Proposed project addresses issue for downtown in a unique
way
Hollister’s lacking supply of viable residential apartments
could get a needed boost through a partnership involving the
redevelopment agency, and the proposal looks promising considering
its emphasis on cutting construction costs and using an existing,
unused downtown space.
Proposed project addresses issue for downtown in a unique way
Hollister’s lacking supply of viable residential apartments could get a needed boost through a partnership involving the redevelopment agency, and the proposal looks promising considering its emphasis on cutting construction costs and using an existing, unused downtown space.
The Hollister RDA has proposed spending $11,000 in the initial stages of a project to rehabilitate the upper floor of the building owned by Jim Wood at 727 San Benito St. – which houses Drapoel, Heaven Scent and Blak Sage art gallery. It has been held up due to the uncertainty of local RDAs’ future in Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget, but appears to be a positive step for downtown and there’s potential to use the same model on other buildings.
Making this proposal so unique is the partnership proposed by the RDA with Rancho Cielo Youth Corps and nonprofit housing developer CHISPA. Rancho Cielo is an on-the-job training program for at-risk residents ages 18 to 24. The vocational program emphasizes building job skills for those who might not have the best chances at employment, especially in this rough economy.
It is good timing not only to get some more people to work, but it also comes during a stagnant stretch for Hollister in its ability to develop, or renovate, residential apartment units in the downtown area – where officials for years have promoted walk-ability and access to shops and public transportation.
In other words, it could help to address two of the city’s most severe economic problems.
In the case of the building at 727 San Benito St., its dormancy has been long unaddressed, largely because of heightened costs related to such renovations – it was a boarding house until condemnation in 1957 – along with the down real estate market and the state’s tendency to lay out regulations that are unrealistic and financially impossible to meet. Unfortunately, as RDA Manager Mary Paxton pointed out, it is frequently less expensive to build from scratch than renovate an existing structure.
Sure, some viable apartments are downtown, above such locations as the Granada Theater, Delux Hair Salon, Cheap Seats and Country Rose frame shop, but not nearly enough to leave an impressionable impact on downtown merchants, not nearly enough to create an atmosphere that promotes healthy living and less reliance on gas-guzzling vehicles for travel. There is, in fact, a severe shortage, especially if city leaders hope to successfully follow up on the Downtown Strategy Plan that relies on added foot traffic.
The partnership model looks optimistic, and it is about the most prudent, feasible idea yet to address the apartment supply shortage.
