What To Watch For In 2018
One of the key goals of the City Council is to advance projects and programs promoting sustainable economic development, including transforming San Leandro into a center for innovation, and recent developments in our city are working steadily towards that goal. From the latest phase of the San Leandro Tech Campus, to the new Marina Gateway Center at the former Georgia Pacific manufacturing plant, developers and investors are committing millions of dollars into expanding our local economy and enhancing the strong local business network by creating opportunities for a variety of new businesses. The numerous office, manufacturing and residential developments, both completed and under construction, reflect ongoing success in achieving the City Council goals.
Investment in San Leandro is at an all-time high, with a number of projects completed over the past several years, and many more underway. Over the past four years, the value of construction has exceeded $590 million, with nearly $170 million of investment in 2016 alone. There is presently minimal vacant land and strong interest in the redevelopment of underutilized properties. This new development stimulates economic growth, creates jobs, and represents significant investment in the community.
San Leandro saw a great deal of development in 2017, and more is expected in 2018. Here is an offering of things to come this year:
Downtown Development
In keeping with the Downtown San Leandro Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Strategy, major developments continue bringing a variety of uses to the area surrounding the BART station, including office, housing, retail, and public gathering spaces.
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San Leandro Tech Campus – development continues, with Westlake Urban constructing a second 132,000 square foot office building at 1600 Alvarado Street. They have also been approved to construct 197 units of multi-family housing and 13,000 square feet of office space at the south end of the site, with construction expected to begin by the end of 2018. Overall investment in this project will exceed $150 million.
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Marea Alta – construction of the second phase of the development is underway, adding 85 affordable senior apartment units to the 115 family units already completed at San Leandro Boulevard and West Juana Street. BRIDGE Housing aims to complete construction in Summer 2018, and hopes to be fully leased by Fall 2018.
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Creekside Plaza – plans are underway for a fourth Class A Office building at Creekside Plaza. The developer, Innisfree Ventures, is also looking to redevelop the properties on the west side of San Leandro Boulevard, north of Wendy’s, for retail, office and parking uses.
Residential Development
The City of San Leandro encourages development of new housing, particularly in transit rich Downtown San Leandro, as an important tool for addressing housing demand and affordability in both the City and the Bay Area region. Over the next five years, over 1,500 housing units are approved or proposed for development across San Leandro, including:
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Wells Fargo Site – plans are also underway for development of 5.5 acres of vacant land at Alvarado and Antonio Streets. The site, which is being sold by Wells Fargo, represents one of the largest remaining vacant properties in the City. This transit-oriented development (TOD) site has the potential to bring over 600 multi-family housing units, as well as a public park and potential future Creek Trail access.
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Langon Construction – this local developer has completed purchase of the former Redevelopment Agency properties at Parrott Street and Washington Avenue and proposes to construct 26 for-sale condos with a 3,000 square foot retail space on the ground level. Langon is also developing Broadmoor Village at 311 MacArthur Boulevard, where a 20-unit townhome condo development is proposed.
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Galvan Building – 60 market rate units have been approved for development at Washington Avenue and Thornton Street by local developer Gordon Galvan.
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Parrott Street Apartments – nonprofit affordable housing developer Eden Housing has been approved to build 62 affordable units at San Leandro Boulevard and Parrott Street. In January, the City approved $5 million in funding to this over $30 million project, which Eden leveraged to apply for competitive State Affordable Housing Sustainamble Communities grant funds.
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Sansome Pacific – planning continues for redevelopment of the former CVS site at East 14th Street and Davis/Callan Streets. After extensive negotiations, the developer is now under contract to redevelop the full block and proposes to construct up to 200 housing units with ground floor retail (including a specialty grocery store).
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Monarch Bay Shoreline Development – plans continue for up to 500 housing units, in addition to commercial and recreational amenities, along the San Leandro shoreline. See below for more info.
