The Willow Glen Resident

Council Watch

Apartments approved, renters line up for units to be built

Homes on project site are slated for demolition

By Michelle Ku

Even before the Planning Department gave its approval last week for a new apartment complex to be built in Willow Glen, the developers already had potential tenants for several of the proposed 32 units.

"I've got a lot of people calling me for apartments," developer Frank Randos said. "I already have a waiting list. It's probably close to a dozen people already, more than one-third full."

These would-be renters will likely be pleased that planners gave their unanimous approval for a land-use permit at a Sept. 22 planning director's hearing. Demolition of the two homes on the 1.3-acre project site at Willow Glen Way and Almaden Road is scheduled to be completed between Oct. 15 and 20.

"There weren't any objections," Ron Miller, Randos' development partner, said after the hearing. "We've complied with all [the Planning Department's] requirements and met all their demands and criteria."

The project's cost is estimated at $2 to $2.5 million. The apartment complex, which Randos and Miller are tentatively calling the Willow Glen Villas, will be a Mediterranean-style villa complete with Spanish tile, awnings, park-like landscaping and a tot lot for children. The two-building complex will have 16 one-bedroom units with a den and one bathroom and 16 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units. The complex will also house a 57-space parking lot.

Randos and Miller had hoped to receive final approval for the project by late July or early August, but a few delays set the time frame for approval back as they completed a report on the two homes located on the lot to determine their potential historic value. They also had to do photographic documentation of the homes.

In compiling their report, Randos and Miller contacted two historical societies, the Victorian Preservation Society and the Preservation Action Council of San Jose. "We had to make sure [the historical and preservation societies] have the opportunity to salvage what they wanted before we demolish the homes," Miller said.

After demolition of the homes is completed, excavation of the site should begin within a couple weeks, Miller said. Construction should be complete and the complex should be ready for occupancy sometime during the summer of 1999.

Each apartment will be equipped with its own washer and dryer, heating and air-conditioning unit, microwave, dishwasher and water heater. "There are a lot of single mothers with children, and we don't want them to have to leave their apartment once they've come home. With a washer-dryer unit in their own apartments, they don't have to go down the stairs to a washing facility. We wanted to be appealing to working people," Miller said.

Randos and Miller are both Willow Glen natives. Randos is the owner of AAA Furnaces and Air Conditioning, and Miller is the owner of RMCI Builders. The apartment complex is their first housing project.

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