Ryan ChartrandLocation, location, location. the real estate mantra seems to have worked for Bella Montaña, the Cal Poly Housing Corporation’s faculty housing development just west of campus. With 81 percent of the two and three bedroom homes now sold, the development at the intersection Highland Drive and North Santa Rosa Street is meeting its original goal, 20 months after sales first started.
“This project has allowed a lot of Cal Poly faculty and staff to buy a home at a price that’s way below market,” managing director of the CCHC Jim Reinhart said. “It’s saving them money. It allows homeowners to buy a home with zero money down, at a below market 30 year fixed rate mortgage.”
With remaining two bedroom homes selling from $323,000 to $357,000, residents have found it to be affordable when compared to other local housing options. The CPHC guarantees the cost of the units at 20 percent below their appraised value, making the homes a desirable alternative to local condominiums being sold as high as $360,000 to $400,000.
“In terms of professors at Cal Poly that have housing in the City of San Luis Obispo, you often find that those were people who were able to acquire their housing in the ’80s or even late ’90s, before things really went off the map in terms of prices,” said Michael Codren, the city’s housing programs manager.
“This kind of project is intended to allow (Cal Poly) to be more competitive in hiring new qualified faculty and staff,” he explained. “It is certainly something that we encourage and will be following to see what kind of lessons can be learned.”
Despite criticism of the project for not taking into account a community-oriented design model, at about eight minutes away from campus by bicycle, convenience and price have proven to be the selling points that CPHC intended.
“The big thing for me is I wanted to be able to ride my bike to school and I just sort of realized that even if housing goes down 10 or 20 percent, I’m still going to buy a condo so it might as well be close and I might as well be able to ride my bike every day,” physics professor Chance Heallworth said.
The project’s exclusive customer base has fostered a close-knit sense of community among many of the faculty living there.
“Out of the eight units in our buildings, six of us regularly get together and the only reason we don’t with the other two is that they only moved in three or four weeks ago,” chemistry professor Philip Costanzo explained. “It’s a really good environment.”
Two of the three-bedroom homes in Costanzo’s building have families in residence, presenting an interesting transition period early on, but resulting in a more diverse environment for the community.
“It feels pretty full now. The only units remaining now are the two-bedroom ones. So there are a lot of families with kids around. I’ve noticed that it’s a very kid-friendly kind of place now,” architecture professor Don Choi said.
Staff with families have found Bella Montaña a convenient choice in terms of commute and proximity to desirable elementary schools, but some point to the development’s lack of playground and park facilities.
“We don’t have a community center, there’s no swimming pool, there’s no park. There are a couple of lawn areas. But (these facilities) are an amenity that the owners would like to have,” Rienhart said.
The Bella Montaña homeowner’s association and the corporation are looking into developing a suitable area once funding is found.
“Being a new faculty (member) I really couldn’t afford anything else in San Luis,” Costanzo said. “This is brand knew and it has a brand new warranty. that was really attractive.”
“I’ve got a number of friends, people I knew before I moved in here who I’ve gotten to know better, and also some other people who I didn’t know at all. So that and the commute are the best things about living here,” Choi said.