Housing / Land Use

New housing near Gold’s Gym under construction

Project includes 85 units, a mix of apartments, townhomes and single-family homes.
Workers and machinery working behind the construction fence that was placed around some of the construction area near Gold's Gym. The building next to the fence will be removed. Photo by Noe Magaña.
Workers and machinery working behind the construction fence that was placed around some of the construction area near Gold's Gym. The building next to the fence will be removed. Photo by Noe Magaña.

After over 30 years of staying mostly vacant, construction has begun on the Los Pinars subdivision located on Cushman Street, south of Gold’s Gym. The project, where Hollister’s drive-in movie theater once stood, includes single-family homes, townhomes, and apartments. 

The applicant, Valles and Associates received approval from the city to subdivide 5.45 acres into 43 lots. City Planning Manager Abraham Prado told BenitoLink that the project includes 44 apartments and 26 town homes in the center of the property, and 15 single-family homes located along the outer property line.

Site and architectural documents show the existing building south of the renovated Gold’s Gym will be removed and replaced with an office building, a pool and an eight-unit apartment. Two 12-unit apartment buildings are planned east of the office building; one of these will be located at the subdivision entrance near Andrews Drive. 

According to city documents, the Hollister Planning Commission approved the tentative map on May 25, 2017. The Hollister City Council approved the Subdivision Improvement Agreement with the developer in November 2018 on a 4-0 vote. Council members failed to pass a subdivision improvement agreement one month earlier on a 2-1 vote, with Mayor Ignacio Velazquez voting “no” and councilmembers Mickey Luna and Jim Gillio voting “yes.”  Former councilman Karson Klauer recused himself from the item on both occasions, according to the meeting minutes. 

In the November 2018 meeting, Hollister engineer Danny Hillstock said the project had been in the process for “several years,” starting when the project application was submitted to the city. 

In response to a question from Velazquez, who asked about the difference between the two agreements, Hollister engineer Socorro Zendejas said staff added the memorandum of understanding into the agreement and some modifications such as inspection requirements.

Gillio said at the time that the developer was required to obtain a bond in case it did not complete the subdivision, including streets and sewer. If left incomplete, the city would take over without incurring further costs. 

 

 

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Noe Magaña

Noe Magaña is BenitoLink Co-Editor and Content Manager. He joined BenitoLink as reporter intern and was soon brought on staff as a BenitoLink reporter. He also experiments with videography and photography. He is a San Benito High School alumnus with a bachelor's in journalism from San Jose State and a Liberal Arts Associate's Degree from Gavilan College. Noe also attended San Jose City College and was the managing editor for the City College Times, the school's newspaper. He was a reporter and later a copy editor for San Jose State's Spartan Daily. He is a USC Center for Health Journalism 2020 California Fellow.