Developer likes site for downtown Modesto housing. But there's a 'substantial hurdle.'

A developer is interested in building a mixed-use retail and housing midrise where county-owned parking now exists at the northwest corner of 10th and I streets. However, the parking displaced by the project and the demand created by the dozens of residential units pose a "pretty substantial hurdle," a city spokesman said.

At the Downtown Modesto Partnership's State of Downtown program in early March, DoMo CEO Josh Bridegroom spoke briefly on the proposal. He said the developer, which doesn't want its name made public yet, envisions about 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, with up to 64 dwelling units on two to four stories above.

Steve Ames of the city's Community and Economic Development Department connected with the developer on OppSites.com. The developer's interest in downtown, Bridegroom said, is in great part because Altamont Corridor Express plans to bring passenger trains to the transit center as early as 2020.

"We walked him through the whole downtown, looked at various sites, and he was encouraged by the activity he saw," Bridegroom said.

The developer also was inspired by a housing survey the DoMo Partnership commissioned, Bridegroom said. More than 400 people responded to the online survey, and about 70 percent said they "definitely would consider living downtown if quality housing were available."

A big appeal of the 10th and I site to the developer, Bridegroom said, is that it's an easy two-block walk to the transit center at Ninth and J. The growing list of developments on the 10th Street block between I and J streets — including Krazy Rolls, the health and wellness studio Liv Centers and the Monsoon Indian restaurant — also is attractive to the developer, the DoMo CEO said.

Jody Hayes, CEO of Stanislaus County, said he's talked once with Bridegroom about the project and has seen no written proposal or concept drawings. Speaking generally, he said, "From the county's perspective, we support efforts to create the vibrant downtown that Josh speaks to and he’s working with the city on."

He said he looks forward to his office having conversations on the 10th and I proposal.

With ACE come many opportunities for economic development, said the city's community and media relations officer, Thomas Reeves. The city generally hasn't taken a position for or against downtown housing, he said.

"That would be a new endeavor for the city, and we're not shying away from it." Reeves said. "We're going to be cautious and make sure it's done right. There are a lot of good examples of transit-oriented development, and Steve and others (on the city staff) are looking at those examples."

Talking with developers is what Ames does every day, Reeves said. "This one stuck and has great potential," he said.

But parking is a big sticking point. The developer is interested in having parking spaces in the 11th Street garage dedicated to residents of the building, Bridegroom and Reeves said.

But the city has agreements with a number of downtown businesses to accommodate employee parking, Reeves said. "Based on those commitments, we don't have the available spaces in that garage."

Bridegroom said downtown in general has a parking surplus and housing deficit. Relocating parking and accommodating new demand is a "cost of urban infill development and requires the county and city being willing partners and being creative and flexible."

Should the 10th and I project come to fruition, it would be the first major general housing project in the downtown in many decades. The last two have been senior-resident housing: the 11-story Ralston Tower apartments opened in 1974, and the three-story, 50-unit Tower Park Senior Housing opened in June 2016.

This story was originally published March 31, 2018 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Developer likes site for downtown Modesto housing. But there's a 'substantial hurdle.'."