Housing in downtown Modesto? Not so fast. But other ideas are bubbling
Market forces won’t bring much new housing to downtown Modesto for now, advocates for the district are hearing this week.
But they can take steps in the meantime to make downtown an inviting place for future residents. Maybe more cafes and galleries. More green spaces. Easier access on foot or bicycle.
The ideas arose at brainstorming sessions hosted by the city at Greens on Tenth restaurant. The gatherings, which run through Friday, will help with a 20-year master plan.
“I have high hopes for downtown, for some of these ideas to come true,” said lifelong Modesto resident Vickie Higginbotham after a Tuesday afternoon session.
She would like to see housing for young families, a connection to the nearby Tuolumne River, and activities that capture tourists heading to the Sierra Nevada.
Opticos Design of Berkeley, the city’s consultant, launched the process in July and could issue a draft by year’s end. The City Council could take it up in spring.
The plan covers the entire diagonal street grid that emerged with Modesto’s founding in 1870 by the Central Pacific Railroad.
Where are the homes?
A mere 1.4 percent of the 215,000 residents of Modesto live downtown, said Stefan Pellegrini, principal and vice president at Opticos, during the kickoff session Monday.
Many of them reside in two large apartment buildings for seniors on 17th Street: Ralston Tower opened at I Street in 1974. Tower Park followed at G Street in 2016.
Other downtown residents live in older houses and small apartment buildings, some of them in the portion of west Modesto that falls in the master plan boundaries.
The consultant looked at the prospects for one type of infill development: three floors of housing above a ground floor devoted to business or parking. Current lease rates do not justify building something like this, Pellegrini said.
Downtown does have potential for “garden apartments,” which could be two stories tall and have some green space for residents, he said.
Public subsidies could help denser projects pencil out, Pellegrini said. That idea appeals to Reggie Rucker, director of placemaking for the Downtown Modesto Partnership.
“If you start with that and build toward market rates downtown, that will support the larger developments ,” he said.
Current strengths
Downtown already is the main office center for Modesto, thanks largely to city and county government buildings. And it has a thriving restaurant scene, the Gallo Center for the Arts, the State Theatre and the Brenden cineplex.
The big retailers left for outlying areas decades ago, but downtown still has a number of small shops. The district has healthy vacancy rates of 1.5 percent for retail, 3.4 percent for office and 4.4 percent for residential, Pellegrini said.
Downtown is getting a new courthouse, likely in 2023, which has spurred talk of turning the old courthouse into something exciting. And a station for the Altamont Corridor Express could have its first train to San Jose as early as 2021.
Several people at this week’s gatherings asked for more lighting and street cleaning to keep downtown safe and pleasant. They talked of putting tree-lined medians in Ninth and I streets, both of them wider than most downtown streets.
Modesto resident John Herrick suggested adding restaurants in the blocks just west of Highway 99, now home to auto repair shops and the like.
“It’s a different kind of vitality,” he said at Monday’s kickoff. “It’s more the working class of downtown.”
The organizers asked people to share their ideas on Post-It notes. One suggested upgrading Cesar Chavez Park on Fourth Street. Another thought John Thurman Field, the minor league ballpark half a mile south of downtown, would fit better in the heart of the city.
Down on the river
The Tuolumne runs as close as a quarter-mile to downtown, but access is tricky for walkers and bicyclists. Several attendees urged better connections to the trails in the Tuolumne River Regional Park.
“Riverfronts are great economic drivers,” a sticky note declared.
The city has a long-standing plan to make Tenth Street a walking and biking route to the park. And the park will get more picnic spots, nature study areas and other features under another planning effort.
Residents also asked for an easy connection from downtown to the Virginia Corridor trail. It runs north from Needham Street and reaches into north Modesto, with extensions yet to come.
This week’s meetings are at 953 Tenth St. Still to come:
- Thursday: Open studio from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 2:30 pm.
- Friday: Closing presentation and breakout groups from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
This story was originally published October 2, 2019 at 6:49 PM.
