9.7-acre housing project sailing smoothly through approval
process
Morgan Hill – A crop of 26 homes will “sprout” from a field of weeds by El Toro Elementary School, assuming the project clears standard hoops set by the City of Morgan Hill Planning Division.
It seems likely the seasoned local developer will succeed. Taking the reigns of the project is Dick Oliver, president of Dividend Inc., in Morgan Hill.
Other Dividend projects in the city have been hits with city planners and home buyers alike, including Alicante, Coyote Estates and Mission Ranch. When fully developed in five or six years, these three projects together will account for more than 500 homes.
But the development by El Toro Elementary is decidedly smaller, and appears to be sailing smoothly through pre-development stages.
Morgan Hill Planning Commission Chairman Robert Benich credits Oliver’s familiarity with the turf and track record on other projects.
“When you got a guy who lives in the community, his children go to school here, he wants to make it a good community,” Benich said. “Local developers hold themselves to a higher standard.”
Last Tuesday, the Morgan Hill Planning Commission approved tentative subdivision of 9.7-acres and development of 26 units for the first three phases of the project, referred to now as “San Savigno.”
When all’s said and done, the development might hold 35 homes.
The neglected property already contains one boarded-up house, and eight more could be phased in later.
According to Oliver, the undeveloped land by the intersection of E. Main Avenue and Calle Mazatan is worth about $6 million now.
Pricing for the homes is still up in the air. At least five homes are reserved for Morgan Hill’s below market rate housing program for low- and median-income families. Four additional homes are designated as moderate-rate homes.
A spokesman for Dividend Inc. said its impossible to determine now what the market will look like when the first phase of homes is ready to sell. Last year, Alicante’s first phase of nine homes priced over $1 million sold out in a single morning.
As for BMR prices at “San Savigno,” the city recently listed four-bedroom houses at $191,900 for low-income first-time buyers.
Phase I construction for “San Savigno” is scheduled to start next year. It includes 13 four-bedroom, 2.5-bath units ranging from 1,367 to 1,444 square feet.
The lot sizes range from 3,500 to about 7,000 square feet. Most of the houses will be single family detached, but some will be “modified attached,” which means two houses will sit on a 7,000 square-foot lot.
Project was initially authorized in March 2004, when it first received housing allocations.
Dividend Inc. has worked on and off on the property for five or six years.
In addition to the San Savigno, the development firm is working to complete another small project of 15 homes at Hail and Wright avenues, also in pre-development.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 or tb*******@mo*************.com.
