Campus town moves forward with construction
by Sean Tubo
Students going down Lightfighter Drive may be surprised to see the drastic transformation visible in the Seaside “Campus Town” project. The multidecade project began its most dramatic visible steps this summer, with the land being cleared of trees and flattened.
City Manager Greg McDanel says that the environmental concerns delaying the project when the Lutrinae covered the story last October have been resolved.
The project was set to break ground last year.
“All environmental concerns have been resolved,” McDanel said. “Everything is satisfactory to residential standards, which means we can build commercial and all the other.
“Everything is good to go.”
Right now, the project is in the “off haul” process, meaning that the land is being cleared so that construction can move forward. “Up to 40,000 cubic yards of dirt has been removed from the site and has been positioned over on the city site for future fire station #2,” said McDanel.
After the groundbreaking in April, contractor KB Bakewell moved in to perform the clearing. “KB Bakewell and their subcontractors and general contractors have performed all the clearing and grubbing, which is removal of all the trees and site improvements,” said McDanel.
With the ground now significantly cleared, McDanel expects the first model homes to be up within the next school year. “15 to 16 months out, you’re going to see the model homes that are going to go up which will be examples of the options for housing on site.”
The 122-acre development is bounded by Lightfighter Drive to the north, Gigling Road to the south, First Avenue to the west and Eighth Avenue to the east. The development will consist of some 1,500 residential units, predominantly made up of single-family homes, as well as a small amount of affordable housing units, accompanied by retail business and restaurants.
“This project is a critical piece of Seaside’s future. The success of this project will provide sales tax and other revenues to help improve remaining parts of the community,” said McDanel, “so helping infrastructure citywide so the Campus Town projects are a great addition to the community.”