Archive for June, 2011
by Tyler Moxley on June 30, 2011 | 
No Comments | Topics: Opinions
The real estate market in and around Dublin, CA peaked in 2006 and took a nose dive in 2007. For the past 5 years, everyone has felt the pain. A home that sold in 2006 for $600,000 can be purchased today for less than $400,000 in Dublin. Have home prices stopped falling, or are they ready for a rebound?
My family has been in the real estate business for four generations. As a real estate broker in the East Bay, I have worked in the Tri-Valley real estate market through the boom as well as the bust. While the future remains uncertain, I am encouraged by the many positive indicators I see everyday. The City of Dublin has announced no cuts in this year’s budget; in fact, it is hiring. If you have been following the Around Dublin Blog, you already know home builders are hard at work in Positano and Sorrento East. Just this past weekend, KB Homes had a sign twirler in front of the Gateway Medical Center to help generate buzz for the upcoming new community called Bella Monte.
The rental market in Dublin is hot. Everyone needs to live somewhere. As struggling home owners lose their homes to foreclosures or short sales, they enter the rental housing market. The rental housing inventory in Dublin is on the low side, and rent has gone up as a result. The strong demand for rental housing is precisely what helped breathe new life into the Tralee project on the corner of Dougherty Road and Dublin Boulevard, as the new developer works to turn the former condominiums into apartment units.
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by Around Dublin Team on June 29, 2011 | 21 Comments | Topics: Schools
Newsweek recently released its 2011 list of America’s best high schools. The ranking for 2011 is based on a revamped methodology that Newsweek’s panel of experts believe to reflect more accurately a high school’s effectiveness at preparing its students for college. Newsweek sent out over 10,000 requests for information and ultimately assessed over 1,100 high schools based on data from the 2009-2010 academic year. After crunching the self-reported data from the high schools, Newsweek selected 500 schools for its 2011 list of America’s best high schools.
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by John M. Zukoski on June 28, 2011 | 4 Comments | Topics: Development · Retail
With the grand opening of Sprouts Farmers Market in Dublin, CA on Wednesday, June 29th at 7:00AM, the cost of healthy living in Alameda County as well as Contra Costa County is about to come down – way down. For years Sprouts has earned a reputation for selling right-from-the-earth foods at down-to-earth prices. Known for its “old-fashioned” customer service, Sprouts is staffed with the friendliest associates who will greet customers with a smile and personally guide shoppers to any product in the store. This relationship-driven approach to running a grocery store is how founder Henry Boney turned his first fruit stand in 1943 into the beloved regional retailer Sprouts Farmers Market is today.
The huge selection of natural and organic foods at Sprouts Farmers Market often sells for 30% or more below the conventional stores. Sprouts is challenging the conventional thinking that healthy living is a specialty market reserved for the well-to-do. Since its humble beginning, Sprouts has always believed that healthier eating should never have to cost more. “We want to be the grocery store where moms and families are stepping into eating healthier,” shared Sprouts spokesperson and certified nutritionist Janet Little. “Sprouts is not just a niche store, we are a destination.”
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by John M. Zukoski on June 27, 2011 | 2 Comments | Topics: Parks
After many years of anticipation, the 4.3-acre Dublin Heritage Park and Museums will be gracing the public stage for a grand opening event on Saturday, July 2nd. The official ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at noon, beginning with presentations by the City Historian, the Poet Laureate, the Poet Laureate Emerita, and the Kolb family. The grand opening event will mark the completion of Phase I at the Heritage Park and the successful relocation of the Kolb family’s farm buildings from their former Dublin Canyon site, which is now part of Pleasanton. The original farm buildings are now part of Dublin’s historical center on the corner of Dublin Boulevard and Donlon Way.
Some of the events planned for the grand opening celebration include music from Dublin’s local Bluegrass and Irish Jam groups, wagon rides for kids pulled by the old Kolb family tractor, docent led tours, and presentations from local dignitaries. In recognition of the Bavarian heritage of the Kolb family, German music by the Karl Lebherz Band will be featured at the outdoor stage, and free refreshments, including root beer, hot dogs, brats, German potato salad, soft pretzels, and German chocolate cupcakes will be served. Dublin City Council had expressed some concerns about having the grand opening event on July 2nd, given that many residents leave town for the extended weekend. Because no other date could work for a majority of the Kolb family, Dublin City Council decided to keep the celebration on July 2nd to honor the Kolbs.
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by Scott Hill on June 26, 2011 | No Comments | Topics: Local Issues · Opinions
Recently, both renewed problems in Greece and inflation news dominated the headlines and led to some volatile trading. Will Greece default on its debt obligations? How will this fiscal uncertainty impact home loan interest rates in Dublin, CA and the greater Tri-Valley?
