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FEBRUARY, 2012


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Comments Regarding San Ramon City Center
By Alex Mehran, CEO of Sunset Development Company
As presented at the San Ramon City Council meeting of October 11, 2011

“I specifically want to talk about the City Center, because I am often asked, as I’m sure all of you are on innumerable occasions, ‘When are we going to see the City Center?’  Just to go back, City Center was approved after a number of years of planning, and processing through regulatory bodies, in 2008. The City Center is a 2.1 million sq. ft. project consisting of a new city hall and library, 700,000 sq. ft. office space, 650,000 [sq. ft.] of retail, 525 residential units, a 169 room hotel and is about an $850 million dollar project.  It is a significant project for Bishop Ranch, for San Ramon, and for the entire Tri-Valley region. During 2008, we started our preliminary merchandising and design and development of the project. At the end of 2008, we ran into one of the worst economic downturns that this country has experienced. There is no one in this room who was not affected by that downturn in one way or another.  We certainly felt it dramatically.  We put the project on pause, because of the uncertainties that we saw then, and I’m sorry to say that those uncertainties continue today. 

“You haven’t seen a significant retail project, or a significant residential project for sale of the magnitude we’re talking about with the San Ramon City Center developed anywhere in the Bay Area, and we have one of the best economies in the country. To put it in some perspective with respect to the housing business, of which a good portion of this project is dependent, the country in 2005 built 2.2 million residential units; last year we built 500,000 units.  In California in 2005, we were at 220,000 new residential units sold, in 2010 we were at 28,000 units. In 2011, it is expected that we will be at fewer than 28,000. So there is a real down draft in the residential side, and it is also true on the retail side.  Retail rents have fallen from 2008 dramatically, and we are not immune from those rental realities.

“We only have one chance to do this project correctly.  I think it is ill advised to be building a project of this magnitude into headwinds.  We want the wind at our back with certainty.  I think that it will provide for a better project, it will provide for better stores, a higher quality residential product, a higher quality hotel, and a general sense of place that is far better than what we would do going into an economic arena that is quite uncertain. I think we are lucky that we did not start the project in 2008, because frankly, I think it would have been a disaster.  Going into these kinds of major projects, demands a lot of capital, a lot of patience, and a will to do it right. We certainly have that; we are committed to doing this project.  We will build the San Ramon City Center.   I need to make a judgment, along with my colleagues, about when the timing is right and the economy seems to be more certain than it is today, and we will work with you to press the “go” button, and bring this project to reality for the betterment of the City and the entire region.”

The City Center project is a true partnership between the City and Sunset Development.  This is a shinning example of how well the City works with the business community, and how the City actively works through partnerships to improve the quality of life in San Ramon.

 

Interim Landscaping to be Installed Along City Center Site

City staff finalized a reimbursement agreement with Sunset Development Company on January 10, 2012 in order for Sunset Development to install temporary landscaping along Bollinger Canyon Road from the Iron Horse Trail to Sunset Drive (on the north side only). When PG&E, Comcast, and AT&T completed their utility reloations in 2011 to facilitate the widening of Bollinger Canyon Road, areas of landscaping were damaged or removed.

The original intent of the project was to move seamlessly from utility relocation work to the widening of Bollinger Canyon Road. An additional travel lane for a total of four lanes in each direction from Market Place to the freeway is planned. Sunset Development requested to install temporary landscaping until the road widening occurs, and a cost-sharing agreement was agreed upon between the parties.

The work that began January 30, 2012 includes:

  • Landscape and irrigation work on the vacant City Center lot to restore the grass/sod landscape strip approximately 15 feet wide along the Bollinger Canyon Road frontage from the Iron Horse Trail to Camino Ramon. A no-mow fescue will replace the sod which is easier to maintain and requires less water to irrigate.
  • Landscape and irrigation work along the Bishhop Ranch 2 frontage of Bollinger Canyon Road from Camino Ramon to Sunset Drive. Replacement of the grass/sod strip approximately 10 feet wide with no-mow fescue as well as planting shrubs, plants, trees etc. (iceberg roses, miscanthus ornamental grasses, and Lombardi poplar trees).

All of the work is anticipated to be completed by the end of February, weather permitting.

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