Avalon II at the East Dublin BART Station Transit Village
Avalon II is a mixed use project that will be built at the East Dublin BART Station Transit Village on the 7.2 acre site that is currently being used to provide surface-level parking. Once this project is built, there will be approximately 1,100 fewer parking spaces at the East Dublin BART Station. The impact of having fewer spaces should be at least partially offset by the 1,200 parking spaces that will be available at the West Dublin BART Station.
Avalon II will be located to the south of the Elan and Avalon I projects with a future hotel/office development planned to the east. Please click on the picture above for a few conceptual illustrations drawn from different perspectives of the Avalon II project. Some of the project highlights include:
- 405 apartments spread across 2 buildings.
- 15,115 sq. ft. of retail space.
- 720 total parking spaces (includes 36 street-side parking spaces). While this is 66 more parking spaces than what is required by Dublin’s parking ordinance, Avalon II’s parking ratio of 1.67 spaces/apartment is significantly less than the first Avalon project.
Another feature of Avalon II is the 1-acre village greenbelt area known as Campbell Green. This park-like area features ample lawn areas and seating beneath wood trellises. The expectation is that Campbell Green will be accessible by residents and visitors exiting the East Dublin BART Station.
One twist with the Avalon II project is that the Master Development Agreement only requires the developer to designate 10% of the 405 apartments as affordable rate housing vs. the standard 12.5% applicable to all other projects subject to Dublin’s existing Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance.
Planning for Avalon II is still in the early stages and further changes are expected based on Planning Commission and City Council feedback in the months ahead. Please check back on Around Dublin for more details as they become available.
10:19 AM on January 17th, 2009
Seems a bit boxy when viewed from image 1 and 2. Regarding the BMRs, the less the better. BMRs for rent is much worst than Inclusionary for Sale Units in terms of bad elements. It is not to say that BMR residents are all bad, there are some very deserving families. But lets be honest and realistic, the deserving families are few and far in between when it comes the elements of the unwanted types that flocks to BMR apartments.
1:37 PM on January 17th, 2009
Thanks for this information about my neighborhood, John. I’m wondering why the city reduced the affordability requirement, though. I am strongly in favor of strong mixed-income requirements rather than having all-restricted income developments.
6:36 PM on January 17th, 2009
Hi Adriel – I’m not sure why the affordability requirement was reduced. I’ll check w/ John Lucero in the Housing division to see if he can offer any insight.
Thx, John Z.
10:14 PM on January 18th, 2009
Considering the significant drop of housing price in Dublin, more housing stocks are becoming affordable. A fairly new two bedrooms two baths 1400sf townhome near the new Sorrento developement now costs about 370K , which reflect at least 200K drop in price compared to 2006. Maybe the treashold for affordable housing needs to be set higher, so more people will flow back to the existing house market. Especially in this down market, more affordable housing mean more price drop. There should be some sort of policy change to stablize the price and balance the current oversupply of housing stock.
I do prefer BMR sale unit to BMR apartments, since home-owner tend to take better care of the property. I am also a little concerned about the number of recently sold unit has gone down alot in Dublin. The more affordable units delivered, the more housing price drop is likely. I understand that the city is in need of more revenue for the future developement ,but approval of new developement needs to be cautiously made to help fix imbalance of housing supply in this down market.
10:30 PM on January 18th, 2009
I kind of agree with Anonymous on Jan 17th about the design. The design is kind of boxy. The truth is that if the rendering doesn’t look very appealling, the actual buildings will not likely to look good. I am concerned about the commercial kind of architectural design will degress the neighborhood. Some other design revision could be done to enhance the looks by utilizing more stone or brick veneer on four side elevations or adding some metallic looks canopy and trim. They could be subtle and should not cost too much to add. These are just my personal comments, since I truthfully want this projuct to be successfully and vibrant.
12:33 PM on January 19th, 2009
Is MorganK planning commissioner Morgan King?
1:41 PM on January 19th, 2009
MorganK real name is Morgan Kwong!
