Development
by John M. Zukoski on March 11, 2010 | 
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The City of Dublin hosted a Downtown Dublin environmental impact scoping meeting this past Thursday to provide a quick overview of the Specific Plan, share environmental impact considerations, and obtain community feedback. The Dublin Downtown District is generally considered to be the area bound by San Ramon Road to the west, Village Parkway to the east, I-580 to the south, and Amador Valley Boulevard to the north. The main thrust of the Downtown Dublin Specific Plan is that the area will be split into three districts: transit, Village Parkway, and retail. The primary objectives of this Specific Plan are to provide property owners with more development flexibility than what they current have and to also unify all of the other plans that cover sections of the downtown area: Dublin Downtown, Downtown Core, Dublin Village Historic, San Ramon Road, Village Parkway, and West Dublin BART.
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by Around Dublin Team on March 4, 2010 | 9 Comments | Topics: Development
On February 10, 2010, Regent Properties unveiled the new site plan for Phase II of Sorrento at Dublin Ranch to current residents at the Sorrento Clubhouse in Dublin, CA. Commonly known as Sorrento East, the second phase of the Sorrento project is approved for 694 homes similar to the 432 homes in the first phase currently being built and sold by Toll Brothers. Regent Properties is processing an Amendment to the approvals that will reduce the overall unit count by 113 to 581 homes, increase the number of neighborhoods from five to six, and provide better parking. The parking ratio for all the detached homes in Sorrento East will be at least 3 spaces per unit. Certain elevations in select neighborhoods will even offer private driveways. Three of the six communities will feature “lifestyle yard spaces” that range in size from 200 square feet up to 730 square feet. All homes will be either two stories or three stories, but no master bedroom will be on the third floor.
Neighborhoods 6, 7, and 8 will be the three Sorrento East communities with “lifestyle yard spaces.” The 102 detached homes in Neighborhood 6 are located in the Northwestern corner of Sorrento East. Ranging from 2,275 square feet to 2,920 square feet in size, these homes will offer yard spaces from 200 square feet up to 730 square feet. Neighborhood 7 will be to the East of Neighborhood 6 and to the North of the future Kolb Elementary School. The 95 detached homes in Neighborhood 7 range from 1,695 square feet to 2,860 square feet in size, and they offer yard spaces from 300 square feet up to 500 square feet. Bisected by the pedestrian corridor that includes the bridge connecting Sorrento East and Sorrento West over Grafton Street, Neighborhood 8 will be to the South of Neighborhood 6 and to the West of the park. Neighborhood 8 will have 138 detached homes ranging from 1,610 square feet to 2,105 square feet in size. These homes will also feature yard spaces from 240 square feet up to 340 square feet.
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by John M. Zukoski on March 2, 2010 | 3 Comments | Topics: Development
Land owners in the unincorporated area of the Tassajara Valley have submitted a proposal to build a new community just north of Dublin in what will soon be part of San Ramon. Spread over 771 acres, the proposed community is tentatively being referred to as “New Farm” and would have roughly 150 single family homes on estate-sized lots and roughly 30 condos or townhomes. Developers have also proposed to build a cemetery, a religious worship center, and a fire training facility. The new cemetery, currently known as the Corrie Creekside Cemetery, would be located approximately two miles from Silvera Ranch and one mile from the future Wallis Ranch project in Dublin.
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by John M. Zukoski on February 10, 2010 | 4 Comments | Topics: Development · Opinions
Why have cities like Pleasanton and Clayton, California, recently rezoned land to make way for more condos? Why does Dublin have so many higher density projects sprinkled throughout the City? For many, encouraging the development of more condos in today’s market would seem irrational when demand for existing condos has plummeted in recent years, yet the State of California has a different perspective. Strong-arm tactics by the State and local quasi-governmental agencies like the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) have forced Pleasanton, Clayton, and numerous other cities to push for the development of additional high-density housing in order to fund the construction of Below Market Rate (BMR) homes.
The bucolic City of Clayton, CA, was recently told by the State that they need to squeeze in 84 BMR units. In order to fulfill this requirement, Clayton is considering the conversion of several parcels of land on the outskirts of town to high-density residential. While this approach may make sense for cities with Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) and quick access to freeways, putting four-story condo buildings eight miles from I-680 makes little sense and is a deviation from the smart growth principles the State officially endorses. In essence, cities are resorting to poor planning practices as they comply with the onerous affordable housing mandates from the State.
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by John M. Zukoski on February 9, 2010 | 16 Comments | Topics: Development · Opinions
The recent spate of good news related to development and local employers has given residents of Dublin, CA, some reasons to be hopeful about the viability of the Eastern Dublin Specific Plan. Loja Real Estate Fund, a private equity group based in Walnut Creek, CA, recently acquired the Shops at Waterford. Sybase just posted their best financial quarter in the company’s history. Large investors looking for good deals from financially distressed local developers are snapping up land at fire-sale prices.
