Grafton Plaza Site Tour
Charter Properties, Grafton Plaza’s developer, hosted a community barbeque today to showcase their conceptual drawings and provide residents with an opportunity to tour the site, ask questions, and provide feedback. The conceptual drawings presented at the tour are also available on the Grafton Plaza website. Here are the highlights from the tour:
Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin – There is an 11-acre water quality pond located just south of the Grafton Plaza site. In addition to being a strikingly beautiful micro-environment replete with bushes, lush grass-sided slopes, and a trail that encircles the pond, this pond is a natural water filtration system for the entire Dublin Ranch community. Incorporating a filtration process that is both natural and sustainable, Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin, affectionately called “Lake Dublin” by the Around Dublin Team, has one of the most advanced green designs of its kind in the state. A separate Around Dublin post will feature pictures taken at “Lake Dublin”.
LEED Compliance – Charter Properties is striving to achieve LEED compliance for Grafton Plaza.
Building Height – As noted in previous posts, the tallest buildings at Grafton Plaza are proposed to reach up to 150 feet, approximately 1.5 times as tall as the 99-foot Sybase building. The Alameda County Fire Department currently cannot support buildings with occupied space higher than 75 feet, and it is still evaluating the environmental impact review.
Project Timeline – The Grafton Plaza proposal will likely appear in front of the Dublin City Council sometime around April 2009, after the environmental impact review undergoes public comment. The City Council will have an opportunity to either approve the proposal or deny the proposal and request modifications to the plan’s high-level details.
Building Grafton Plaza – Given the complexity of the project (mixed-use buildings, height of buildings, underground parking, etc.), Charter Properties will most likely be selling the vested development rights to multiple developers upon approval by City Council. The developers who buy the vested development rights from Charter Properties will be the ones who actually build Grafton Plaza.
The Around Dublin Team was impressed by Charter Properties’s willingness to engage the community and listen to the concerns of the residents. We hope other developers will learn from the example set by Charter Properties and invite community input for future projects throughout Dublin.
12:49 AM on October 19th, 2008
John,
I was at the BBQ also and forgot to ask James Tong one question. Since Charter Properties also developed the water basin, do they have any plans to underground the utilities along 580. Lowe’s did it for their portion but it seems Charter has no plans to do the same next to the Water Basin. The City should have a policy to ensure undergrounding of utitlities with any new projects. Otherwise 10-20 years from now the City would have to pay a higher price to do the same. It will be a shame if those above ground utilities are left in place to mar the beautifly designed Grafton Plaza.
9:02 AM on October 19th, 2008
Thanks, John.
Your summary shed a new light on Charter and the Grafton Plaza project for me. If Charter does not have the experience to tackle a project this complex, they will absolutely have to sell the vested development rights to other developers. Looking at the project diagram, I see Charter can potentially break the land into four or five parcels. If I were in Charter’s position, I would be doing everything in my power to make sure each parcel comes with as few restrictions attached as possible to maximize profit.
Whether or not the purchasing developer actually builds that boutique hotel or class A office space would not really be up to Charter. The way Sorrento East is unfolding is a perfect illustration of how Grafton Plaza will play out. In Sorrento East’s case, Toll Brothers asked and received approval for building 700 units. Now that the economy has taken a nose dive, they stood to make more money by selling their vested development rights than to build out the Sorrento East project themselves. What Toll Brothers originally promised the city and the community becomes irrelevant now that Regent Properties has taken over the project. Regent Properties is free to accept or reject Toll Brothers’ vision for Sorrento East, and Regent Properties seems to have chosen not only to scrap Toll Brothers’s original plans but is now seeking approval to build 200+ more units along with an apartment complex. In the case of Grafton Plaza, Charter Properties has presented a grand vision of what can be for Dublin on that piece of land, but as soon as they sell the vested development rights to other developers, the project becomes the liability of unknown third-party developers who may or may not choose to carry out the community’s vision for Grafton Plaza. Since Charter will have removed most of the restrictions that were attached to the parcels, these unknown third-party developers will be able to do as they please without any need to seek further approval from the city and the community. At the same time, Charter Properties will have made a handsome profit without weathering any of the risks that comes with a project so complex. It is a good business model, but I just don’t know if it is a good deal for the residents of Dublin.
10:02 AM on October 19th, 2008
I think there is too much residential planned. There should be some retail as well. At this point, the last thing Dublin needs is more apartments/condominiums.
11:47 AM on October 20th, 2008
I agree with the concern of Charter Properties handing over the eventual development of the Plaza to multiple developers. What we end up getting is not necessarily what we approved. Charter is too small to handle such a complex project, they need to bring in a major player/developer that can has the experience and can execute whatever plans the City and Citizens approve.
Any approval must have strict verbiage that will require the project going back to a Citywide vote if there are any changes. For example, increase in height, increase in housing density/number of units, any decrease in the Class A Office density/square footage etc… If done by multiple developers in multiple phases, what happens if the residential portions gets built but the office, hotel, commercial/retail areas never gets built? We end up with a raw deal again.
I like the project as it is presented, just wish we had more Class A Offices instead of more housing. But if the housing component is what makes this project work and become reality, than I’m ok with it.
10:15 PM on October 21st, 2008
Hi Anonymous #1 – I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I completely agree in that these utility lines would mar the beautiful design of Grafton Plaza if left standing above-ground.
I haven’t heard back from the City of Dublin on the question of whether or not the utility lines to the immediate south of the Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin will be underground by Charter. However, in looking at the diagram of the Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin provided by Charter, it looks like Caltrans has an easement to the immediate south. This would imply that they would have responsibility to underground the utility lines should they ever decide to do something with the land.
I’ll let you know if I hear anything from the City.
Thx, John Z.
12:33 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Very nicely done John, great information.
Question: I know this is still in concept stage but is it accurate to say that we won’t see any of these buildings if approved until around 2018, 10 years?
The guy that did our site tour group answered a question of when they expect to break ground. He indicated it is not likely for at least 4-5 years and then 2-3 years for construction.
So if the completion of Parcels 2-6 of the Promenade is relying on Grafton Plaza as a stimulus, we’d be looking at 2020 or 2022 for the Promenade to be fully completed as visioned. That is 23 years after it was approved. Sounds like Caltrans here.
I’d be too old to enjoy either one of these projects by that time.
8:57 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Hi Anonymous – it’s difficult to know when Grafton Plaza will break ground. The economy will hopefully bounce back in a year or two and when it does retail and office development projects will flourish. With all the dire financial news out there, it’s difficult to see the clearing in the forest. However, Dublin has a fantastic location next to I-580 and I-680, we’ll eventually have a second BART station, and we’re smack dab in the middle of the affluent Tri-Valley area. These factors, in addition to many others, will spark interest for retailers and business leasing office space at the Promenade, Grafton Station, and Grafton Plaza once we have more certainty in the financial markets.
Thx, JZ