Dublin’s Sweetheart Deal for Sorrento East Developer Results in Cutbacks for Residents
Community Benefit Payments are made by developers to compensate cities for granting exceptions to their traditional development agreement terms. A recent example in Dublin, CA, was the $1M payment from Charter Properties for the ten-year extension on the Wallis Ranch agreement that allowed the developer to build condominiums two miles from I-580. The total amount in payment was calculated using a decade-old formula of $100K for each extra year. Prior to approving the $1M Wallis Ranch Community Benefit Payment, Mayor Tim Sbranti acknowledged that Dublin was not getting as much as the City probably could for the ten-year extension; however, the City of Dublin needed to honor the $100K per year extension one last time to show good faith.
The recent approval of an eight-year extension to Regent Properties for the Sorrento East project at the rock-bottom price of $275K, therefore, came as quite a surprise, given Mayor Sbranti’s earlier statement. The deal works out to be $34,375 per year on a parcel that is close to the future Promenade and I-580. Instead of the customary upfront one-time disbursement, Regent Properties has successfully structured a “pay-as-you-go” Community Benefit Payment Plan such that it only needs to pay the City of Dublin for every year of delay. Using the severely undervalued legacy standard of $100K per year, this concession made by the City of Dublin can cost residents from $525K up to $800K, depending on when Sorrento East actually gets developed. The generosity shown by the City of Dublin to Regent Properties in this unprecedented development agreement is especially troubling in light of the recent cancellation of Day on the Glen and other cutbacks made for the purpose of balancing the budget.
How was Regent Properties able to score such a sweetheart deal from the City of Dublin? Regent Properties first secured allies on the current City Council through campaign contributions. In 2008 Mayor Tim Sbranti, Councilmember Kasie Hildenbrand, and Councilmember Kevin Hart each received at least $1,200 in campaign contribution from Regent Properties under the names Debra Altshul-Stark, Brian Stark, Linda Gorens-Levey, and Stark & Roth Investments. Regent Properties then hired former Dublin Mayors Guy Houston and Janet Lockhart and used their influence to hammer out this extraordinary arrangement with the City of Dublin. Regent Properties also silenced any potential opposition from nearby residents by nixing plans for an apartment complex next to the future Kolb Elementary School and reducing the project’s density while increasing the number of detached single family homes. Although Regent Properties did omit tandem garages from its Sorrento East redesign plans, Community Development Director Jeri Ram emphasized that the option for tandem parking remains very much on the table until Regent is ready to build. Once the current development agreement expires in 2012, this new development agreement will allow Regent Properties to sit on Sorrento East until 2020.
With the approval of this new development agreement, the City of Dublin effectively issued a $525K-$800K discount to Regent Properties at a time when the City can least afford to do so. The City of Dublin is still trying to bridge a $1.2M general fund deficit in 2010 and a more sizable $3M-$4.7M deficit in 2011 by implementing a series of austerity measures that include Day on the Glen cancellation and the scrapping of many other recreational programs. Still, the City of Dublin does deserve praise for eliciting from Regent Properties a magnificent redesign of Sorrento East that may or may not actually get built as proposed.
10:31 AM on May 12th, 2010
Condos at Wallis Ranch– God I hope they change their mind on that.. We are running out of beautiful areas to build homes on. Nestled in between some foothills, protected from 580 freeway noise and wind that plagues many other areas of Dublin, Wallis Ranch is set up as a possible site for large single family homes.. It is ALSO the gateway to Dublin coming from Danville and San Ramon via Tassajara. I’d hate for our gateway to be condo city…
2:51 PM on May 12th, 2010
No more Condo please. My Elan condo price has dropped about 40% to 50% while the single family home only dropped roughly about 25% from the peak. The circumstance are not doing any good to the existing condo owners for the city. It is just going to encourage more people to go for strategic walk-away, considering the influx of new condo are on the way. I am one of those who has been making payment on time and trying to keep my condo without walking away. It does not seem like the city of Dublin is with us.
4:55 PM on May 12th, 2010
Oh yeah, MORE CONDOS!!! —- Because we all know how fast those units at Tralee are selling, right!???
5:33 PM on May 12th, 2010
The Tralee developer ran into financial problems. The condos could not be finished. I heard they are going to convert those into rental units.
4:56 PM on May 12th, 2010
Yeay, more condos!!! Those condos at Tralee and the BART Station ones sold so fast, good to see more coming !
5:39 PM on May 12th, 2010
Why more condos? Beautiful land in Wallis Ranch. Away from major transportation hubs. Perfect for SFHs. The city council must be out of their minds. We need more SFHs in Dublin to attract more high income families so we can make our high school comparable to those in Pleasanton and San Ramon.
Is there anyone who wants to start a petition to change this stupid development plan?
7:10 AM on May 13th, 2010
Please remember that developers will build what they believe will sell and that is to everyone’s benefit. If one product type is not selling in a market they will return to the City with changed plans. That has happened recently in two or three previously approved SDRs. I am sure that the product mix that seemed appropriate a couple of years ago will not meet market conditions when Wallis begins to pull permits in the future. The discussion on unit density away from transit concentration and life’s necessities is a valid debate in my opinion and will most likely arise if and when a new SDR is brought forward. (There was a future ‘village’ planned for this area with appropriate commercial zoning that was eliminated due to lack of interest by developers or perspective tenants. Filling these boutique commercial areas has been a challenge as all of you can see around us.) Hope this helps.