The Greek government tried to close its unsustainable budget deficit with some unpopular austerity measures, and its people responded with riots. As the Greek people continued their protest against cuts to their entitlements and increases in their taxes, the European Union and the rest of the international community seemed divided on what to do. The Greek government recently announced some reshuffling within the Parliament. News of that reshuffling appeared to have been well received by the rest of the world, since news got out shortly after that Greece may be some sort of bailout to meet its near-term financing needs. With more than 20,000 people rioting in the streets, the Greek government had to do something to calm the markets, but the story of Greece’s failing fiscal health is far from over.
Shaking up the Parliament will not fix Greece’s long-term debt problems, nor will the short-term bailout, if it happens. Greece has not done anything substantive to address the unsustainable spending that led to the current crisis, so it ha simply delayed the inevitable debt restructuring, re-profiling, or outright default.
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by Vickie Nagy on June 25, 2011 | No Comments | Topics: Opinions
The condo real estate in Dublin, CA remains very much a seller’s market. Dublin currently has roughly two months of available inventory. While the total number of condos for sale stands at 70, 30 of them are brand new units offered by builders, leaving only 40 resales on the market.
According to data from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), 19 condos sold from May 15th to June 15th. Of those sold in that time frame, only one of them was new construction. Most real estate professionals consider anything below 5 months of inventory to be a seller’s market. Many builders do not put all of their units in the MLS for sale, so the five months of inventory typically focuses on just the resale market.
The month’s condo sales were fairly balanced across the different categories. Of the 18 resale units to close, six were traditional resales, seven were short sales, and five were bank-owned. Also, six of those condos sold at or above asking price. One in particular, a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom condo in the Woodlands, was on the market for only one day.
What do Dublin condos sell for under current market conditions? Based on the 18 resale units that closed in June:
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by John M. Zukoski on June 24, 2011 | 1 Comment | Topics: Announcements · Things To Do
As America’s Favorite Big Top, Circus Vargas will be bringing its critically acclaimed human-only circus act to Dublin, CA from July 8th through July 18th. Circus Vargas will be setting up its signature blue and gold big top, as seen in the recent 20th Century Fox motion picture Water for Elephants, on the vacant lot to the west of Hacienda Crossings just off I-580. Owned by Tabares Entertainment, Circus Vargas is proudly kicking off an entirely new production featuring aerialists, acrobats, comedians, and more for 2011. This edition of Circus Vargas will take the audience on an artistic journey, encompassing the cultures of the world, in a series of vignettes depicting the experiences, memories, and visions of a traveling circus performer. Join the amazing talents of Circus Vargas on a captivating adventure across the globe, as they transcend language, age, and cultural barriers through the art of circus.
To celebrate the debut of this brand new production, Circus Vargas is partnering with the Around Dublin Blog to give away four tickets to its opening night show in Dublin on July 8th. Simply wait for a link to this article to show up on Circus Vargas’ wall on Facebook. Once the link appears, add “saw you on Around Dublin Blog” to the shared link’s comment thread, and you will be automatically entered into the drawing for the four opening night tickets.
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by Around Dublin Team on June 23, 2011 | 3 Comments | Topics: Announcements · Local Businesses
Sprouts Farmers Market will be grand opening in Dublin, CA on Wednesday, June 29th at 7:00AM in style. To help celebrate its first store in the East Bay, Sprouts Farmers Market will be offering shoppers many incredible savings on great-tasting fresh foods and free reusable totes for all purchases throughout the day. Sprouts Farmers Market will join Safeway, 99 Ranch Market, and the newly opened Grocery Outlet in forming the Grocery Grotto in Dublin’s Historic Big Box Shopping District. The new Dublin location will be Sprouts Farmers Market’s third store in Northern California.
Sprouts is not just another regular supermarket. Sprouts’ distinctive format offers a fun, friendly shopping experience that has been its cornerstone since the founders, the Boney family, opened their first produce stand in California in 1943. It is a modern-day food store with the feel of an old fashioned farmers market.
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by John M. Zukoski on June 23, 2011 | 7 Comments | Topics: Development · Parks
After nearly a decade of waiting, the dream of having a state-of-the-art Recreation and Aquatic Complex at Emerald Glen Park in Dublin, CA will soon become reality. The design phase of the Emerald Glen Recreation and Aquatic Complex is set to kick-start again in July 2011. Construction at the site of the complex is scheduled to begin in October 2012 and to be completed in September 2014. The grand opening celebration will most likely be held shortly thereafter to take advantage of the beautiful weather leading into fall.
Phase I of the complex will house a 6,675-square-foot leisure and instructional pool, as well as a 25-meter by 25-yard competition pool. The complex will also include a 35,895-square-foot facility featuring a gym, fitness center, game room & teen center, group exercise & dance studio, special events room, juice bar, and locker rooms.
Design planning work for Phase I of the complex began in 2008 with a community workshop to gather feedback for the design plans held in January 2009; however, the project was placed on hold in 2009 due to a drop in new home construction, as Dublin and the rest of the country braced for the economic downturn. The City of Dublin receives funding to build parks from impact fees collected from developers on new construction projects.
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