by John M. Zukoski on October 31, 2008 | 
5 Comments | Topics: Opinions
Dublin went condo-crazy this week. Out of the 14 reported homes sold, 9 were condos and townhouses. Accordingly, the average sale price dipped to $450K. Here is a breakdown of the 14 homes sold:
The relatively strong volume of sales is a fantastic indication of the demand for homes in Dublin.
by John M. Zukoski on October 30, 2008 | 9 Comments | Topics: Development · Local Businesses
An often overlooked (and substantial) cost of opening a new business in Dublin – or anywhere in the Tri-Valley – is the water and sewer connection fee. What is this? This is the fee charged by the Zone 7 Water Agency (our water wholesaler) and Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD) to connect water and sewer pipes from newly built establishments to a main set of pipes.
To get a feel for the significance of this fee, let’s take a look at the average hookup cost for new restaurants opening in Dublin (maybe like Fuzio or On the Border at Hacienda Crossings). For a 4,000 sq. ft. newly-built restaurant in Dublin, the costs would be:
How much does it cost smaller restaurants like Wok’s Up or Bagel Street Cafe? About $106K in water and sewer hookup fees. This is a great example of why it can be difficult to open a new restaurant in the midst of a challenging economic climate (or any business with significant water and sewer requirements).
It is important to note that the water and sewer connection fees in Dublin are comparable to other nearby cities. For instance, the hookup fees for the Dougherty Valley area of unincorporated San Ramon are nearly equal with Dublin (actually, they are a bit higher for the Dougherty Valley).
I’d like to thank the wonderfully helpful team at the DSRSD and DSRSD Board of Directors candidate Dwight L. “Pat” Howard for helping to gather much of this information.
by John M. Zukoski on October 28, 2008 | 53 Comments | Topics: Local Issues · Schools
The Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) recently hosted a candidates forum at Fallon Middle School. This year’s candidates are Norm Lee, Dan Cherrier, Greg Tomlinson, Dan Cunningham, and John Ledahl. The candidates covered many DUSD topics, including:
So where do the candidates stand on building a second high school in east Dublin? Here is a summary of the candidate responses (in order of response):
Greg Tomlinson and Norm Lee – both candidates felt that it does not make sense to build a second high school right now; however, it could make sense if Dublin had an actuarially unexpected population increase and shift in demographics (e.g., a drastically higher percentage of high school students living in Dublin as compared to the rest of our population).
John Ledahl – opened his response with the humorous comment that “You guys need to have more babies” (to substantiate the need for a second high school). John also remarked that the land required to build a second high school in east Dublin is not available and it never will be.
Dan Cunningham – is not in favor of a second high school because it would invite schools to compete in recruiting students for the purposes of building extra-curicular programs. Dan Cunningham would reconsider building a high school in east Dublin if Dublin High School were to reach the 5,000 student milestone (compared to the current student population of under 1,500 students).
Dan Cherrier – is in favor of competition for students if we had two high schools. Dan said that while the DUSD would not be able to fund the operating expenses of a second high school in today’s economic and budget-tightening environment, he would be open to a second high school if the operating funds and land became available.
Please feel free to contact each of the candidates with any questions that you may have related to Dublin’s schools.
by Around Dublin Team on October 27, 2008 | 9 Comments | Topics: Opinions
Dear Reader,
The Around Dublin Blog turns one today. According to Google Analytics, our blog has had close to 31,000 visits and served over 11,600 unique readers since launch. The Around Dublin Team would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support.
As proud new home owners who are excited about Dublin’s impressive achievements and vast potential, the Around Dublin Team started to read the Staff Reports, follow the City Council meetings, and consult the ever helpful City Staff to learn more about the many exciting developments throughout this beautiful emerald city of Northern California. Once we realized that other residents would be interested in the information we have collected, we started the blog to share what we know, evaluate each project on its own and in the greater context of the city, and provide a forum for interested residents to contribute their perspectives. One of our goals is to report the facts as we see and hear them to the best of our abilities, so residents throughout Dublin may become better informed and help shape the development of our beloved city in a way that we can all be proud of at build-out.
