City, with $3 million available, receives 20 proposals
The City of Morgan Hill recently asked for ideas on spending $3 million to improve the downtown. It got them.
Twenty separate Requests for Concepts poured into the city’s Business Assistance and Housing Services department by last Thursday’s deadline, ranging from a single page of vague suggestions to a professional-level proposal for a shiny new restaurant and bakery.
RFCs came from 40-year residents to out-of-town firms and everywhere in between.
The funds were designated by the City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, as a way to encourage appropriate development and improvements to downtown dining, shopping and entertainment, following the concepts of the new Downtown Plan. The RDA sought projects transit-oriented, mixed-use commercial, all residential or designed for entertainment, from private citizens and professional developers as well.
RDA funds for the RFC come from three sources: $1 million for use in commercial projects; $1 million from the Low-to-Moderate Housing Fund for the rehabilitation or new construction of affordable housing; and $1 million for infrastructure improvements to augment all projects in accordance with the new plan.
There were two ideas for the Gunter Brothers Feed Store building on Monterey just north of Main – one for affordable housing and one for a restaurant and retail.
One landowner offered the city ownership of the parking lot behind shops and the movie theater between East First and East Second streets. If the owner were to develop the lot into housing or other retail, a significant amount of parking would be lost.
“For businesses facing Monterey, there is no on-site parking requirement,” said Jim Rowe, city planning director. If the parking lot was sold and developed, businesses facing Monterey would not need to secure their own additional parking. Business would be affected, however, because shoppers prefer to park close to stores.
“If the city were to acquire the lot,” Rowe said, “it would have to be reconfigured to meet current codes (wider spaces, wider drive aisles – there would be a net reduction of spots.”
Le Boulanger, the Sunnyvale-based café/bakery, sought help in locating one of its popular shops in the downtown area. Kevin Kemp, a two-year Morgan Hill resident – introduced sketchy plans for Depot Street between Second and Third, for the Gunter Brothers property or for the Morgan Hill Times building.
Geno and Cindy Acevedo of El Toro Brewery, who recently made a formal proposal for turning the soon-to-be-vacated and sold police department at Monterey and West Main into a brew pub and family restaurant, suggested entry banners for Monterey Road.
Page Holdings, LLC, a partnership headed by Rick Page, a Parks and Recreation Commissioner, suggested building new structures on two vacant lots: one just south of Wells Fargo Bank and the other between Third and Fourth streets, north of the new Trail Dust barbecue location, formerly Tashi’s.
Page said he would want the buildings to have historic value – architecturally speaking – and would seek out a Home Chef franchise, “a confectionery, a bakery and/or restaurant/entertainment franchise” for the first building and office uses for the second. Page contends that the downtown area is lacking depth in these areas.
Page Holdings, LLC has previously entered a SOI on the police building, also with the idea of developing a brew pub/restaurant.
Brad Jones and Cinda Meister of BookSmart, which they have owned for more than seven years – plus the high-end toy store Thinker Toys three doors south – would like to give up the joys of renting, rescue a blighted downtown building and expand their business, which would in turn increase the sales taxes provided the city.
Ed and Irene Enderson, who have owned the Granada Theater for more than 40 years, want help in renovating and upgrading that downtown magnet.
Several concepts entertained the idea of mixed-use development, with retail or restaurants on the ground floor and offices or residential space above, as encouraged by the Downtown Plan and current urban developers.
