Willow Glen Resident
News
98-unit senior-care facility approved for zoning change
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
The abandoned gas station and long-time eyesore at the corner of Meridian Avenue and Curci Drive is getting closer to redevelopment.
Developer Merrill Gardens won approval to change 1.17 acres to planned development at a San Jose Planning Director hearing on April 18. The developer wants to construct a 98-unit senior-care facility, Merrill Gardens at Willow Glen.
"The project has had strong support from the neighborhoods as well as from city staff," said land-use consultant Erik Schoennauer. "We anticipated a positive outcome."
The project will include construction of a four-story rectangular building. The first floor of the residential facility will include 13 Alzheimer's studios, eight additional residential units, a wellness center, beauty salon, activity room and common dining area.
The second through fourth floors will include a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units. All units will have balconies, with the exception of the Alzheimer's studios that will share a secure, common courtyard area with a landscaped walking path. The facility will have 26 onsite employees.
The care facility will target people 60 or older and will be licensed by the state of California as a residential-care facility. It will offer a variety of services, including laundry and housekeeping, transportation to shopping and appointments, three meals daily, on-site transportation and security, and limited health-care facilities.
Assuming all further building permits are approved, the project will begin construction at the end of summer and tentatively be completed by late 2008, Schoennauer said.
Although the San Jose Planning Commission approved the project on Nov. 15, the project has a long history of false starts.
In February 2004, San Jose City Council approved rezoning for a planned development to allow up to 130 residential-care facility units and a public park on a larger 3.3-acre parcel, which included the subject site and the adjacent site to the west.
When the project was first proposed, Schoennauer told the Willow Glen Resident the developer worked with the project's Meridian Avenue neighbors, the Casa de Willow Glen Homeowners Association, on the design of the project.
Then in 2005, the land was subdivided and the western portion of the original site was rezoned to allow developer Pinn Brothers to build 46 three-story townhouse units and a public park. As part of Pinn Brothers' approval, the city rezoned the site back to commercial office, said Schoennauer.
The remaining parcel was owned by Barry Swenson Builder, who considered developing the lot with a 57-unit loft project. Swenson sold the site to Merrill Gardens at Willow Glen.
