The sale of the property and its planned development was a “great influence on what we went for.... This is just the breaking of the wave,” said Cook.Comstock Homes was the successful bidder, paying $10.3 million for the property; Ventura County Medical Center paid $2.75 million for the hospital’s approximately 10-acre campus, a deal that closed late last year. Now called Santa Paula Hospital, the facility was dedicated Saturday and is awaiting a final inspection before opening - hopefully - next week.Santa Paula Hospital Administrator Dr. Sam Edwards attended the groundbreaking ceremony, saying he was there to “meet our new neighbor,” and was introduced to Comstock by Councilwoman Mary Ann Krause. Vice Mayor Ray Luna, Fire Chief Paul Skeels and City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz were also in attendance at the groundbreaking, hefting golden shovels as part of the ceremony marking the beginning of construction.
|
Executives from Comstock Homes, Santa Paula Council Members, and the Santa Paula Fire Chief and Assistant Fire Chief turn over the ceremonial first shovel of dirt. Comstock Homes will begin a 75 home houising project above the Santa Paula Hospital very soon. Photo by Debbie Johnson |
Comstock Homes breaks ground for Ridgeview at Vista Glen
June 30, 2006
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesMonday, high atop a Santa Paula hillside, there was a groundbreaking ceremony on some of the nicest real estate in the city.“I’m very excited,” said Comstock Homes President Bob Comstock as he and city officials viewed the city from the property just north of Santa Paula Hospital. “It’s been 18 months in the planning.”Comstock Homes is planning to construct 75 single-family view homes that will be priced from about $800,000 to over $1 million. The name of the development is Ridgeview at Vista Glen; the City Council approved the plan last year.At a late 2004 bankruptcy auction conducted by the SPMH Creditors Committee, Manhattan Beach-based Comstock Homes was the successful bidder for the approximately 16 acres of vacant hospital property. “Part of our interest” in acquiring the property was tied to the attempt to revive the hospital, and Comstock said, “It will be great” when the facility is reopened. “We’re very motivated and will start grading in earnest” to be able to complete construction in about a year, said Comstock.“This is a ‘Thank you’ moment,” noted Mayor Rick Cook. “Without this, Santa Paula Hospital would not open,” an action that resulted from the efforts of the Hospital Ad Hoc Committee, the City Council, County of Ventura and Creditors Committee.
