Developer Wants to Create a 'Saranap Village' on Boulevard Way

Nothing has been presented to either the cities of Lafayette or Walnut Creek, but a development company is eyeing Boulevard Way as a place ripe for change. 

The Hall Equities Group, responsible for several other high profile projects in Walnut Creek, including the Arroyo, Geary Marketplace and 680 Centre, has posted renderings of its vision for Saranap Village, a massive remake of the present area, which features a mix of apartments, light industrial and small retail stores. 

The company's explanation of their idea is to turn what they call a "pumpkin" into "a coach," ala Cinderella. They propose to do that by eliminating the four-lane road, which they say makes it very difficult for retail and residential to co-exist, and rebuilding it into a two-lane road between Flora Ave. and Saranap. 

"The opportunity has finally come together where a property assemblage of sufficient size, at a key intersection location, has now been achieved to allow the critical amount of synergistic uses that are necessary to create enough scale that can support the additional financial costs of such transformational public infrastructure elements," according to the web site. 

But, it goes on, since the county cannot afford to rebuild the roadway into something more pedestrian friendly, the project has to be large enough to generate that kind of money privately. 

Included in the plans are three major apartment and condominium complexes, and a mixture of boutique-type retail shops. 

No formal plans have been presented as yet, so at this point the company's vision remains just that. 

What do you think about the idea? Tell us in the comments.