No other city in the Tri-Valley can illustrate the widening wealth gap between the old and the young better than Dublin, CA. According to DQNews.com, the median home price in the All-America City of Dublin plummeted by over 26% in the past year. Out of 64 transactions, the median home sale price for September 2011 was $410,500 compared to a median of $555,000 just one year ago in September 2010. This drop includes all new and existing single family homes and condos.
The City of Dublin, CA has traditionally been very strategic and forward-thinking about investing in the community. The latest purchase of the National Food Lab’s 5.7 acre property with a 55,000-square-foot building at 6363 Clark Avenue for $5.62M is no exception. The property, which has sat vacant for three years ever since the National Food Lab moved to Livermore, will be paid for out of the City of Dublin’s Innovation and New Opportunities earmark in the General Fund.
The honorable Dublin City Council will be holding a special meeting to review the grand vision for the development of Downtown Dublin on Monday, October 24th, at 5:30PM in the Regional Room of Dublin City Hall. Councilmembers will discuss key recommendations from the Urban Land Institute(ULI)‘s panel of esteemed development experts. Highlights from the ULI’s One Dublin Downtown plan include siphoning funds from East Dublin to pay for development in the West Dublin Downtown and building an entertainment and civic center to revitalize the area. While most people in the Tri-Valley are surprised to learn that Dublin has a downtown, City Hall considers the Dublin Downtown District 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.
Less than one month after opening the door to higher density housing in a part of Dublin, CA where none had been planned, Dublin City Council has authorized one more study to initiate the same conversion at another Public/Semi-Public parcel in West Dublin. The esteemed Valley Christian Center is seeking to convert a 1.4-acre parcel of land on the northwestern corner of Dublin Boulevard and Inspiration Drive to medium-high density residential. The land rezoning will be part of an effort to sell the parcel to a developer. The money raised from the land sale will go toward the construction of Valley Christian Center’s 15,000-square-foot performing arts sanctuary. Once the rezoning is approved by Dublin’s Planning Commission and City Council, the 1.4-acre parcel may have up to 35 homes and be required to build or pay in-lieu fees for below market rate housing (BMRs).
As a major land owner and developer in the Tri-Valley, Charter Properties has allegedly bundled large political campaign donations for many local candidates. Through these contributions, Charter Properties has earned the right to control political marionettes such as Dublin Vice Mayor Kevin Hart, Councilmember Don Biddle, and Councilmember Eric Swalwell. Councilmember Eric Swalwell is now a candidate for the newly created 15th congressional district.
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse recently received a key approval from the Dublin Planning Commission to move forward with building its 8,376-square-foot freestanding restaurant at the southeast corner of the Fallon Gateway shopping center in Dublin, CA. Aiming to open for business by early 2012, BJ’s will benefit from having great visibility to drivers along I-580 and Fallon Road. The rapidly growing BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse recently opened a new location at the Streets of Brentwood after having a week-long, reservations-only soft opening to generate buzz and to help the new staff work out the kinks before the grand opening. BJ’s is expected to use a similar pre-launch strategy at the Fallon Gateway location.
While the new BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Dublin will look similar to the chain’s other locations, the new hot spot at Fallon Gateway will have a few key design elements to make it unique to the Tri-Valley. The rear of the building facing Target will have a back-lit, four-panel mural depicting a rural farming scene. The exterior of the restaurant will have an El Dorado Stone Mesquite Cliffstone veneer to match other buildings in the commercial center. The restaurant’s stucco surfaces will also be painted with same Red Ink and Spiced Berry colors that are part of Fallon Gateway’s signature palette.
Dublin has some of the best schools in the state of California. East Dublin schools continued to post strong API score gains in 2011 with John Green Elementary School leading the way with an API score of 952. James Dougherty Elementary School was close behind at 949, with K-8 Eleanor Fallon Murray rounding out the top three with a score of 917. Parental and community support for Dublin’s schools has never been stronger.
The Dublin Corporate Center on the corner of Dublin Boulevard and Tassajara Road is now 88% full after recently landing a high-profile tenant and leasing additional space for two current tenants who are growing rapidly. As one of the top Class A campus office parks in the Tri-Valley, the Dublin Corporate Center has had its occupancy rate explode upward from 35% to 88% in less than three years while much of the Bay Area has struggled through one of the roughest commercial real estate markets in history. “Dublin Corporate Center is a superior property in a superb location, and we are pleased that it is attracting and retaining high quality new tenants who want to grow here,” said Tishman Speyer Managing Director Carl D. Shannon.
Despite not having a single resident speak in favor of the action, Dublin City Council still voted to approve the request by Charter Properties and KB Home to initiate the process of rezoning part of the Promenade from Public/Semi-Public and Commercial use to Medium/High Density residential homes in Dublin, CA. City Council’s decision to move forward on the study has now jeopardized the vision of an upscale “Main Street” shopping village and gravely impacted the property values of the surrounding neighborhoods. Through its action on Tuesday night, Dublin City Council has effectively ignored the email protest from over 240 residents and the nearly 20 residents who spoke against the unpopular request to add homes where none had been planned.
MAY I BE OF SERVICE?
Based on their leading questions for city staff and Charter Properties President James Tong, Vice Mayor Kevin Hart, Councilperson Eric Swalwell, and Councilperson Don Biddle all clearly signaled their intention from the start to move ahead with the rezoning process despite the apparent unanimous community opposition. Considering the large amount of campaign contributions Charter Properties has allegedly bundled for every council member currently serving, the loyalty it commands from Dublin City Hall should probably not come as a surprise to anyone.
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