Historic Enos House in Santa Maria on Wheels Ready to be Moved
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The wheels are now ready to be put into motion to begin the construction phase of the much anticipated Enos Ranchos development in Santa Maria. Late last week, the historic Enos House, which sits on the southeast corner of 113-acre property was prepped for relocation.
“It’s been placed onto a tractor-trailer, and eventually be moved down the bluff to a new site within the Enos Ranchos property,” said Santa Maria public information officer Mark van de Kamp.
City officials say the house is scheduled to be moved around June 15. It is expected to remain at its current location until a final grading plan is issued.
As it sits near the busy Betteravia Road/Highway 101 interchange, the house is now the first dramatic visible sign construction on the development is ready to begin.
“Public improvements are starting now,” said Pat Cusack, a partner in Honda/Toyota of Santa Maria, who is heading the development’s auto mall projecct, along with two other partners, Michael Bouquet and Mike McNulty. “You can see they’re moving dirt now, and it should be in the next 30 days you’ll more activity going on.”
Once construction begins, developer NKT Commercial, which is building the project, has planned an ambitious and aggressive timeline towards completion.
“A great deal of construction is going to be taking place this summer, fall and winter, and weather permitting, (construction) round the clock,” said van de Kamp.
One of the first phases of the development after the house is moved, will be the realignment of Bradley Road, which runs in front of the home, parallel to Highway 101. Plans call for the street to angle westbound towards College Drive.
“(It will go) up the slope to patch into the intersection of the Crossroads Center, so you’ll see a lot of work that the city needs to get that done in advance of a lot of the project, as well as doing some undergrounding of utilities to serve that whole area,” said van de Kamp.
Commercial businesses will be anchored by various national retailers such as Costco, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Dick’s Sporting Goods, plus restaurants Buffalo Wild Wilds and Chick-fil-A. The first businesses are slated to open by next summer.
A new auto mall is also a major component to the project will be build along Battles Road.
“We’ll be relocating the dealerships that are coming over,” said Cusack. “Home Motors will be coming out, Toyota will be moving down, possibly Honda moving over, and we’re looking at other relocations or attracting some other dealers.”
Cusack emphasized the development, which has been in the works for more than a decade, will forever change the dynamic of the city.
“It will be a lot more business to the community and more jobs,” said Cusack. “We think there’s opportunities for us to more up a whole level of retail level and attract people from outside our community, as well as serving everybody locally.”
As for the 140-year old Enos House, its future home will be just west of its longtime location at a planned park.
“We hope to have special events there, have a nice lawn area for concerts and restore the house and work with our local non-profits to restore to its historical perspective,” said Alex Posada, Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department director.
Posada notes restoration of the house will take at least two years and require community involvement.
“We’ll have to raise the funds to do that, some of that will come from developers fees associated with this project, others will come from some of our partners,” said Posada. “We’ve spoke with the Historical Society about getting involved and looking for ways to restore the house.”
According to Posada, the costs to move the house, which will be performed by Brandt House Movers of Santa Maria, will be paid by NKT Commercial.
