County residents will have an opportunity to help mold a new development project on the property that is currently the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds with an upcoming board of supervisors workshop as well as continued public outreach during the creation of the project.
Supervisors will consider plans for the fairgrounds during a workshop Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. in the county board chambers, 70 W. Hedding St. in San Jose after county staff gathered comments from the public during two open houses, held Aug. 13 and Aug. 21.
Catellus Development Group, the firm that will handle the development of the property, will give a presentation to the board during the workshop.
"I am happy to be able to recommend such a high quality team to the board of supervisors for their consideration," County Executive Pete Kutras said. "Our staff looks forward to working with Catellus, the community and the City of San Jose to maximize revenues from the site while simultaneously creating new jobs and an exciting new neighborhood in San Jose to live, work and shop. This is a positive example of how the county and city can work successfully together to make that happen."
The 150-acre property, located at 344 Tully Road in San Jose, has been owned continuously by Santa Clara County since 1939. Before that time, it was an agricultural property, but once in the hands of the county, it was used for community festivals, music concerts, the annual County Fair, trade and consumer shows and other public events.
"I want to emphasize that this is just the beginning of the process," said Patrick Love, the county's asset and economic development director, who is heading the project. "The county city and Catellus will cooperate in an extensive public outreach process over the next 18 months that will help define the specific project to be recommended for approval. There will be many opportunities for the community to help shape this new neighborhood, and we welcome the input."
Following Tuesday's workshop, the county is expected to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Catellus, which emerged as the recommended developer in the county's request-for-proposal process.
Supervisors had instructed county staff to search for a developer to create a project that would include housing, commercial development, mixed-use and would still allow for public use of the grounds, such as the youth fair that allows 4-H and Future Farmer of America students to showcase their work.
The projected start date for the project is sometime in 2011, if everything goes according to plan.
Marilyn Dubil Marilyn Dubil is a freelance writer for The Times.
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