The Pleasanton Planning Commission has approved construction of a high density, multi-story apartment complex along with 97 new homes on a 27-acre site along Valley Avenue just south of Bernal Avenue and the Pleasanton Gateway Center.
The project is planned by South Bay Development, which has owned the entire 37-acre site since 2000. At one time, South Bay had approval to build eight four- and five-story office buildings on the property, but that plan was shelved when the need for more office space collapsed 10 years ago.
South Bay sold part of its property to Safeway Corp., which built the new Safeway Lifestyle supermarket and developed the center that now houses retail and service stores, including a gas station, Starbucks, CVS pharmacy and two banks.
South Bay’s Scott Trobbe told Planning Commissioners that his new plan calls for construction of 210 apartment units in nine, 18-unit and 24-unit three-story tall buildings just over 43 feet high.
They will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, each with a one-car garage. The buildings will be clustered around a core center with entrances off Valley Avenue, across from the 100-unit Kensington Apartments, and another from a roadway that runs alongside the south edge of the Gateway Center.
The project will include a leasing office building for the apartments, a recreation area that will include a building with a business center, conference facilities, gymnasium and a media center. Outdoor amenities will include a swimming pool and spa, barbecue and fire pit areas, a tot lot, cabanas, outdoor seating and a bocce ball court.
Of the 97 single-family homes planned for the site, 62 will be three-story tall homes with a maximum height of approximately 45 feet, and 35 will be two stories tall. The two-story homes will have four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, two-car garages and range in size from 3,541 to 3,654 square feet.
The three-story buildings will have three bedrooms, ranging in size from 2,830 to 3,054 square feet.
The Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of the Pleasanton Gateway project now sends the proposal to the City Council, which is expected to also review the plan at a meeting next month.
If also approved by the council, Pleasanton Gateway will cap a series of high density housing decisions over recent months stemming from an agreement between the city of Pleasanton and state housing authorities after a court order for the city to provide more affordable housing.
Earlier this month, the council approved construction of a 345-unit upscale apartment complex on Bernal Avenue at Stanley Boulevard that will include a three-building retail center with a drug store and drive-through pharmacy. The project, to be built and owned by E&S Ring Management Corp. of Los Angeles, will include two-, three- and four-story apartment buildings on what is now a barren 16-acre site across Bernal from McDonald’s and an AM/PM gas station. Nevada Court, a cul de sac that serves Congregation Beth Emek, is at the southern edge of the site, and Stanley Boulevard is on the north.
Last year, BRE, a national affordable housing developer, won permits to build a total of 18 three- and four-story buildings on two separate sites in Hacienda Business Park that will have 500 rental units ranging in size from studio apartments to three-bedroom units. Work on the multi-million-dollar housing project is expected to start next year.
Last April, the council approved the construction of new multi-story, high density apartment buildings and an adjoining retail center on a portion of the office building site at Rosewood Drive and Owens drives, called California Center. That development will contain 305 apartments ranging in size from studios to three bedrooms.
In July, the council agreed to a plan by St. Anton Partners to build a 168-unit apartment complex at 5729 W. Las Positas Blvd.
