Novato council approves Hamilton townhomes plan
The Novato City Council has approved the 75-townhome Hamilton Village development in the Hamilton neighborhood.
The vote was 4-0 at the council’s meeting on Tuesday evening. Councilwoman Susan Wernick was absent.
“Congratulations and thank you so so much for bringing us such a beautiful project,” Mayor Denise Athas told representatives of the developer, City Ventures LLC.
City Ventures plans to begin construction in the fall on the nearly 5-acre plot known as the commissary parcel at 802 State Access Road.
“We are very excited for the opportunity to provide 75 solar allelectric homes, an acre of open space and a public park in Hamilton,” Samantha Hauser, vice president of development for City Ventures, said Wednesday. “Working with the city and our neighbors has been a wonderful and collaborative process and we are extremely grateful to the city for their vote of confidence.”
City Ventures has yet to set a price for the townhomes, but the expected range for most is $600,000 to $700,000. Eight of the homes will be reserved for low-income buyers and expected be priced in the $300,000s. Another seven homes for moderateincome buyers will be priced in the $500,000 range.
In addition to the townhomes, the project will include a 1.1-acre public park that will include a community garden, bocce courts and a children’s play area. The park will be maintained by the homeowners association, which will charge owners $200 per month, Hauser said.
“We’re really excited about the location of this site,” Hauser told the council. “We wanted to nestle ourselves amongst our neighbors.”
Council members expressed appreciation that the building designs reflected the Spanish-colonial-revival style of the Hamilton area.
“Thanks for the sensitivity to the Hamilton community with the compatibility of the aesthetics that you’ve chosen,” said Councilwoman Amy Peele, who represents the Hamilton district.
“I loved that you were so sensitive to that Spanish influence that is out there. Very well done,” Athas said. “The entrance looks very elegant and very welcoming.”
The council selected the City Ventures project over three other proposals in January 2019. At the time, the council was also considering an $8.5 million offer by the San Rafael-based EAH Housing nonprofit organization to build about 150 homes for sale. EAH Housing was proposing entry-level homes marketed toward local government employees.
Novato is expecting to receive about $6.5 million from selling the commissary parcel to City Ventures. In the council’s recent 2020-2021 budget discussions, city financial staff said the property sale could generate one-time funds that could help replenish the city’s reserve funds as it weathers revenue losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
No members of the public spoke during the meeting.
More information about the project is online at bit.ly/3h7dEx5.