A Honda Powerhouse dealership will be the city’s Christmas gift
to Hollister this year if plans to renovate and rebuild the former
Good Times Bowl on San Benito Street don’t stray from schedule.
A Honda Powerhouse dealership will be the city’s Christmas gift to Hollister this year if plans to renovate and rebuild the former Good Times Bowl on San Benito Street don’t stray from schedule.
The City Council voted in April to loan three local businessmen $1.5 million to set up the dealership, which will sell a plethora of Honda machines, save automobiles. Demolition is almost complete, the city should verify final building plans by mid-August and construction should be under way by summer’s end, said project partner Dave Galtman.
“By the end of August, we should have everything in and ready to go,” Galtman said.
The trio borrowed an additional $200,000 from a private bank and is hoping to use local contractors for the renovation as much as possible. The project has used $68,000 from the loan so far, Galtman said, and is expected to bring around 15 jobs to Hollister. Most will be either in sales or product service. More jobs could follow, he added.
“Within the next two months, we’ll start placing job ads and grooming the staff,” Galtman said.
The 19,000-square-foot building will be taller, get new electrical, air conditioning and plumbing systems, and be surrounded by a series of massive windows for natural lighting, said local architect David Huboi, who is overseeing the renovation.
“It’s going to have a real nice modern look,” he said. “When we’re done, you won’t even recognize it.”
Honda sets some design and building guidelines for its Powerhouse franchises and the final details are being worked out. The Hollister dealership will dwarf its Huntington Beach counterpart, the only one in the state today. Honda Corporate wasn’t available for comment.
The Hollister Redevelopment Agency is keen on such projects for three reasons, said Bill Avera, director of development services for Hollister. The city stands to generate new sales tax revenue, jobs are added to the local labor pool and an otherwise blighted building gets a facelift, adding to the city’s character, he said.
“A project like this is prime for what we want to do,” he said. “This is a good one.”
And the city made off well under the loan agreement, Avera added. It’s nonforgivable and has a six-month deferment period once construction is finished. The interest runs at six percent the first three years. But if sales and job creation meet specific guidelines after that, the borrowers can get that down to three percent.
Even with a new assortment of ATVs, motorcycles and jet skis, many locals will probably miss what was once the city’s only bowling alley. It opened in 1963 under the banner Hollister Family Bowl, switched to Hollister Lanes and finally became Good Times Bowl. It closed last summer.
Galtman said he had explored keeping a lane or two for local bowlers, but found the demand wasn’t high enough.
Banks Albach covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335, or
ba****@fr***********.com
.
