Kamilos gives Stockton Diocese land

Sacramento Developer Gerry Kamilos is donating five acres in the proposed Mariposa Lakes development in southeast Stockton to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton.

The land will be used for a new diocese headquarters, to replace a crowded facility at 1105 N. Lincoln St. in Stockton.

The 3,800-acre PCCP Mariposa Lakes project is in the environmental review process. It includes residential, commercial and industrial land around a 40-acre lake.

Plans include about 30 acres of "quasi public" land to be used for churches, day care centers and charter schools, Kamilos said Monday.

Kamilos is also the developer for PCCP West Park, a proposed 4,800-acre business and industrial park on the West Side of Stanislaus County.

That project recently received approval from the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors to start the environmental review process.

The donated land in Mariposa Lakes will be about a mile and a half east of Highway 99 and adjacent to the 40-acre lake, Kamilos said. He declined to give a value for the land, which will include utility improvements.

Bishop Stephen Blaire called the donation "priceless."

"When this opportunity came, it was really a blessing," he said. "It's really convenient, right off 99. Our diocese has three main areas -- Stockton, Modesto and the Mother Lode, so this is a tremendous location for us."

The diocese, which hired an architect to draw up some initial concept plans, is planning a multiphase project. If the initial 27,000-square-foot, two-story project were built today, it would cost about $7 million, which would come out of a special diocese building fund.

However, the project isn't expected to get off the ground until 2011.

Besides providing room for the diocesan staff, the location will make it possible to provide other services to the community, including through Catholic Charities, which offers a number of programs.

"We're going to be envisioning ... how we can help," Blaire said. "It will force us to broaden our perspective. I think it will be kind of fun doing this envisioning."

The land donation comes as the diocese kicks off its $30 million, five-year capital fund drive.

The capital fund is for new parishes and parishes in need of help, Blaire said.

None of that money will be used for the new project, Blaire said.

Kamilos said the inclusion of land dedicated to churches and day care centers added dimension to the Mariposa Lakes project, and is similar to pledges he has made to make land available in West Park for medical facilities and job training sites.

Southeast Stockton needs economic development and stabil- ity in the community, Kamilos said, and the uses envisioned for the donated land can provide that.

Kamilos said he is also working with a Baptist church in the area.

Bee staff writer Tim Moran can be reached at tmoran@modbee.com or 578-2349 and Bee staff writer Sue Nowicki can be reached at snowicki@modbee.com or 578-2012.