Industrial Development
In the coming year, San Leandro will see a number of existing industrial sites redeveloped. Overall, there is 1.5 million square feet of new or rehabilitated industrial space recently completed or planned in San Leandro, representing over $150 million of investment in the community. With a strong business climate, convenient highway, port, and airport access, and a good employment base, industrial businesses find San Leandro a great place to locate. This is reflected in consistently low industrial vacancy rates around 1%.
Some of the many industrial projects expected to move forward in 2018, include:
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San Leandro Business Center – The closure of the Kraft Foods plant at 100 Halcyon Drive has made way for Trammell Crow Company to invest close to $80 million in a large scale 30-acre development, which could employ as many as 500 people. In 2017, developer Trammell Crow broke ground and began demolition to make way for three buildings including over 550,000 square feet of Class A industrial space, street improvements, new landscaping, and four large murals.
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Marina Gateway Center – Overton Moore Properties is investing $45 million to transform the former Georgia Pacific gypsum production plant at 2000 Marina Boulevard into a new 330,000 square-foot building, and to complete major site improvements. Torani, Inc. will be moving over 150 employees in its corporate and manufacturing headquarters to the new location, where they will manufacture over 200 flavors of internationally distributed syrup and provide a cafe and tours open to the public.
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Friant Furniture – Improvements are underway to the 306,000 square foot former Sears building at 1980 West Avenue 140th (south of Fairway Drive and Merced Street). The site will be the new headquarters of East Bay custom furniture manufacturer, Friant, which will bring over 150 jobs to the City. A smaller Sears outlet will remain at the site.
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DCT Williams Corporate Center – Construction is underway at 2001 Williams Street, where DCT Industrial is constructing a 75,000 square foot Class A Industrial building with hopes of attracting an advanced manufacturing, food processing, or e-commerce user.
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Lift Partners has recently acquired over 450,000 square feet at 1800-2010-2020 Williams Street, with plans to make major investments in the properties to attract creative industrial users to 21st Amendment Brewery‘s headquarters at the property.
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Paceline Investors proposes to construct a new 159,450 square foot industrial building at Aladdin and Alvarado Streets.
Shoreline Development
The City and Cal-Coast Development continue work on the comprehensive master and development plan for the Monarch Bay Shoreline Development Project, with a vision to create a regional destination that connects the community with the Bay and provides enhanced recreational and community amenities.
As proposed, the project will include enhanced recreational amenities, as well as a 200-room hotel, two restaurants, a banquet facility, a new Mulford-Marina Library facility, and up to 500 residential units. The development will provide a number of ways for residents and visitors to enjoy the shoreline, including parks, plazas, a pedestrian promenade, bike lanes, a boat launch area, and public art and environmental education. Next steps for the project include finalizing the project proposal and design, which will go through a public review process with the City, as well as regional agencies such as the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Bay Fair Transit Oriented Development Plan
The Bay Fair Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Specific Plan creates a 20-year vision to transform the Bay Fair BART Station area into a vibrant and sustainable mixed use community. The plan contains ideas and policies to improve the half-mile area around the Bay Fair BART station over time by providing new housing opportunities, a modernized shopping experience, and improved pedestrian and bike access.
After two years of planning and extensive public input, the final plan and related environmental impact report (EIR) will be presented to the City Council on February 20, 2018 for approval.
New Restaurants
Over the past couple of years, San Leandrans have celebrated the arrival of many new restaurants, and in the coming year we will see a continuation of that trend. New restaurants will include:
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Shabu House will be opening its doors in the former Thai Satay location at 1376 E. 14th Street to serve Japanese-style hotpot cooking within the next several weeks – stay tuned!
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Bonchon Chicken will bring Korean-style fried chicken and more to the former Sushi Mushashi space in Washington Plaza at East 14th and Davis Sts.
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Top Hatters Kitchen will begin major renovations to the former space at 599 MacArthur Boulevard, where chef Danvy Vu will serve her seasonal rustic cuisine first made popular at her Go Streatery food truck.
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Kohinoor Indian Cuisine plans to renovate the former Taco Bell space at 15099 Hesperian Boulevard.
