By Khalida Sarwari
A new housing development at 555 W. Campbell Ave. has seen a flurry of activity over the past few weeks as its occupants start to move in. In a few weeks, the Maravilla Townhomes will be unveiled to the community at large.
A grand opening ceremony will be held on Nov. 14 to showcase 16 small-lot single-family homes and 24 below market rate townhome units that are interspersed with three water supply wells installed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District to provide drinking water to Campbell, Cupertino, Santa Clara and West San Jose neighborhoods in the event of an emergency.
The project was a collaboration between the water district, the city of Campbell, Charities Housing and Summerhill Homes, a developer based in San Ramon.
“It was a nice partnership of public and private and nonprofit,” said project manager Sharon Teeter.
The 1,500-square-foot homes each have two bedrooms and two baths, according to Teeter. All 24 townhome units have been sold, she said. A third of the occupants have already moved in, with the remainder set to move in the coming weeks.
The development project–one of the largest in Campbell–began more than seven years ago, but construction didn’t begin until November 2011, Teeter said, adding that part of the reason was the slow economy. The project cost about $16 million and was funded with loans, including a $2.5 million grant in mortgage loans from the state department of housing, a $200,000 loan for each buyer from the city of Campbell and nearly $31,000 from the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County. The Campbell Redevelopment Agency also loaned $3.9 million to Summerhill Homes for the 24 townhome units, according to Teeter.
Tours of the water well houses will be offered at the Nov. 14, grand opening, set for 3-4:30 p.m. at 555 W. Campbell Ave. Mayor Mike Kotowski and representatives from the water district, Summerhill Homes and Charities Housing are expected to attend.
Calling the new housing development “beautiful and creative,” Kotowski invited community members to come and see it for themselves.
“I’m proud that our Campbell community is growing, and at the same time we’ve strengthened our city’s emergency preparedness by providing a reliable source of drinking water in the event of a local disaster,” he said.
Due to limited street parking at the site, attendees are encouraged to park for free at the Campbell Community Center and take a van transfer to the event.
Maravilla Townhomes a unique development, thanks to interesting collaborative effort
