New life is coming to one of Bakersfield’s best-known upscale neighborhoods. But the debut of one of Kern County’s largest rental communities also means the end is finally coming into view for a project that promises to transform the city’s southwest.
Fuller Apartment Homes Inc. says pre-leasing work has begun at Park Center at Seven Oaks, a phased development planned to offer resort-style living at 520 units near White Lane and Allen Road. The rental community will welcome its first residents on Nov. 1.
Park Center’s opening will mark the debut of Westbridge, Bolthouse Properties’ final stage of a more than decade-long effort to fill out Seven Oaks with not just apartments but also single-family homes, shopping and walkable neighborhoods that before long will boast a new park, church and school.
Westbridge is expected to carry on the area’s reputation for high-end properties and amenities. It will connect with a bicycle and walking trail that will come with a pedestrian bridge over South Allen Road.
John Balfanz Homes plans to be part of the development with a pair of gated neighborhoods called Newbury and Windsor. The former will offer 6,000-square-foot lots containing three- to six-bedrooms homes measuring up to 2,628 square feet. Homes at Windsor will cover 9,000 square feet with homes as large as 3,491 square feet.
Laurelglen Bible Church has committed to building a new church on 9 acres at Westbridge. Once it opens, the congregation will rename itself Lighthouse Bible Church.
Bolthouse Properties says other features coming to the area will include a transitional kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school within the Panama-Buena Vista School District, along with a six-acre neighborhood park and an interconnected system of trails, parks and paseos linked to Belcourt Seven Oaks.
The design of Westbridge “is meant to feel like a natural extension of the Seven Oaks community by replicating all the amenities and designs that have made our master plan so special and unique,” Bolthouse Properties’ vice president of planning and land resources, Bradford J. DeBranch, said in a statement.
Kicking it all off will be the first, 352-unit phase of Park Center at 3510 Village Center Parkway.
Apartments there will measure between 800 and 1,100 square feet, not including 125-square-foot private decks.
Developed and managed by Santa Barbara-based Fuller, Park Center comes with a resort-style pool, spa and sun deck surrounded by palms and olive trees.
Fuller reports there will also be covered BBQ patios and lounges, a fitness club, electric-vehicle charging, a fenced dog park and a dog wash.
Company owner and President Andrew Fuller said he expects the rental community to attract young professionals, people moving to Bakersfield for work and “empty nesters” looking to simplify their lifestyle.