9:22 AM on May 13th, 2010
Thank you for the perspective, Bill.
Thx, John Z.
10:29 AM on May 13th, 2010
Bill, are we to read into your statement above that Developers will develop what they know will sell, and therefore we the public will benefit from that?
Um, wow, that’s pretty much telling us that developers are always thinking about what will best suit the community, what will create a good community for the public, years to come after the developers have packed up and left– yeah, great argument there–
We should just have NO zoning then! Let the developers do whatever they want, because it will be to the benefit of us all!!— In that vain, we should just clog up all the creeks, throw pavement on all our hills here and put high density housing in– We should also get rid of greenbelt areas and environmental impact areas (and parks, damn parks, can’t sell homes on a playground!).. yeah, that’s a great point Bill!
10:02 AM on May 14th, 2010
I for one regardless of market condition or current demands would like to see more SFR with sizable yard, much like the homes in the Dublin Ranch Golf Club for Wallis Ranch. Me, my wife and daughter have outgrown our Arbors home and have been searching for a 3500-4500 SF home with a yard in Dublin Ranch but have realized the supply and choices are limited. These homes are only available in Turnberry, the upper portion of Dublin Ranch Golf Club and come part of Dublin Ranch where Centex and Shea built. We’ve been trying to avoid it as we love Dublin but we may need to look to Pleasanton or San Ramon for a home our family could grow in and be there for generations. So have an abundance of 1800 – 2800 SF homes with very little yard if any but are limited on the upper end. We have obviously more Condos then our City could ever absorb for decades as this is not SF or Oakland where there are 100s of thousands of jobs within walking distance.
Positano, great concept but the product is lacking in design and elegance. The home even the larger ones looks like Kaufman and Broad or Citation type homes, bland and standard. Drive through the neighborhood already built and there is a lot of stucco with not much character to the homes. Unlike the products Toll built, most of their homes even the smaller Glen Eagle ones all look grand and elegant.
We need more products like the ones in the Dublin Ranch Golf Clubs to keep families from outgrowing and having to move out of town.
2:07 PM on May 14th, 2010
I am in the same boat– On my second home in Dublin and looking to move in about 4-5 years to something in the 3500 – 4500sf range with a nice backyard.. I would love to stay in Dublin because of what is supposed to come (Promenade, The Glen or whatever that place is called where Whole Foods was supposed to go).. I’m worried that Dublin will not have that retail in place or the larger homes around by the time I”m ready to buy in a few years-
1:33 PM on November 8th, 2010
As much as I dislike responding to ignorant comments, this time you have gone WAY OVER the limit of the truth and my patience. Let me start with your accusations about “special deals” with the Sorrento project. You could not have possibly checked out your facts. I DO NOT and HAVE NOT EVER worked for anyone associated with the Sorrento project. I was Mayor when the first approval happened, but have had NO discussion with ANYBODY about it since.
Regarding your comment about the Public Hand Outs to nonprofits; having done the math for Dublin Partners in Education, I can tell you that we have produced $80.00 of service to the students of our school district for every dollar of support we have received from the City of Dublin. Yes that’s SPECIAL, but not for any nefarious reason you might come up with. It is non-profit organizations that feed our elderly residents who are house bound, it is the non-profits who provide food for low income families on the week end when they cannot afford to buy it. These are the types of support non-profits provide to our community.
You are a great disappointment as any kind of “news service”. You should begin each article as “Your Opinion.” Get the facts, or get a better attitude about the community you say you support. Did your comments about non-profits include the special discounts Rotary has asked for in their public service? Somehow I doubt you were looking in your own back yard!
8:05 PM on November 8th, 2010
Hi Janet – I don’t think that anybody has ever disputed that the organizations that the City of Dublin contributes to are providing a valuable service to the community. The intent of the article you may be referring to – http://www.arounddublinblog.com/2010/11/dublin-ca-to-give-away-150k-to-outside-non-profits/ – is placing the City of Dublin’s $150K 2010-2011 donations and $200K 2011-2012 pledges in the greater context of the recent budget cuts passed by the Council and the utility tax that was being promoted by City Hall.
With respect to DPIE, I’ve personally supported DPIE, Dublin schools, and will continue to do so. The Around Dublin Blog has touted the achievements of Dublin’s schools. Dublin Rotary has been an ardent supporter of DPIE and Dublin’s schools. In addition to the dictionary project for 3rd grade students, the Dublin Rotary Club provides mentoring for Valley High students. The Club sponsors Student of the Month awards for students at Dublin High, Valley High, and Valley Christian. Dublin Rotary also gives scholarships to Dublin’s high school students, provides Dublin’s future leaders with opportunities to attend the Camp RYLA leadership camp each year, and we charter/support Interact student volunteer clubs at Dublin High, Valley High, and Valley Christian.
DPIE and Dublin Rotary have similar goals in helping Dublin’s schools and students to thrive.
While you have insulted me personally by your comments, I still have a great deal of respect for many of your accomplishments and your role with DPIE.
Thx, John Z.
11:23 PM on November 8th, 2010
Wow, it is priceless to get the former mayor to come out to defend herself on this blog. Good job, John Z.