3B Public Hearing 2009 0720 - Laserfiche WebLink

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San Leandro Crossings Applicant's Supporting Statement The development team of San Leandro Crossings is pleased to submit this application for a Site Plan Review and Vesting Tentative Map for "Cornerstone," a 200- unit luxury residential community and Site Plan Review for the Replacement Parking Garage. These two projects are part of the initial phase of the larger San Leandro Crossings project which includes The Alameda, a 100 unit affordable housing community that the Planning Commission approved its Site Plan Review in January 2009. The other projects include various infrastructure improvements that among other benefits, will enhance pedestrian and bicycle connections between the residential communities, BART station, and downtown amenities. These projects have been presented to the local community over the past year in numerous, well attended meetings. The local community has provided suggestions and the plans have been modified in response to those suggestions. The Cornerstone and the Replacement Parking Garage meet the spirit, goals and objectives of the San Leandro Transit Oriented Strategy and comply with all development requirements of the City and the TOD Strategy, San Leandro Crossings was awarded $24.4m in State Prop 1C grants for infrastructure improvements in the TOD Strategy Area and will be an important first step in the creation of a beautiful, vibrant, pedestrian oriented neighborhood and a catalyst for the revitalization of Downtown San Leandro. Cornerstone was designed by the TCA Architects and the development will replace a BART parking lot with a Class A luxury multi -family residential community. The architectural design is evocative of many of the historic Spanish revival buildings in San Leandro. The building design includes a large paseo and all of the first floor residences will have doors and porches facing the public streets. The full build -out of San Leandro Crossings will create a compact, pedestrian -oriented neighborhood that will increase transit ridership, a goal of the City's TOD Strategy. Given the close proximity to BART and Downtown and the enhanced street, pedestrian, and bike lanes, the new residents of Cornerstone will enjoy a short and attractive walk or bike ride to the Downtown shops and services as well to BART. The Replacement Parking Garage was designed by International Parking Design and TCA Architects and will complement The Alameda residential building. The location will provide easy access to the BART station via an attractive pedestrian pathway. The garage will exceed the number of parking spaces in the current BART East Parking Lot with a total of 339 parking spaces. San Leandro Crossings is being planned to be LEED Neighborhood Development certified. LEED Neighborhood Development integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into neighborhood design and certification provides independent, third -parry verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible and sustainable development Summary The City's TOD Strategy articulates a strong vision for a vibrant new downtown neighborhood. We are proud to be a part of that vision and are grateful for the recommendations and feedback we have received from the community and staff. We are confident that Cornerstone, the Replacement Parking Garage will set a high standard for the neighborhood and will serve as a catalyst for other properties in the TOD Strategy Area and we look forward to the City's approval. SL Crossings — Developer Statement June 18, 2009