The stars are finally aligning for the developers of Campus Town to get shovels in the ground.

Ever since the City of Seaside entered into a purchase and sale agreement with KB Bakewell Seaside Venture II, LLC in 2017 to develop the Campus Town project, which envisions 1,485 housing units and more than 150,000 square feet of commercial space on 122 acres at the city’s border with Marina, progress has been slow.

The City Council approved the project in 2020, and while there have continued to be regular meetings behind the scenes, visible progress has been nil.

But it appears that things are finally starting to ramp up: On June 20, City Council approved allocating another 130.2 acre-feet of water to the project – on top of 180.6 acre-feet already granted over the years – which will be more than enough to supply the first phase of the project, and even part of the second.

About 30 acre-feet of the newly allocated water is being reallocated from the Main Gate property. As a city report states, “[The Main Gate] property is in the process of undergoing updated planning and it is unlikely there will be a demand for the [water] in the near term future.”

(The city recently paid $850,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by developer Paul Petrovich, who had been trying to develop Main Gate – he claimed there wasn’t enough water.)

Other water being promised to Campus Town will come from in-lieu credits the city has been accumulating since shifting the irrigation at Bayonet and Black Horse golf courses to recycled water.

Developer Danny Bakewell, Jr. says now, it’s just a matter of “getting all the ducks in a row.” He expects to break ground this fall, by late September or early October.

The first phase, south of Lightfighter Drive between 2nd Avenue and Gen. Jim Moore Boulevard, will include a hotel, up to four commercial pads, 241 homes and 21 offsite low – or very low-income apartments at Greater Victory Temple.

“We’ve got all the affordable housing stuff lined up,” Bakewell, Jr. says.