One of the largest real estate projects in the history of the Monterey Peninsula is entering the last phase of the planning process. Known as Campus Town, the proposed project in Seaside includes 1,500 housing units, 250 hotel rooms and considerable office and retail space.
The public has been invited to review the plans and anticipated impacts of Campus Town and give feedback by August 22. The feedback will be incorporated into a final environmental impact report, which will be followed by a hearing at Seaside’s Planning Commission.
The developer of the project is KB Bakewell, which is tied to entrepreneur and newspaper publisher Danny Bakewell, who also built the Seaside Highlands development.
The site of Campus Town is located just south of the campus of CSU Monterey Bay. If approved, the project will replace a dilapidated swath of the former Fort Ord Army base.
The nonprofit LandWatch, which advocates against urban sprawl, has criticized the city of Seaside over the Campus Town project.
“As it confronts housing and water limitations, LandWatch urges [Seaside] to give preference to infill, upzoning, and mixed-use in the city center and along transportation corridors,” LandWatch Executive Director Michael DeLapa wrote in a recent email newsletter.
But, DeLapa wrote, Campus Town is preferable to developments that are being proposed on open space like Main Gate and Seaside East.