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Chinese restaurant Manor Point Kitchen is also expected to open its doors, specializing in roast duck and pork at 15052 Farnsworth Street.
Introducing Medical Cannabis
The City Council has approved up to three medical cannabis dispensaries in San Leandro. Of the three operators, Harborside hopes to begin construction on its 1965 Marina Boulevard location in 2018. San Leandro will also see the opening of its first medical cannabis manufacturer, Dispersa Labs at 1655 Abram Court, which will manufacture dry cannabis powder inhalers for distribution to local dispensaries.
Downtown Parking
The City has partnered with Parkmobile to roll out a mobile payment option for San Leandro parking. Parkmobile allows for residents and visitors to pay for their parking via a smart phone app, while maintaining the option to pay parking meters with coins. Parkmobile provides similar mobile payment services in neighboring communities, including Oakland, Berkeley and Walnut Creek.
In the next few months the City will implement additional parking improvements to Downtown San Leandro, as part of the Downtown Parking Management Plan. These improvements include:
- Revised policies to aid enforcement
- Updated pay stations in the Downtown Parking Garage
- Updated fee and permit structures
- Residential permit options for neighborhoods near BART
More information on downtown parking improvements will be provided at the February 20, 2018 City Council meeting.
Public Art & Beautification
More Mural Art will be arriving at in the Washington Manor neighborhood. Oakland artist Sarah Bowser will install a large mural at 15000 Farnsworth Avenue, on the south-facing wall of the 88 Manor Market. An additional mural is planned to be installed at the Downtown BART station within the next couple of years. Check out our video on the 2017 Mural Program here.
Over the next few months, another barrage of utility boxes will receive original art. Wraps are still being installed from the second utility box art effort, and with this third round, San Leandro will be home to a total of 68 beautified utility boxes since the program’s initiation in 2015.
Working with the San Leandro Arts Commission, the City is also issuing a call for artists for the design of new street banners. Unique banners will be designed for different neighborhoods across the city, including Bancroft Avenue, Hesperian, MacArthur, San Leandro, and Wicks Boulevards.
Construction on the Ale Trail is slated to begin in 2018, which will create an aesthetically enhanced pedestrian connection between Drake’s Brewing Company and 21st Amendment Brewery.
San Leandrans can look forward to another busy year in 2018, with great opportunities coming for new businesses, new housing, and new amenities in San Leandro. Stay tuned for updates throughout the year!
with all this new development, you will need traffic to get there. Are you kidding? The streets in San Leandro cannot hold the traffic it has now without causing more “pot holes” if redevelopment goes thru. Go up Juana Avenue, above Bancroft, and tell me it’s OKAY. Fix roads first. Then “they will come.”
Excited to try all the new restaurants that will be coming. Hope they are all high quality!
Has there been any discussions regarding building a Sprouts here also? Maybe for 2019?
Haha as someone who has commented in the past regarding a sprouts or similar, it has been hinted that the “specialty grocery store” mentioned in the old CVS building will be of that nature. Dunno if there is some NDA, but hopefully the exact name of the store will be announced sooner rather than later.
Great article looking forward to 2018!
Thanks so much for the info. As a resident of Ashland, I’m particularly interested in the Bay Fair TOD and will be following closely.
Schools are terrible, please fix them.
I hope there is more involvement by San Leandro to curb crime. Washington Plaza is a magnet for panhandlers. I hate driving in downtown SL so many run red lights and disregard others. One lady made a u turn in middle of street with dog on her lap another guy walking across East 14th on red light where are cops here to manage traffic? Traffic will be horrible with all these added housing units.
Also they need to do something about crime at Bayfair. You want to add housing units i dont know where is left for that but do something serious about crime first.
More mixed use! More walkability and green space! Bike Paths! More places to eat! More Retail! More Millennials!!!! All of it cannot come fast enough. Sprouts?!?! HELL YES!!!! I can’t wait!!!!!
I don’t like trump.