High demand and low inventory for condos in Dublin, CA seem to be deepening as the spring selling season approaches. Over half of the Dublin condos sold during the last 30 days were distressed properties (63%). Of the 24 units sold, 11 were short sales, 4 were foreclosures, 8 were traditional resales, and 1 was new construction.
Of the 24 resale condos that closed during the last 30 days, 12 units (50%) sold at or above their listing prices. Some sellers intentionally list their homes slightly below market value to attract attention from potential buyers. As interested buyers descend upon their homes, the actual sale prices inevitably go up and above the original listing prices.
Sales of Dublin condos from Febuary 12 to March 12 included:
With the help of KB Home and Lennar Homes, homeowners at Silvera Ranch and Sonata in Dublin, CA will get many more neighbors than they had expected when they bought in their respective communities. KB Home and Lennar Homes have both been busy studying the impact the additional homes will have in their projects’ surrounding neighborhoods. Having completed the same studies currently being conducted to rezone the commercial and public/semi-public land at the Promenade into more residential space, KB Home and Lennar Homes are now ready to present their findings to Dublin’s Planning Commission.
Residents in Dublin, CA will have a chance to vote for another bond measure proposed by Dublin Unified School District (DUSD). The $99M school bond measure will appear on the June 5th ballot. At $29 per $100,000 of the assessed home value, a Dublin home with a $500,000 assessed property value will have to pay an extra $145 per year. The new $99M measure is in addition to the $184M Measure C bond approved in 2004. While Eastside homeowners pay roughly 55% of Dublin’s property taxes, only 17% of the non-high school portion of the proposed $99M bond measure is expected to go to schools in East Dublin. The $99M bond will be repaid in 25 to 30 years.
Residents who bought in Positano had been promised a new elementary school in their neighborhood. As a result of project mismanagement by Dublin school officials, the money that had been earmarked for that new school, commonly referred to by DUSD as E-4, was spent to cover cost overruns at school infrastructure projects in Dublin.
With a local economy still picking itself up by the bootstraps and limited private and public project funding options in and around Dublin, CA, the Immigrant Investor Program, also known as EB-5, could be a boon for the Tri-Valley as it tackles ambitious projects such as the 2,000-seat Regional Theater in Downtown Livermore, the BART to Livermore extension, and the San Ramon Downtown City Center. EB-5 can instantly provide foreign investors who put a minimum of $500,000 in the United States with a green card. While EB-5 was initially envisioned as a mechanism to encourage foreign entrepreneurs to start new businesses in the United States, the program has expanded the instant green card eligibility to include the purchase of municipal bonds, homes, and other passive investment options.
Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, CA has quickly ascended to the top of the ranks of Tri-Valley public high schools. Consistently posting high SAT and AP exam scores, Dougherty Valley’s 2010-2011 senior class led the way in the Tri-Valley by achieving a 37% University of California (UC) admissions rate. Monte Vista High School of Danville, last year’s top school as measured by the UC admissions rate, dropped to second place with a very respectable UC admissions rate of 34%. Rounding out the top three public high schools for 2010-2011 was Foothill High School in Pleasanton with a 31% UC admissions rate. The Athenian School, a private academy in Danville, tallied an impressive 44% UC admissions rate for the same academic year.
In contrast, the Tri-Valley public high schools with the lowest UC admissions rates for 2010-2011 were Granada High School of Livermore with 10%, Livermore High School with 12%, and Dublin High School with 14%. Valley Christian High School achieved a 25% UC admissions rate. Quarry Lane High School was not included in this comparative review, because the UC Office of the President did not disclose the exact count of admitted students from the exclusive private high school in East Dublin this year.
Once referred to as a “reputable developer” by then Planning Commissioner Eric Swalwell only a week after its Concord headquarters was raided by the FBI in early 2010, Discovery Homes, a subsidiary of the notorious Seeno Construction Company, may be wearing out its welcome in Dublin, CA. While Eric Swalwell is now a City Councilmember with eyes on a US Congressional seat, his neighbors at Schaefer Ranch development in the west Dublin hills are among the latest victims in the Seeno family’s legacy of broken promises and shattered dreams.
A recent string of attacks and thefts at Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton, CA has many residents and shoppers worried about the future of Stoneridge Mall. As reported by Contra Costa Times, a family was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight at Stoneridge Mall last month. The suspects stole money and a gold chain from the victim and then headed toward westbound I-580. That same day, a young adult was punched in the face as robbers attempted to steal his bags of merchandise. “Just left Stoneridge Mall where a poor kid got punched in the face and they tried to take his shopping bags,” noted a Castro Valley resident. “Luckily he took the hit and KEPT the bags but so sad Stoneridge is going downhill..fast.”
Pleasanton Police Services has received numerous crime reports, ranging from petty theft to battery to grand theft auto, at Stoneridge Mall over the past few months. Some attribute the rapid decline of Stoneridge Mall to the opening of the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station. Opportunistic criminals need only to synchronize their heists with the train schedule. Most simple thefts can be completed in less than the standard 15 minutes in between trains at the station. Others insist that the perceived lack of security at Stoneridge Mall is to blame.
Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Danville, and Livermore residents have a chance to pick their favorite restaurants, shops, and attractions in Diablo Magazine’s Best of the East Bay 2012. Now is the time to vote for your favorite Best of the East Bay foods, shops, services, kid-friendly places, fun spots, and other great finds. Diablo Magazine will tell readers all about the winners in its special July issue later this year.
As the economy continues to improve in the Bay Area, high-end retail is making a comeback in a big way. Neiman Marcus will be celebrating the grand opening of its new store in Downtown Walnut Creek on Friday, March 9th. Santana Row in San Jose is preparing for a fresh expansion of its residential, office, and retail space. “Santana Row is doing quite well,” said James Chung, a partner with a commercial realty brokerage called Terranomics. “And the H&M deal is a great sign for the retail market.”
For a few months, billionaire developer Rick Caruso flirted with the idea of building an upscale shopping project in Dublin. Known for creating quality destinations with parks, promenades, fountains, and plazas that seamlessly integrated with upscale retail, Caruso seems to have an eye for what high-end retail consumers want and expect. Although Caruso has decided not to move forward with his first Northern California project, future retail projects in the Bay Area can learn a lot from what Caruso has done and done so well.
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