The Shops at Waterford Gets a New Owner
Shops at Waterford in Dublin, CA
Loja Real Estate Fund just landed the Safeway-anchored Shops at Waterford for a cool $44M. “We are delighted that The Shops at Waterford is the first acquisition for the fund,” said Tom Engberg, CEO of Loja Real Estate, in a statement. “This property is exemplary of the type of property we will seek to acquire in similar markets in the West.” Now that Blockbuster has moved out and Stacey’s is empty, Loja may be planning to relocate the nail salon to another part of the plaza. The nail salon’s relocation would give Loja Real Estate Fund the opportunity to knock down the walls that separate Stacey’s, Blockbuster, and the nail salon to create one large space that could attract well-established restaurants like The Old Spaghetti Factory.
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by John M. Zukoski on February 7, 2010 | 8 Comments | Topics: Development
Back in August 2009, BART officials pushed out the grand opening of the West Dublin BART Station in Dublin, CA, from early 2010 to early 2011. The reason for this latest delay was attributed to “defective welds on the walkway that will be crossing over I-580.” The implication was that the subcontractor was to blame for the delay; however, BART, Caltrans, and the subcontractor have all been pointing fingers at one another. BART asserted that the subcontractor did not build to the specifications, the subcontractor claimed that the wrong specifications were given by BART, and Caltrans felt tremendous heat from politicians eager to complete the West Dublin BART Station. Meanwhile, BART continued to investigate what went wrong and has slowed construction to a snail’s pace.
This investigation could be seen either as a temper tantrum by BART officials or as a lack of confidence on the part of the BART officials in the building specifications they provided the subcontractor. BART’s recent settlement with the contractors for $6M could be an indication that BART has completed its investigation and construction is ready to resume. This settlement and a litany of prior delays have added an additional $20M to the West Dublin BART Station project budget and brought the total cost to $100M. Sadly, Alameda County residents will be paying for BART’s gross mismanagement and irresponsible planning for many years to come.
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by Around Dublin Team on February 4, 2010 | 5 Comments | Topics: Development
Phase II of Sorrento at Dublin Ranch, commonly known as Sorrento East, is approved for 694 homes similar to the ones currently being built and sold at Sorrento West by Toll Brothers in Dublin, CA. Regent Properties is processing an Amendment to the approvals that will reduce the overall unit count by 113 to 581 homes and provide better parking.
Regent Properties will be inviting current residents of Sorrento at Dublin Ranch to a special presentation on Wednesday, February 10, 2010, at 7:00PM in the Sorrento Recreation Center. Pat Costanzo, an official representative from Regent Properties, will be sharing the new site plan, which includes a five-acre neighborhood park, a pedestrian corridor, one recreation center, and six new residential neighborhoods.
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by John M. Zukoski on February 1, 2010 | 23 Comments | Topics: Development
Alameda County Property Sign in Front of Future Dublin Courthouse Complex
Alameda County will be building a full service courthouse in Dublin, CA, by 2014. The current facility in Pleasanton only has five courtrooms and is located in the middle of an office park. Because of the location and facility limitations, Pleasanton’s courthouse does not have the high-profile cases that require a well-fortified holding cell. Rather, the cases directed to the Pleasanton courthouse are of the lighter fare like criminal felony, misdemeanor, civil, traffic, small claims, and night court. In contrast, Dublin’s courthouse will have 13 courtrooms and will hear all cases ranging from traffic violations to homicide.
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by John M. Zukoski on January 28, 2010 | 10 Comments | Topics: Development
After nearly nine month of silence, the Grafton Plaza project in Dublin, CA, is heating up again. The City Council had previously approved plans proposed by Pleasanton-based Charter Properties to build four 150-foot buildings at Grafton Plaza stretching up to ten stories high. The project was to include campus office, residential, retail, a hotel, and a day spa. In a stunning turn of events, Charter Properties is rebooting the project and requesting to have two development options for Grafton Plaza instead. One option will allow Grafton Plaza to be Mixed Use with 50.1% commercial and 49.9% residential. The other option will turn Grafton Plaza into 100% campus office. Both options will have a new maximum footprint of 496,519 square feet.
The most surprising element in Charter Properties’ request is, perhaps, the maximum footprint of 496,519 square feet. This maximum footprint is less than one-half of the square footage requested and approved by the City Council in 2008. The reduced square footage means that the buildings at Grafton Plaza will not exceed six stories, while the original square footage approved in 2008 would have allowed buildings up to ten stories.
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