Builder got his start in oil fields
Rumor and innuendo surround Kamilos, who is negotiating with the county to develop a business park on 4,560 acres around the Crows Landing air facility southeast of Patterson.
County Supervisor Jim DeMartini called his business park proposal "a Trojan horse" for a housing development.
Others have suggested that Kamilos wants to bring the Bay Area's garbage into the nearby Stanislaus County landfill on the short-haul railroad he has proposed, or that he intends to develop 12,000 acres rather than 4,560 acres.
Some feel he influenced county board members with political contributions to win the board's approval for a one-year exclusive right to negotiate a master developer agreement for the air facility.
But people who have worked with Kamilos on projects in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties paint a very different picture.
County and city officials, a college administrator and other developers describe Kamilos as a bright and persistent man who seeks creative solutions to problems and follows through on his commitments.
Kamilos, soft-spoken yet intense, shrugs off the criticism.
"You're always going to get that, whenever you bring forth change," he said. "Some people in the population are just going to be resistant and some will even refuse to listen."
Change is certainly what Kamilos' PCCP West Park LLC proposes for the West Side. In addition to the 4,560 acres of business park, the proposal is keyed on creating a short-haul rail link between the Port of Oakland and the Crows Landing air facility.
The project would bring thousands of jobs to Stanislaus County, according to Kamilos, and would benefit Northern California. The port link would free truck congestion on Interstate 580, he says, provide a more direct link to markets in Asia and enhance commuter rail service in the San Joaquin Valley. Altamont Commuter Express trains run from Stockton to San Jose, and ACE officials are interested in using the short-haul tracks, which could bring commuter train service to Crows Landing.
The West Side opposition to the project centers on the loss of farmland and the prospect of increased rail traffic in Patterson.
Meeting with locals
Kamilos has been meeting with West Side residents one on one and in small groups.
"Our job is to hopefully create some bridges, an educational process," Kamilos said. "We won't win them all over, but hopefully something will resonate with most of them."
As for the rumors and innuendo, Kamilos said they are untrue.
A presentation West Park gave while competing for the master development bid showed 12,000 acres, but they were not all for development, he said.
"We were trying to show the need to look at regional impacts — the circulation patterns, the infrastructure needs," Kamilos said. "The point was, we need to look at broad regional impacts beyond the footprint. The opportunity to create buffers, open space corridors and agriculture easements."
The idea that he wants to bring garbage into the county on trains doesn't make sense, Kamilos said.
"If we did that, we would never attract tenants out here," he said. "Who wants to be next to a trash train? We want to attract employers here."
The rumor that former Stanislaus County Chief Executive Officer Reagan Wilson was working for Kamilos is untrue, Kamilos said.
Wilson resigned three years ago after a controversy over his business dealings with a Montana-based consultant once employed by the county and large county credit card expenditures. His unsuccessful plans to expand the landfill to take waste from outside the county were unpopular on the West Side.
"Wilson has never worked for us and isn't part of our team," he said.
Some have questioned whether Kamilos has the money to follow through on the Crows Landing project, with several other large developments under way.
Kamilos estimates the cost of developing the property at $467 million. Those he has worked with are not concerned.
He has partnered with Pacific Coast Capital Partners — the PCCP in PCCP West Park — a real estate venture capital company with more than $4 billion in its investment portfolio.
"He's an extremely brilliant guy," said Phil Russick, a principal at PCCP. "We are excited, very excited, to have him as an equity partner. Gerry's done an exceptional job and will with this project (Crows Landing). He's brilliant and he is honest."
Russick singled out Kamilos' ability to put together numbers to make a project work.
As for the possibility that the West Park is a "Trojan horse" for housing, the officials say Kamilos is true to his word.
Among them is Paul Hahn, director of economic development for Sacramento County, who worked with Kamilos on Metro Air Park, a 2,000-acre business park under construction east of Sacramento International Airport.
While there are no buildings under construction at Metro Air Park, Kamilos has spent years working through environmental and physical roadblocks to bring the project to the point where buildings are expected to go up this summer.
"In my experience with Metro Air Park, he has not varied from the plan," Hahn said. "He has not tried to change the rules of the game."
Kamilos tries to add something to the community beyond what is required, Sacramento officials say. For instance, his Mountain House project includes a deal with Delta College in Stockton, in which he pledged $14 million to help the college district build a satellite campus.
That's another philosophical belief, the developer said.
"I think each of us has a certain amount of responsibility to effectively address the needs of the future," Kamilos said.
In addition to his projects, Kamilos has been heavily involved in promoting the arts in the Sacramento region, serving eight years on the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, four of them as chairman.
He and his wife, Karen, are sponsors for the California Lecture Series, a series of cultural lectures by authors.
To comment, click on the link with this story at www.modbee.com. Bee staff writer Tim Moran can be reached at tmoran@modbee.com or 578-2349.
