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With recent rain and other unforeseen delays, construction on downtown streets and a new parking structure will not be complete before the end of the year, according to city staff. And when the revitalization of downtown is complete sometime next year, residents and visitors will have at least three new restaurants among their dining options, including a Greek restaurant, a breakfast and burger joint and a local-sourced market hall.
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The placement of utility lines underground on First, Second and Fourth streets depends on PG&E, according to Morgan Hill Project Manager Julie Behzad. The utility company has yet to schedule a firm date to complete their responsibilities, which include the removal of existing utility poles that tower above homes and the downtown side streets.
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“We are pretty much wrapped up with our contract (for the undergrounding projects), and are waiting for PG&E to come in and bring in all the overhead utilities, and get rid of the poles,” Behzad said.
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On Monterey Road, contractors have completed the bulk of the “streetscape” renovation project which began in August. Some aspects of that project are “taking longer than we anticipated,” and these installations require periodic traffic control on segments of the street, Behzad explained.
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The Fourth Street Parking Garage and the reconstruction of Third and Fourth streets—all under a single contract with F&H Construction—are now looking at a completion date of mid-January, Behzad said.
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“We had multiple issues with PG&E mobilizing for some of the unforeseen conditions at the site,” she said.
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On Third Street, for example, city staff and contractors had to change the design of new concrete sidewalks and a public plaza that will sit under a massive heritage oak tree, Behzad explained. This oak tree sits behind Huntington Station restaurant, and the plaza will be shaded by the branches and feature permanent public benches, chairs, table tops and other features intended to invite visitors to relax or gather with friends and family.
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On Fourth Street which, like Third Street, is undergoing a complete reconstruction, the city’s schedule and that of PG&E again did not coincide. The removal of a utility pole adjacent to the Fourth Street side of the garage took longer than expected, Behzad said.
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“With the (recent) rain, that’s also slowing our progress,” she added.
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The infrastructure upgrades and parking garage—a three-story structure that will house about 270 parking spaces—make up the bulk of the city’s roughly $25 million cost for the city’s downtown investment strategy which was first devised by the Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency in 2009. The money is from leftover RDA bond proceeds acquired in 2008 and 2009.
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The city’s downtown strategy also includes three new parks which are currently in the design process. The strategy also includes partnering with private developers to improve key downtown properties that the RDA purchased several years ago. Developer and vineyard owner Frank Leal has taken over the Granada Theater and Downtown Mall. Renovations are under way for the theater, which he plans to reopen as a full-time entertainment venue.
New restaurants coming to downtown
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Leal plans to transform the Downtown Mall into a restaurant/market hall, with a boutique hotel (up to 60 rooms), conference rooms and a spa on the upper floors.
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Another downtown site scheduled for demolition and construction next year is the former Simple Beverages site at the corner of Third Street and Monterey Road. In a complicated series of transactions regulated tightly by the post-RDA wind-down process earlier this year, the city acquired and then sold the property to Ken Rodrigues/Imwalle Properties for $525,000.
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The developer’s first phase on that site—which was also purchased by the RDA before the state shut the agency down in 2012—includes two restaurants. Opa, a South Bay Greek restaurant chain with locations in Willow Glen, Los Altos, Walnut Creek, Palo Alto and others, is one of the restaurants coming to that site, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez. The other new restaurant on that block will be Mo’s, a breakfast and burger joint with an existing location in Campbell.
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Also in the design process is a new commercial/residential development on the Depot Center, or BookSmart property located on Depot Street between Second and Third. City Ventures is working on that project, which will consist of 29 townhome units, more than 5,500 square feet of commercial space and about 2,000 square feet of “live/work” space.
