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| Stockton Record, Friday, June 20, 2004 |
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| MOUNTAIN HOUSE MILESTONE |
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First residents in eventual 15,500-home community to move in
MOUNTAIN HOUSE — The first two families are expected to enter the doorways of their new Mountain House homes next Friday, marking a major milestone for a project that has been in the planning stages since the 1980s.
County building officials could make final inspections on the first two homes as early as today, said Mike Ehret, the head building official for San Joaquin County.
“They are right on the verge of occupancy,” Ehret said.
The families will be pioneers in this community, where 15,500 homes, as well as schools and business parks eventually will be built in a 4,800-acre area at the base of the Coast Range northwest of Tracy.
Touted as one of the most innovative planned communities in the state because of its proportioned jobs and housing components, Mountain House will be constructed in 12 neighborhoods that will be home to 42,000 residents.
The home builder, Lennar Homes, plans for other families to move into the neighborhood throughout the summer, said Eric Teed-Bose, project director for Trimark Communities.
The homes are part of the first village, which will contain about 980 houses and 480 apartments. Those residences are expected to be completed by 2005, Teed-Bose said.
Prices are starting at $330,000, and the demand so far has exceeded supply in this hot housing market. Lennar Homes held a lottery earlier this year to pick the first 19 home buyers out of a pool of about 300 applicants.
The demand for housing has helped move along other phases of the project.
The county Board of Supervisors earlier this month approved two more subdivisions with 2,500 homes, and construction will begin soon after the first village is built, Teed-Bose said.
Trimark, which is developing about three-quarters of Mountain House, has filed papers with the county to build out the largest phase of the project, known as Specific Plan 2.
Specific Plan 2 includes 9,000 homes, a town center, industrial and commercial offices, two golf courses and a marina along the Old River.
Sacramento developer Gerry Kamilos bought or optioned about 355 acres in the Mountain House zoning area known as Specific Plan 3, which encompasses about 800 acres at the southern edge of the project and includes a 110-acre campus for San Joaquin Delta College.
Kamilos plans to build about 1,500 of the 2,500 homes slated for the zoning area and hopes to begin construction in 2005. He expects the first families will move into their homes the following year.
On Wednesday, Kamilos and county officials will meet with residents in the Lammersville community to discuss his project.
He said he’s encouraged by home sales in Trimark’s development.
“I think it demonstrates that Mountain House has a market,” Kamilos said. “I think we’re getting influences from the Pleasanton and Livermore area as well as from the Central Valley. It’s in an interesting location in the sense that it’s a blend of both markets.” |
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