 million all told, after escrow fees and other applicable expenses. Measure E, the 2004 bond measure that funded the purchase, allotted $12.7 million for a Hollister site, leaving $8.7 million for the District to use toward developing and building on the land.
“The price of the land was extremely reasonable,” said Chargin.
If the board does vote to go ahead with the purchase of the land, a few steps must be taken before the property will exchange hands. The state must first undertake a due diligence investigation, and give the District permission to go ahead with the proposed campus.
If the red tape at the state level is worked through quickly enough, however, Kinsella believes the District may have the property in as soon as six months, though it could take until late December 2006. Actual construction is not likely to begin for at least another year and a half. However, District officials say constructing an initial classroom building will be the first priority once ground is eventually broken to supplement the classrooms currently available at the Briggs Building downtown.
While the District hopes one day for the Hollister site to be a fully functional campus of its own, complete with athletic fields, a library and a performing arts center, at this point no official plans have been made. The District will be developing a building plan over the course of the next several months while the project is approved at the state level.
“I think this is great news for Hollister,” said City Councilman Brad Pike. “It will mean a smoother transition for kids looking to continue their education by keeping it local. And it will continue to make Hollister a more appealing community, in terms of opportunities for kids and parents being able to feel good about their children’s education.”
Another boon for the District, on a less concrete level, is the site’s proximity to the original home of Gavilan College, which used to be housed at the Hollister airport.
“Gavilan got its start in the early 60s, right next door to this proposed campus site,” said Board Member Kent Child. “It’s got a nice, poetic ring to it.”
While the District had hoped to find land closer to the center of town, Hollister’s outskirts were significantly more affordable.
“Closer to Hollister, the cost became prohibitive,” Child said. “But by the time the campus is really up and going, the community will have expanded, so it won’t really be on the fringe.”
The Board will also be voting on whether to purchase land in Coyote Valley for a similar satellite campus enterprise. The college will receive 55 acres of land at $8 a square foot, for a cost of approximately $18 million dollars.
“It really all came together at the last minute,” Kinsella said, “and the fact that we can vote on both right now is pure coincidence.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
