SEASIDE >> Friday morning as a breeze off the Monterey Bay wrapped a light veil of fog around the proceedings, city of Seaside leaders, along with those of the KB Bakewell family, gathered the community for the groundbreaking of the long-anticipated Campus Town development.

Mayor Ian Ogelsby said that the presence of all in attendance, about 150 people, reflected the shared commitment and mutual support for the equity of opportunities present in Seaside’s prosperity today.

“We gather for more than just a groundbreaking, we mark a defining moment in Seaside’s journey toward its destiny,” said Oglesby.

“This part of the city has been imagined, reimagined, defined and redefined for development for over the last 34 years.”

The Campus Town development is a planned mixed-use urban village aimed at revitalizing about 122 acres of former Army base land that is being developed by KB-Bakewell Seaside Venture, LLC.

The mayor honored the vision, courage and purpose of those who led the city to this moment.

“I stand on the shoulders of many, especially some of our late mayors,” said Oglesby, citing Lance McClair, Don Jordan, Jerry Smith and Ralph Rubio, along with current business owner and former mayor, Felix Bachofner.

“Seaside is a community that reflects what America should be all about,” said Danny Bakewell, Sr., chairman and CEO of the Bakewell Company.

“It’s a multidimensional community with a lot of love, there’s a lot of neighborhoods … even in this development, the city wanted to make sure that the neighborhoods grew, not just the city.”

Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis said that she knows first-hand how difficult it is to deliver housing in California. But California needs another 2.5 million housing units by the end of the decade, yet only builds about 100,000 per year.

“The challenges of our state — the affordability crisis, the homelessness crisis, the keeping companies in California crisis — everything goes to the housing crisis because the housing crisis is the everything crisis in the state of California,” said Kounalakis.

“That is really what we’re up against, and so to Seaside, to everybody that makes this project possible, thank you! You are a model. We are going to do more of it across the state, the kind of quality and the vision of what you’ve done here.”

The Campus Town project envisions a vibrant community consisting of residential, commercial, and recreational spaces.

The project is planned to include 1,485 housing units catering to diverse household sizes and income levels, a 250-room hotel and a 75-bed youth hostel to accommodate visitors, about 150,000 square feet designated for retail, dining, and entertainment venues, about 50,000 square feet allocated for office spaces, flexible work areas, and light industrial or “makerspace” uses, and about 9 acres of public open space and 3.3 acres of private open space for recreational purposes. The development will be bound by Lightfighter Drive to the north, Gigling Road to the south, First Avenue to the west and Eighth Avenue to the east. The Campus Town development aims to create a pedestrian-friendly environment with a variety of building types and uses, including entertainment, retail, housing, visitor lodging and employment spaces. It seeks to provide shopping, employment, and housing opportunities in close proximity to Cal State University Monterey Bay, which would reduce vehicle miles traveled on a per capita basis.

The long-awaited residential and commercial development that is the Campus Town project in Seaside has been on the city’s books for several years. The city of Seaside entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement with the KB Bakewell Development Partnership in December 2016 to develop approximately 122 acres on what was once the former Fort Ord Army Base. In 2017, KB Bakewell submitted applications to the city for the Campus Town development. The city of Seaside issued a Notice of Preparation for an Environmental Impact Report in February 2018, initiating the formal environmental review process. The project culminated in the City Council’s approval of the Campus Town Specific Plan, with a Notice of Determination filed in March 2020.

KB Bakewell was the developer in the early 2000s of Seaside Highlands.

Those in attendance at the ceremony were the current Seaside City Council including Oglesby, Mayor Pro-tem Dave Pacheco, Council members Alex Miller, and Alexis Garcia-Arrazola, City Manager Greg McDanel, City Attorney Sherri Damon, President of the Bakewell Company Danny Bakewell, Jr., who emceed the proceedings, former LA Congresswoman Yvonne Burke, District 30 California Assemblywoman Dawn Addis, and Monterey County District 4 Supervisor Wendy Root-Askew, among many others.