Over the past few months, the Around Dublin Team has received feedback from readers who are concerned about the occasional inaccurate comments made in the heat of the moment. While the Around Dublin Team shares these concerns, we believe our savvy readers can discriminate insightful statements from ill-informed assertions and steer discussions back on topic on their own. We are also grateful to most of our School Board of Trustees, Councilwoman Kasie Hildenbrand, and Vice Mayor Tim Sbranti for their thoughtful participation on controversial topics and engaging the many passionate Dublin residents on this new public forum.
With the help of loyal readers like you, the Around Dublin Blog is now ranked number one in Google and Yahoo organic searches with the key phrase “Around Dublin.” Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to being one of your trusted community resources for years to come.
Sincerely,
Around Dublin Team
by John M. Zukoski on October 25, 2008 | 8 Comments | Topics: Development
Phase II construction of Grafton Station has been moving along at a splendid pace. In addition to the signage additions, the parking lot has been nearly completed. Here are a few pictures of Grafton Station taken during last weekend’s Grafton Plaza site tour. Please check out our Around Dublin Facebook page for additional pictures.
The project’s developer – Charter Properties – has signed up a sports bar for 6,000 sq. ft. of space in one of the buildings nearing completion (maybe Buffalo Wild Wings? – can any of the Around Dublin readers confirm?). Sports Authority and Total Wine & More have signed on for retail space in Phase III.
by John M. Zukoski on October 24, 2008 | 1 Comment | Topics: Opinions
High fives all around as Dublin’s average home sale price soared this week to $673,350! This is the highest average sale price that we’ve seen in over a year. The spike is primarily due to the closing of 3 “dream” homes in Dublin Ranch (2 sold for well over a $1M) – evidence that buyers are looking to snap up executive homes in Dublin. In total, 10 homes closed this week:
As noted in this article, national existing home sales jumped to a 13-month high and saw the largest month-over-month increase in five years. While prices have undoubtedly dropped, we’re seeing healthy sales volume – showing that there is strong demand for homes.
by John M. Zukoski on October 23, 2008 | 5 Comments | Topics: Polls
The Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) decided to close Nielsen Elementary at the end of the last school year in order to save $375K/year in operating expenses. The students that had been attending Nielsen Elementary were relocated to Dublin Elementary.
The recent vacancy of the Nielsen Elementary school site brings a host of questions. One question that has already been answered by the DUSD Board of Trustees is that the Nielsen site will not be sold. Outside of that one constraint, the potential uses for the Nielsen site are nearly boundless. The DUSD has established these primary objectives: 1) district program expansion; 2) financial benefit to the district; and 3) service to the community.
According to the DUSD, the potential uses for the Nielsen site include:
This week’s poll question is – Which Potential Use of the Former Nielsen Elementary School Site Are You Most Excited About?
Note – please feel free to email our DUSD Trustees to let them know which potential use you’d most like to see implemented at the Nielsen site.
by John M. Zukoski on October 20, 2008 | 99 Comments | Topics: Local Issues
Many residents have noticed that Dublin seems to be building more higher density housing like apartments, condominiums, and townhouses compared to San Ramon and Pleasanton. Many reasons are behind this direction in our strategic planning. Here are just a few:
The Right to Home Ownership
As Mayor Janet Lockhart had recently explained to this year’s Dublin 101 class, the City of Dublin has a retail-based economy whose hard-working employees deserve a chance at home ownership in Dublin “just like everybody else.” Given that Dublin’s inclusionary zoning ordinance requires 12.5% of all new residential development be set aside at below-market-rate prices for low to moderate income households, the City Council and the Planning Commission believe that high-density residential developments offer a cost-effective way for Dublin to achieve a greater number of affordable homes, while maintaining our precious open space.
