Vacaville Council To Weigh Office Building Project

Vacaville Council To Weigh Office Building Project
By Ian Thompson | DAILY REPUBLIC | February 08, 2008

VACAVILLE - The City Council is being asked Tuesday to let its redevelopment agency start exclusive negotiations with local developer Greg Banks to build an office building on Opportunity Hill.

Banks wants to build a two-story building on a 1.7-acre site on Wilson Street between Catherine and Mason streets.

The redevelopment agency has been slowly buying up the four-block area of old single-family homes and small businesses around Catherine Street since 1999 with plans to turn it into a mixed-use extension of the city's downtown.

Vacaville Redevelopment Agency Director Cyndi Johnston has said in the past she wants to see that area become a pedestrian-friendly mix of offices, retail and housing.

Bank's proposed building is the first specific project to come forward. He will have a year to finalize negotiations with the city.

The office building's location includes the current Opportunity House homeless shelter.

The City Council approved plans early last year to move the Opportunity House to a new location in the Brown Street area where Solano County also plans to build a new social services center.

'We are working with Vacaville Community Housing, who owns the Opportunity House, and the Vacaville Social Services Corporation for a new location,' Johnston said.

In other business, the City Council will also decide to whether to enter exclusive negotiations with the Solano County Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing on Holly Lane.

Habitat for Humanity wants to build as many as 11 duet or single-family homes on the site that would go to income-eligible families.

This would be the second time Habitat for Humanity has built homes in Vacaville. The international nonprofit group built four homes on an adjacent site 10 years ago.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in its chamber at 650 Merchant St.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.