The August EHOA newsletter had an article about San Leandro's Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) plan and the plan for the our downtown. There was a glitch with our printing company so many residents did not receive a readable copy. You can download the August issue at http://www.estudilloestates.org/newlet­ters/2008-August_Newsletter.pdf. If you do not have access to the Internet and want a copy of the last newsletter, please drop me a note at 1166 Glen Drive, San Leandro, CA 94577 and I will make you sure that you receive a copy of our last EHOA newsletter.

Since that article was published, members of the EHOA board attended a meeting in late August at the Englander with Westlake Development Partners, LLC, and BRIDGE to discuss the San Leandro Crossings project near BART.

The partners in this project are, Westlake, BRIDGE, and BUILD, LLC. The site of the 200-unit market-rate rental development is the BART over­flow parking lot, which is owned by BART. The Westlake developers have entered into an agreement with BART to negotiate the terms under which it would acquire the property for develop­ment from BART. BRIDGE is not a development partner of that parcel.

BUILD LLC, which is a partnership between the California Public Employees Retirement System and an affiliate of BRIDGE, would be Westlake's development partner on that site. It should be noted that BRIDGE will be managing the proposed 100-unit site for low-income to very low-income residents, which is proposed for the vacant lot adjacent to the west side of BART. This building will stand alone and will be 40 feet from the building that will accommodate 200 units.

The City has been working to receive money from a bond measure, Proposition 1C, that was passed by the voters at the last election. This measure allows for infrastructure improvement and provides the City with $24.5 million dollars to be used as follows:

$9.8 million will be to build a BART garage; $6.1 million for streets, sidewalks, landscaping and lightning; $3.4 million for parks; $3 million for the City's nonprofit housing partners; and $1.5 million for utility improvements.

There is a $600,000 figure that is not accounted for. We will find out what the $500,000 will cover and report back to you. The plan is to build 300 units in total. Right now, all of the units will be rentals for Phase I of this project.

The building of the 100 rental units is for very low- to mod­erate-income tenants whose incomes range from $22,000 to $44,000. The units will be 1- to 3-bedroom in size, and will allow for one parking space for each renter. The rental rates will range from $560 to $1,100, although BRIDGE has changed this number in their presentations. The low-income units will be on the west side of the BART station along Martinez Street. Thirty-three percent (33%) of this development will be affordable housing, although new developments are only required to have 15% affordable housing. Initially, we were told it would be 15%, but the City and the developers have decided to put the full quota in for Phase I of this project.

The 200 remaining units will be rented at market-rate rental prices, with rents ranging from $1,300 to $2,100 per month for a 1- to 2-bedroom unit. It will be located on the BART parking lot next to St. Leanders Church along San Leandro Boulevard. We were told initially that all of the 200 units would be rentals; however, the developers and the City have now advised us that all units will be mapped as condos for future sale when the real estate market improves. It is our opinion that the mapping of the units should be done and approved through the City plan and re-evaluated in 5 years or sooner for market-rate condos.

Many concerns about this project were raised by people who attended this meeting:

1. Schools: Did the City and its partners take into consider­ation the increase of the number of students that will be attending our schools? (After increased pressure from the citizens of San Leandro, the developer is now planning to meet with the school district to see what the developer can contribute in response to the increased number of students.)

2. Crime: Did the City and its partners talk about the increase of crime that may come with with an increase in population? Will the developers find a way to address this issue? (As of this time, we have not heard of any viable solutions as to what the City or the developer can do about adding police officers to accommodate the increase in population.)

3. Parking Issues: Westlake will only replace BART parking at a 1:1 rate, replacing 325 spaces that will be lost to development with a new 325 spaces. It is apparent that we need more parking, not the same or less. Every other BART station has increased the size of its parking lot. What about existing neighbors that live around BART? Where will they park, given this new influx of 600-700 new people?

4. BART Station: The downtown San Leandro BART sta­tion is in disrepair and needs to be remodeled. We are told that our station will not be remodeled anytime soon, as the Dublin station is ahead of ours in line. We are 5th on the list for a remodel. Hopefully, this will be approved by the BART board. Our station has not been touched in many years. It is time to get it remodeled if we are to take on this develop­ment. The good news is that it will get a paint job and we hope it will get a good steam cleaning of the sidewalks as well.

We ask all of you to participate in making your voice heard about this project. This project is the future of San Leandro and it will form our vision for many years to come. Please contact the EHOA board, or contact me personally if you wish to become involved in this very important subject.

In July, Luke Sims, the city’s Community Development Director, met with the EHOA group and other homeowners’ groups to tell us about the future of our downtown. I am an advocate of having a nice downtown where people can con­gregate, shop and enjoy their community -- which is why I was so excited when I heard about San Leandro’s TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) plan. The theory is that TOD will make use of public transportation systems such as BART and AC Transit, and encourage people to live, work and shop downtown. Over the next 10-20 years, the TOD plan calls for nearly 121,000 square feet of new retail space, more than 700,000 square feet of office space, and about 3500 residential units near BART.

BART
Mr. Sims advised us that we would have a new parking garage at the San Leandro BART station, with either the same number of parking spaces as we have now, or possibly fewer. The people in attendance responded that that there simply aren't enough parking spaces presently at BART. We also discussed the condition of the BART station, including cleanliness and safety concerns. If you are concerned about these issues surrounding BART, we encourage you to contact your city councilmember or BART directly. (See also our special guest speaker for the August EHOA meeting at right!)

DOWNTOWN
The downtown is being marketed by a company called Main Street Properties, which has worked with other cities in the Bay Area, including Alameda, whose downtown was also in need of an update to increase curb appeal on Park Street. Main Street Properties was able to bring in Tomatino's restaurant, which has courtyard dining, plus a florist, bookstore, and coffee shops.
San Leandro will start soon on a new project at Joaquin Street at East 14th, blocking the street off from cars and widening the sidewalks, which should make the area more conducive to outdoor dining and strolling. We have suggested a meeting with Main Street Properties for further details of the plan.

OUTDOOR DINING
We discussed having outdoor dining in the downtown. However, Mr. Sims felt our city's climate was not conducive for outdoor dining. The attendees strongly opposed Mr. Sim's position, arguing that it would only enhance our downtown and that many surrounding cities with the same temperature have outdoor dining.

MAIN STREET PROPERTIES
It appears that most of the renovation of new pedestrian amenities -- such as new lighting, new sidewalks and land­scaping -- will take place on the side streets off of East 14th Street. Many residents were concerned that not enough attention was being paid to East 14th, which is the entryway to the city.

This article is only a brief overview of what is to come for our downtown. I encourage all of you to become actively involved and provide input about the direction San Leandro is headed in the years ahead. If you have concerns about the downtown, please contact Luke Sims.