Condo plan striking out stadium site

By Andrew F. Hamm
SILICON VALLEY/SAN JOSE BUSINESS JOURNAL
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET June 06, 2004

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The prime site identified by supporters of a possible downtown San Jose baseball park could instead have townhouses and condos sprouting up before opening day next year, says an executive of KB Home.

About 15 acres of the 18.7-acre Del Monte tract just south of HP Pavilion is slated to be used for 420 free-standing townhouses and 235 condominium units built over a parking structure. And work is to begin no later than January 2005, says Robert Freed, president and general manager of KB Home of Northern California. KB Home has committed to using the three additional acres on the property as park land, Mr. Freed says.

"It's a great residential site," Mr. Freed says. "We've heard the talk about building a baseball stadium there but nobody from the city has contacted us about it."

The housing development's environmental impact report is due this June, Mr. Freed says. The remaining city paperwork should be completed by the fall, with construction scheduled to begin somewhere between November and January, he says.

Baseball San Jose, a group of civic and business leaders, has identified the site of the old Del Monte plant as the most logical place to put a 40,000-seat baseball stadium.

The group is working toward a 2006 referendum to develop a financing package for a stadium and related improvements that would cost somewhere in the $350 million to $500 million range. San Jose would be looking to buy the land and make road improvements but would require private money to build most of the stadium.

Baseball San Jose officials seemed to be surprised that KB Home was going forward with its plans to build on the Del Monte site.

However, KB Home has not yet obtained vested rights on the property from Del Monte nearly two years after outbidding nine other housing concerns with a reported $28 million offer, although KB is paying the Del Monte Corp. option rights on a monthly basis.

"I think it is important to preserve that site for a baseball park," says Dean Munro, executive director of the San Jose Sports Authority.

Without a professional baseball team in place -- the Oakland A's are seeking a new stadium but the San Francisco Giants are vowing to block any team's attempt to move to Santa Clara County -- getting San Jose involved in the land's future will be tough.

"It's a basic issue that the city may have to deal with," Mr. Munro says.

But San Jose has been enthusiastic about the prospect of adding housing units to the downtown area, Mr. Freed says.

"We are committed to the plan to bring homes to the downtown area so that they are near existing jobs," Mr. Freed says.

The townhouses are expected to sell in the $400,000 to $500,000 range while the condominiums will run in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, Mr. Freed says.

"This represents a significant financial investment and we are excited about going forward with this," Mr. Freed says.

"Del Monte is not the only site being looked at," says Jude Barry, a consultant with Baseball San Jose. "The city's task force is looking at a number of sites."

Those include the Municipal Ballpark where the Class A San Jose Giants play now, property further south of Del Monte, a lot near Great America in Santa Clara and even Spartan Stadium, should San Jose State drop its football program, says Larry Stone, chairman of the Baseball San Jose Outreach Committee and a long-time advocate for bringing baseball to the South Bay.

"There are other sites but none are as good as the Del Monte site," Mr. Stone says.