Fresh Out Of Bankruptcy, Stockton Will Start Spending To Rebuild Part Of Downtown
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A little more than a week after coming out of bankruptcy, the city of Stockton will start spending money to rebuild part of its downtown.
The first focus will be the 500 block of East Weber Avenue.
Officials are hoping a multimillion-dollar project is the start of something major.
Sunil Sharma has run his convenience store for 10 years at what could the ground floor of a Downtown Stockton transformation.
"It will be great. It will be good business for me with the apartments coming up," he said.
It's being called the CalWeber Project. The $14-million dollar public and private investment just approved by the city will transform the entire city block, adding 40 affordable housing units and remodeling retail stores at the bottom.
"Really it's a catalyst for potential new development and new expansion to come after it," said Stockton Economic Development Director Micah Runner. "Sometimes when you have projects like this, it really is the start to have some additional projects come forward."
He says the owner of the building was willing to invest with the city to turn the area into somewhere that people would to live and shop. The approval comes just a week after the city announced it has exited bankruptcy.
"With bankruptcy being over and moving forward, we're hoping that it kind of opens the door to future opportunities for projects like this," he said.
For those in the area, hearing about investment in a city not used to being bet on is huge.
According to city officials, the project could begin construction this month. The city also approved a separate affordable housing project in downtown last December.
