If you’ve been wondering what the big piles of dirt are in the former parking lot by Senro Sushi (55 W. Angela St.), they’re the beginning phase of the first new building to go up in downtown Pleasanton in two years.
An office building designed by Charles Huff at 344 Division Street was the last such project. The new multi-million dollar office building may become a destination for downtown shoppers. When the roughly 8,000 square foot building is complete, the lower level, with its big plate glass windows, may house one or more restaurants, retail shops or banking-related businesses, said owner Mitch Pereira. An elevator will take tenants to offices on the second floor. Pereira doesn’t rule out that space on the second floor may be rented out to doctors, dentists or a salon.
To get a feel for what it will look like, check out the free-standing “Crossroads” sign by the sidewalk across the street from Meadowlark Dairy. The two-story structure, explains architect Charles Huff, is designed to blend with the old railroad buildings nearby.
The building immediately behind the piles of dirt once housed the station master’s quarters. Southern Pacific passenger trains made regular stops in Pleasanton until the mid-1950s, said Huff associate David Pollard. The one-time station master’s photos once adorned Huff’s office walls.
Although the new construction has usurped the parking lot shared by several businesses, including Huff’s, Pollard said, “It seems to be working out just fine.”
The Pereiras in Pleasanton
Planning construction projects comes naturally to the Pereira family, who’ve made their home here since 1964. Mitch’s dad, Woody, was on the Planning Commission from 1970 to 1971 and, then-employed by a big California homebuilder, was involved in the Bonde Ranch housing project off Bernal which, today, boasts 100 homes.
The younger Pereira, now age 44, purchased the Railroad Square property in 1991, subdivided it in 2000, and started planning what he thought would be an office complex. Then, he said, the dot com boom went bust, as did the anticipated market for downtown office space. No tenants are signed for the new project yet, but Pereira said, once the ground dries out enough to pour the foundation, he’ll begin the marketing campaign.
About that parking
When the project is complete, Pollard and Pereira said some parking will be restored and can be used by patrons of Senro Sushi as well as other tenants and their clients in the existing building now occupied by Huff and others. Asked if construction this summer will impede downtown traffic flow or the Farmers Market, Pereira said, “It shouldn’t.”
Peter MacDonald, an attorney who serves on the Pleasanton Downtown Association Parking Committee, adds that Pereira, “has met his parking requirement.” While MacDonald believes “the railroad corridor” does need downtown parking lots, he also said, “We need side street development” such as the new building on Angela. He fully supports the project, he said, adding that it adds value to Pleasanton’s user-friendly downtown.
Back when
Pan Pacific Bank, based in Fremont, is bankrolling the project. Business development officer and long-time Pleasanton resident Russ Trepani recounts the site’s historical significance for Pleasanton. At one time, he said, there was debate over whether to put the Southern Pacific train station here, or in Dublin. When Pleasanton got the nod, people from San Francisco started coming out to the “country” for a relaxing weekend. Then, he said, “Charlie Chaplin made a couple movies here.” What had been a bucolic, rural one-horse town was booming. “The railroad,” Trepani said, “really put Pleasanton on the map.”
When contractor Michael O’Callaghan dug up the parking lot, Trepani said, “I was surprised we didn’t find any Indian bones, or a reservation.” The mounds of dirt, though, are surprisingly free of old artifacts or historical debris. Only the building design reflects the site’s former era.
Interested businesses
Shop, salon and restaurant owners, dentists, doctors, or others interested in leasing space in the Railroad Square building can contact Mike Trinidad, 249-1700, for more information.
