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After obtaining the green light from the San Jose City Council, the Moreland School District office is moving across the street from its current location on W. Campbell Avenue to make way for the construction of new, single-family homes.
The school district sold its land to Palo Altobased builder SummerHill Homes for $14 million in November 2003. Moreland School District Superintendent Les Adelson said the sale was part of the district's strategic plan to utilize its valuable property.
SummerHill Homes senior vice president of land, acquisition and planning Joe Head said the company plans to construct 56 homes with differing architectural styles on the more-than-five-acre property. The homes will be 1,500 to 2,500 square feet each, and there will be a mix of three- and four-bedroom residences.
Prices will range between $600,000 and $800,000. Head says construction should begin in October and be completed by the fall of 2005.
The housing development sits on the west edge of the Campbell border, approximately two blocks from the Kirkwood Plaza shopping center.
To inform the neighboring community about the property's change from district office to single-family dwellings, SummerHill Homes held a community meeting on March 25 at the district office. Only seven members of the community attended the meeting, and some came just to see if they could put their name on a waiting list for the homes, Head said. Head took their enthusiasm as a compliment but said a waiting list hasn't been started yet.
The new district office will cost $5 million and will be located just across the street from its present location, at the Moreland-West Community Center, a joint venture between the school district and the city of San Jose that opened in November 2000. Of the remaining $9 million, $3.5 million is being used to repay a loan owed to the state and $5.5 million will be used for future projects that have yet to be addressed through a 2001 school bond, Adelson said.
The district office's new address will be 4711 W. Campbell Avenue, even though the office will actually face Fallbrook Avenue, Moreland School District administrative assistant to the superintendent Caroline Hastings said.
During construction of the new district office, about 25 employees will work out of a portable on the Rogers Elementary School campus. According to Adelson, the new 8,000-square-foot facility will be similar to the current district office, but it will have more skylights and a larger boardroom that will double as a multipurpose room and be more energy-efficient.
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