11:29 AM on January 20th, 2009
I agree with the first anonymous comment and that of Morgan K’s. From the rendering, the building already looks dated. Imagine what it would look like in real life and what it would look like when at actually ages 10-20 years. We need to be careful of what goes up along I580. The City already made a huge mistake with the BART garage design, lets not replicate that error again next door.
Some added architecural features like stones, bricks would be much more attractive than the stucco look that is depicted here. I know it is just preliminary so I hope our Planning Department will push back for a better, more attractive design as the BART Garage and this project adjacent to I580 will be the face/image of Dublin for decades to come.
I also agree the less BMR the better, especially the rental variety. I agree 100% that below market for sale is much better than below market rentals. If we want to build a strong community, homeownership needs to out number rental significantly. Rentals just do not lend to community building. Homeownership brings pride, even with below market homeowners. Renters typically are on their way somewhere else, just a pit stop here thus civic,community pride takes a back seat, it also does not lend to building a strong school system as the kids if any are transferring in and out year after year.
I also do hope that the City will relook at the BMR requirements given the current state of the Real Estate market. We need to stopped piling it onto our current homeowners that are already hurting with the current inventory.
11:38 AM on January 20th, 2009
The plain design looks like a State University Dormitory that are typical in the 70s and 80s. This low cost design may be appropriate when tucked into the backroads of a College campus but not appropriate at this highly visible location of our City.
11:48 AM on January 20th, 2009
The design is lacking the pizzazz for this location. We need something more pleasing to get the eyes of drivers off of the BART Garage.
The color scheme does look subtle and much more pleasing though than for the first Avalon Phase. The multiple palates of color for the first phase make it look too busy, upleasing. I know the attempt was to disguise the huge mass of the building but it did not work, it made it look even more distorted. Contrasting palates of pleasign colors is fine but there is a point when there is too much.
Another example is the San Ramon Plaza Retail Center at Alcosta. Wow the redesigned facade looks great but the multiple color scheme they threw on it made it look like a flea market bazaar or an old building disguised in paint to make it look new and hide the age. The color scheme here ruined the look of the remodled building.
4:38 PM on January 20th, 2009
I understand that the city has some sort of architectural guideline to lead to a certain style and material use. However, we should be more open-minded about the design. Simply sticking to the old style may not work in the 21st century.
We need to enhance the image and reputation of Dublin in order to attract more people from different ages to move in. We can refer to some good example of housing development in Jack London Square and South of Market, designed by David Baker. Although the building design are not complicated, they can really express the thoughfulness of the architects, by introducing different material and texture. I believe in good architecture that will transform the neighborhood and bring in new energy to the area. I don’t want to see that Dublin station development will become a transit village which mainly comprised of lots of rental and BMR unit. It will turn out to be source of crime once the image is set.
5:00 PM on January 20th, 2009
I disagree with Mr. Hampton’s view of BMRs is good for the City. Especially the rental variety.
I have families and friends that live in Danville. They already prefer to drive to and park at the WC BART Station instead of to Dublin. Not to say I miss the traffic they would add to our city but it does tell me that there is a public sentiment, from within Dublin and from beyond as far as our image and where we are headed with high density and BMRs.
As for design, timeless and subtle is the right word. There are buildings that looks wonderful even after 20 years, there are others that looks blah blad once construction is completed.
I agree with the comment about Dormitory looking. It makes sense for the State to cut cost on buidling dormitories as they are not money makers in any way, also tax payer’s money is used thus nothing extravagant. But for a private sector development where a private developer is set to make a handsome profit, cutting corners should not be allowed, at least not in Dublin.
Maybe eliminate the BMR requirement, any about saved by the developer by this elimination could be used to enhance the architectural design of this project.
5:06 PM on January 20th, 2009
Dublin Station as currently plan is dominated by Rentals. Avalon I, Avalon II, Camela Place (BMR), Ashton Phase I and II are all Rentals with 10%-12% BMR. The Elan is the only for sale project at this time with possibly only one other, Metropolitan being for sale, at least for now as it could change to rentals in the future (see Sorrento East for example). There are also the possibility of thousands more rentals coming in at Camp Parks where there is a high number of High Density Residential planned as per the current design.