Stronger Communities
Dublin’s leadership feels that single-family residential neighborhoods are not conducive to building a strong sense of community. To promote community cohesiveness, our City Council and Planning Commission have strived to build more higher density residential villages so that neighbors would be encouraged to interact by sharing common areas, multi-unit mailboxes, and neighborhood parks in lieu of individual mailboxes and private yards. The City Council and the Planning Commission also believe that tighter shopping center entrances, narrower roads like East Dublin’s Brannigan Street, and more compact-sized parking spaces like those seen at Grafton Station promote general public safety, because these designs usually force patrons and residents to drive more slowly.
Development Fees
Many of the fees charged for new home development are calculated on a per home basis. Dublin, for example, assesses an impact fee of $90K per new housing unit. The more housing units per acre we build on a given parcel of land, the more one-time revenue we generate for the City of Dublin.
Federal Grants
Dublin recently won a $3.4M Federal grant from the Housing Incentive Program (HIP) for planning and approving high-density residential projects at both the East and West Dublin BART Station Transit Villages.
More significantly, another milestone that Dublin’s leadership has set its eyes on is to become an “Entitlement Community” so that Dublin can receive more direct funding from the Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for providing services, benefits, and below-market-rate housing to lower income residents without going through the County of Alameda.
By adding about 3,000 more residents, which will bring Dublin’s total population to 50,000, and by ensuring that 70% of this federal funding benefits low to moderate income residents, Dublin will be eligible for the CDBG program as an “Entitlement Community” and receive sizable Federal grants that may potentially be used to redevelop the Downtown Dublin District and surrounding neighborhoods, build public facilities like a non-profit pre-school where Nielsen Elementary School used to be, and provide financial assistance to profit-motivated businesses to carry out economic development and job creation/retention activities. According to Paul Rankin, Dublin’s Administrative Services Director, how the Federal grants are appropriated will be the responsibility of the City Council.
What does the current direction in strategic planning mean for Dublin residents? In the short term, Dublin’s leadership is motivated to build higher density housing in East Dublin to expedite the addition of 3,000 residents, so the City of Dublin may become an “Entitlement Community.” In the long term, Dublin will likely be looking to provide additional public assistance, enhanced human services, and more affordable housing for residents either through the City or through non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
by Around Dublin Team on October 19, 2008 | 13 Comments | Topics: Restaurants
Locally owned and operated by Ted and Annie Lee, Wok’s Up offers a unique dining experience that blends innovative Asian Cuisine with exceptional customer service. Their menu showcases a broad range of Asian cooking styles infused with a Western touch. Each order is freshly prepared and can be customized to suit any customer dietary preference or constraint. Ted and Annie take great pride in their dedication to researching new flavor fusions that will be enjoyable to their customers. They continually update their menus with healthful culinary creations that delight the senses like their new Strawberry Shrimp.
Ted and Annie opened Wok’s Up at the Dublin Corners Shopping Center in January 2006, because they were excited about Dublin’s location with respect to I-580 and I-680. Wok’s Up is beloved on Yelp and was recognized by Tri-Valley Herald as the Voted Best Restaurant and Waitstaff of 2006. Every Monday through Saturday, Wok’s Up offers a different Lunch Special item that includes soup, salad, and rice for $6.95. In appreciation of their many loyal customers over the years, Ted and Annie have also recently launched two great dine-in deals. For just $5, you can order two small beers to go with new offerings like the Masala Chicken Lo Mein. Also for just $5 per guest, you can order all-you-can-drink house sake to complement old favorites like the California Sunshine Chicken.
Wok’s Up has been an Around Dublin favorite long before we started the blog. It represents the kind of local restaurant the Around Dublin Team would like to see thrive in Dublin. As active members of the community, Ted and Annie have participated in many local fundraisers for the Dublin Unified School District and local events like Day on the Glen. We hope you will visit Ted and Annie there and experience the great food and hospitality for yourself.
Wok’s Up
4580 Dublin Boulevard
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 828-9189
