Site plans for the redevelopment of two properties in downtown
Morgan Hill, presented by the Barry Swenson Builder company at a
meeting this week, received a mostly favorable response from
planning commissioners.
Site plans for the redevelopment of two properties in downtown Morgan Hill, presented by the Barry Swenson Builder company at a meeting this week, received a mostly favorable response from planning commissioners.
The plans and architectural sketches, which the developer noted are only preliminary, will approach the city council Oct. 20 for further review by the elected officials and public.
“I’m encouraged,” Morgan Hill planning commissioner Bob Benich said after a briefing on the plans at Tuesday’s commission meeting. “I like the mix of traditional with the contemporary Spanish-American design. I like the different roof treatments, heights and different colors – I’m glad to see this is not all cookie-cutter.”
Barry Swenson Builder was selected by the council earlier this year to develop two properties into new buildings that contain a grocery store, multiscreen cinema, and a mix of retail, office and residential use.
The properties on the 17400 block and the 17300 block of Monterey Road are currently owned by the Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency.
Designs presented at Tuesday’s meeting are based on community preferences for “traditional” or “Spanish” architecture versus more modern or industrial styles, and a variety of colors, building materials and other details within each building to avoid a “monolithic” appearance, BSB vice president Jeff Current said.
“People gravitated toward more diversity, and a variety of designs” at three community engagement meetings held by the builder this summer, Current said.
The northernmost property – between First and Second streets – currently contains the Downtown Mall and defunct Granada Theater.
Plans presented at that property at Tuesday’s planning commission meeting include:
-A “neighborhood” grocery store about 10,000 square feet in size;
-Spaces for smaller individual retail shops or restaurants;
-An outdoor public plaza on Monterey Road that could include cafe seating or similar use by a future tenant;
-A 165-space underground garage for public parking;
-A second-level parking area to the rear of the property for future residents at the new building;
-Sixty to 85 condo-style residences of varying sizes on two upper levels, with possible outdoor “amenity spaces” for the residents, including a swimming pool and community garden space.
The southern property on the 17300 block of Monterey Road, on the corner of Second Street, currently houses Royal Clothiers and empty commercial space. Included in BSB’s plans for that property are:
-A small multiscreen cinema that seats about 300 patrons in four auditoriums;
-About 6,500 square feet of space for retail stores in two separate units on the ground floor;
-A restaurant on the ground floor;
-A “mezzanine level” for cinema operations and storage;
-About 12,500 square feet of office space, plus a 5,400-square-foot outdoor terrace on the second floor;
-Up to 15 residential units for rent on the third floor.
The builder will spend upcoming weeks working with prospective tenants to occupy the grocery and retail spaces, Current said.
Talks with Paul Gunsky, owner of CineLux which runs the Tennant Station cinema, have been underway since July 2009 to operate the future downtown cinema.
The most poignant complaint among the planning commission was from chair Joe Mueller, who said the floor plans and exterior drawings don’t yet “capture the Morgan Hill feel,” though he struggled to define what the city’s “feel” is.
Mueller said one key aspect of downtown Morgan Hill already is the vigorous use of outdoor public spaces, and a busy and widely attended schedule of outdoor entertainment events. He said the plans presented Tuesday don’t seem to clearly reflect or facilitate that use of downtown.
Finalized plans for the projects will note the “layers” of fine details on the exterior structures, including what kind of signage, molding, brick and other building materials to use, Current said, and those attributes might fill in the ambiance that Mueller desired.
The same plans will be presented to the city council Oct. 20 at city hall.
Barry Swenson Builder and the city are currently in the “exclusive negotiating” phase of the development, which will end in March 2011. After that, the city and builder will sign an agreement in which the city will agree to sell the property as long as the developer agrees to build the pre-approved project.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2012.
The existing preliminary plans for the projects can be seen at the Barry Swenson Builder website, www.barryswensonbuilder.com/morgan-hill-redevelopment-project/
