Faculty move into new housing complex

After months of construction, challenges and much collaboration, the Bella Montana residential community is finally starting to look less like an actual neighborhood.

Over the break, Cal Poly staff and faculty started the move-in process after the first completed phase of the three-part project. Bella Monta¤a, which has been under construction since May 2005, was designed as a way to make housing easily available and affordable to university staff and faculty. The project has proven to be successful, at least in the opinions of many of its new residents.

“I love its proximity to campus and town, and that we can still drive to the ocean. It’s also big enough for the whole family,” said Chris Clark, a computer science professor teaching his first quarter at Cal Poly.

The housing project is headed by the nonprofit, university-affiliated Cal Poly Housing Corporation (CPHC). Since 2001, the company has assumed responsibility for the development of housing for both faculty, staff members and students.

The Bella Monta¤a homes are located on 5.3 acres of land on the northwest corner of the Highland Drive and North Santa Rosa Street intersection. This makes commuting to school a 15-minute trek rather than an half-hour-long drive from one of San Luis Obispo’s surrounding communities.

“I love walking to school! You can’t beat that,” said Seth Bush, a chemistry professor in his second year of teaching at Cal Poly.

In response to the school’s request, the CPHC broke ground on the project with high aims in mind.

“A big disincentive for new (or potentially new) faculty is moving here if they are not from the area, and especially if they are from out of state,” said Jim Reinhart, managing director of the corporation. “So far the project seems to be meeting our goals, with the ultimate goal being to meet the needs Cal Poly has concerning the recruitment and retention of faculty.”

On May 30, five more buildings of 18 homes will be available, and nine final buildings of 30 homes will be completed by October. After its scheduled completion, the complex will contain 69 “distinctively styled attached homes with different floor plans” spread out over 21 buildings.

One of the main draws and benefits of the project is its affect on the cost of housing.

The Bella Monta¤a Web site stated the prices for Phase I and II homes range between $323,000 and $396,000, well below the median San Luis Obispo County home price of $565,000 and median city price of $639,000 (prices as of October 2006). The prices vary according to floor plans, amenities and total square footage. The prices for the final 30 homes will be released later this year.

This makes the “mortgage manageable on a one salary income,” Bush said.

The financing of the homes – which appears to be mainly through Mid-State Bank & Trust – even allows for equity buildup, despite restrictions surrounding the selling prices of the houses, Reinhart said.

Priority originally went first to faculty who have been here since before July 1, 2001, and then to newly hired employees. Now, this demand has been met, which means placement is now a first come, first served basis.

But as with every living situation, things haven’t been entirely perfect.

There are the party-loving students nearby who like to “enjoy the long weekend, like normal,” as civil engineering professor Xi Shen put it. Then there was the mail system that had some kinks in it during the first couple of weeks, but has since been smoothed out. And there was also a surplus of recycling and garbage to be thrown out after people began moving in.

Also, construction on U.S. Highway 1 – i.e. at the Highland Drive entrance to Cal Poly – has yet to be finished (due to permit delays in December), but has been more of an annoyance than a major issue.

“Overall we are very happy, and the feedback that we have been getting has been great. We’re on track with the budget and with the construction, and happy with the design,” Reinhart said. “We haven’t heard from the neighbors, so even they seem happy.”

So far, it seems as though the quiet community of tan and olive-green houses, with its diverse mix of newly arrived staff and faculty members and their families, is a peaceful one.