Tony Greeley
The campus will have some new neighbors on the west edge of the farm a year from now and they will be moving into a 264-unit apartment complex with a seven-tier parking structure.
Bella Vista III continues and completes the ambitious complex that began with the first stage, Bella Vista I, the Oxnard Street properties, connects with the next set of apartments, Bella Vista II, just south of Erwin Street and interlocks at the Erwin Street main entrance with the southern boundary of Bella Vista III.
The Bella Vista II and III apartments are bordered on the east by the college farm property and by De Soto Avenue on the west. They are on a plot of land which, though contiguous to the farm area, belongs to a private company.
The sign to the right at the entrance way of the construction area that reads: “No construction workers beyond this point,” was originally set up in response to a recent union picket line activity that blocked the entrance to the farm road. An agreement was reached between the general contractor and the union, and no further incidents have occurred.
Continuation of Bella Vista III will extend the dividing line between the apartments and Pierce’s farmland. The new complex is in the beginning stages of development, with only preliminary ground breaking and bulldozer activity in progress. It is scheduled for completion in October 2006.
Kevin Hannigan, project co-ordinator for Bella Vista III, said that, “It will be renting out to college students, local business people and others, with 1-bedroom apartments renting at $1,700 per month and 3-bedroom apartments going for $2,400 per month.”
Jerry Nash, project engineer for White Residential, Inc., the contractor in charge of the development, described the project as a wood frame apartment community consisting of six building clusters of three- and four-story apartment buildings, with storage, amenities and a parking structure and landscaping.
The parking structure, according to Nash, will accommodate 585 cars including guest parking and will be entered through a tunnel starting at the main entrance at 6200 De Soto Ave. at Erwin Street.
As to whether or not the proximity of Bella Vista III to the farm road entrance and the corner of Victory Boulevard at De Soto would impede the flow of campus traffic, Nash said it would “probably have no impact.” Using a set of blueprints, he pointed out that the distance between the Erwin Street entrance and El Rancho was far enough to minimize the possibility of traffic jams.
Nash also pointed out that the location of the fire access gate between the main entrance and the farm road presented no problem, since it will be closed and locked except during an emergency.
“The installation of sewers, water pipe and fire control will be done across the street,” said Nash. “The contractor is negotiating with the city to obtain night-time variance, so that this phase can proceed after business hours.”
White Residential, Inc., a 12-year old company, has its home offices in Kirkland, Wash. Equity Residential, the owner and developer of the Bella Vista project, is based in Los Angeles, Calif.