Status of Entitlement Process
All entitlement applications have been submitted to the City of Barstow, Planning Department ,which included:
The Tentative Tract Map
General Plan Amendment, and
The Specific Plan District Application
A group of wealthy individuals, represented by a private hedge fund has picked the Gadson Garden Estates development for a $425 million, specifically for the socially responsible aspects of the concept, with special interest in the Universal Home-care Annuity Trust Fund. The temporary security and collateral for the funding must be covered with a BG or SBLC for a period of 13 months, after which the funding will be forgiven as the various sections of the development are completed. With this advantage, there will be no debt service burden. The $425 million funding will be managed, monitored and disbursed by the accounting firm of either Price Waterhouse Coopers or KPMG. This funding source will be available for future developments in other parts of the country. The next development will be duplicated in Central Florida, Nashville, TN and upstate New York.
For more information about the PPM, click on this link for a copy of the full PPM offering.
The developer/owner has been introduced to the opportunity for a federal demonstration grant, providing the 166 townhome apartments can be re-designated as affordable housing for veterans. Making such a change will only require minor modifications of the floor plans for at least 20% of the units to accommodate wounded veterans and their families. With all applications submitted to the city for review, the project is currently awaiting a review of the re-submitted Tentative Tract Map. The task for revising the Tentative Tract Map will either be done by Delon Hampton & Associates engineering firm or a new engineering firm.
From estimates provided by the team-architects, the City of Barstow and civil engineers, the project should be ready to re-submit to the City Council for Full entitlements within the next two months.
The Barstow development was fully pre-developed with architectural, civil engineering, Phase One Environmental, and all other requirements, but shelved due to the inability of the sponsor to cover existing back property taxes. The 117+acre site was placed on the County auction block for the payment of over $1.4 million in back taxes. Finally, the property was won in the August, 2017 tax sale for a mere $200k. The developer/sponsor has the option to reclaim the property for $800k.