9:19 AM on January 21st, 2009
As we all know, Dublin Station is way too focused on high-density development. It seems to create an image of “Motel Village.” Instead, what we may do is to create a destination for people from other city to come visit within the walking distance from bart.
2:40 PM on January 21st, 2009
I agree with you Morgan! Too heavy on High Density Residential, no Class A Jobs nor small scale main street retail for BART riders to come and patronize. Plus current plans for Scarlett Court remains Auto Oriented, example is the futuer Maintenance Yard Facility next to BART, what a waste of prime land next to a viable Transit system.
1:00 PM on January 22nd, 2009
Regarding the overall design of this complex, it actually looks almost excactly like the Avalon phase one in terms of material uses and overall building mass. Some degree of similarity in design may create a more cohesive development. However, the almost exact replicate of the Avalon Phase one will only lead to lack of character of the building and will not contribute to creating a community. The proposed design of Avalon Phase 2, from the podium to its cornice are too similar to the phase 1. This is like corporate living. The essence of architectural design is to create experience and surpise by introducing different architectural elements, texture and spaces. I hope the planning commission will hear my voice.
1:13 PM on January 22nd, 2009
I’m not sure why Avalon did not purchase the Elan Parcel and kept the project together as on instead, the consistency of design would create a more cohesive look. In my opinion the Elan and Avalon Phase I building clash and looks odd sitting side by side to each other.
Regardless, like one reader commented on the topic of Sorrento East, do can design it and mask it all you want, a large hulking apartment building will still be just that no matter what you do to it. Lip stick on a pig.
2:14 PM on January 22nd, 2009
I sort of agree that Elan and Avalon Phase 1 clashes.
To some extent, consistency of design does create a more cohesive look, but not the similarity of Phase 1 and Phase 2. When looking closer to the two phase, they are no almost no different except that phase 2 is more simplified, and possibly cheaping to building. Referring the Tralee development, the architect has done a better job in playing with scales, textures and materials. Even though there seems alot of going on, but does not look busy and overwhelming. My point is that the Avalon Phase is lacking thoughful design and just like the typical cookie cutter development. This is just my personal opinion.
2:40 PM on January 22nd, 2009
I agree with your point on Phase II. Someone earlier mentioned Dormitory like, cheap construction/design that the state uses for University Campuses. Tralee for example has two Condo buildings, their design differentiate one from the other but still complement and look like they belong next to each other. Elan and Avalon Phase II are so different that they clash. My hope is Phase II is done right to help mask the odds couple from freeway views. Someday we may even have a cluster of Class A office buildings to hide all of these high density residential. We’re stuck with the view of the BART garage though.
8:43 AM on August 9th, 2009
IT IS GONE! Economy or whatever…the trailer for construction was pulled out just before June 09′ and the office would NOT comment. BART stated that the p/lot was staying ‘at this time…’
We live in Phase I. Would of been good for us, especially moved in here to cover freeway and BART night noise yet have the accessibility. Too Bad, we will just move to new one’s at DUB WEST BART, San Diego arch/construction building smaller units on Pleasanton side adjacent to new completed garage…again, can some one say…ECONOMY!
11:01 AM on April 12th, 2011
I think the comment earlier that people in Danville use the WC Bart station over the Dublin station due to some perception that Dublin is somehow “low rent” is a bit silly. Going to the WC station over Dublin for someone in Danville makes sense because it is a cheaper and quicker ride into Oakland or SF on BART from WC.
As to the design, I too hope the actual product is spruced up a bit. The great thing about Elan (and Tralee) is the attention to details and higher quality materials.
I am disappointed the retail component is being taken out. This development will never be a “destination” for anyone not actually living there if there isn’t any retail or commercial space. I understand they say there hasn’t been any demand for the space currently open, but, I truly wonder what they are charging. I can’t imagine Avalon isn’t able to attract similar retailers as those in Tralee unless they are charging a lot for rent.