Modesto wants a plan for more housing. Here’s where it’s hoping to build.
Modesto officials want a long-term vision for housing that looks at how the city can produce more of it, including the potential redevelopment of such sites as the old downtown courthouse, shuttered Municipal Golf Course and empty storefronts along major thoroughfares into mixed-use developments that include homes.
Officials will ask the City Council in July to hire Berkeley-based Opticos Design to create a housing plan at a cost not to exceed $355,805. That includes a reuse study for the courthouse.
The council’s Economic Development Committee recently recommended the council hire Opticos, which is the same consultant Modesto hired a couple of years ago to create a downtown master plan.
A state grant will pay for the housing plan. Modesto received $625,000 from the state to be used for promoting the production of more housing. Besides the plan, Modesto will spend the grant on permit tracking software and financing efforts to expand housing opportunities, according to a city report.
The housing plan is expected to “present a comprehensive analysis of needs and opportunities and identify a strategy to arrive at the goal of developing more housing,” according to the request for proposals Modesto issued when it sought consultants for this study.
That includes finding ways to make it easier for residential development to occur as well as looking at the barriers to building affordable housing.
Opticos also would look at the potential for redeveloping the now closed Modesto Municipal Golf Course, downtown sites as well as underused commercial property along major thoroughfares such as McHenry Avenue and Ninth Street.
Community and Economic Development Director Jaylen French said with more people shopping online it makes sense to look at the potential of remaking vacant or underused commercial properties with housing, dining, shopping and offices.
The housing plan also would look at the potential for redeveloping the downtown courthouse with housing, dining, stores and offices. That would include looking at the historic Hall of Records, which is part of the courthouse, as well as the old county jail next to the courthouse.
French said construction of the new downtown courthouse is expected to start by the end of this year and take three years.
Trains linking Modesto to Bay Area
Stanislaus County and California own the existing courthouse. French said the city has complete buy-in from the county on looking at the potential reuses of the courthouse, and the county will coordinate with the state.
Opticos is expected to conduct extensive outreach to allow for public participation as it develops the housing plan. The work is expected to take about 10 months.
The city’s request for proposals states that the extension of the Altamont Corridor Express commuter trains to downtown in 2023 is “expected to increase opportunities for large companies to locate in Modesto. Passenger rail service will also enhance the feasibility of new housing, particularly in downtown locations near the transit center.”
Despite people working at home in the pandemic, French said in an email the city’s vision for downtown remains viable because more people are returning to the office, making downtown an attractive place to live because of the connection with the Bay Area via ACE commuter trains.
“This is an ideal time for the City to comprehensively imagine the future of its residential neighborhoods,” the request for proposals states. “With approximately 215,000 residents, the City is at the precipice of either staying a large town, or becoming a great City.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
