A Flurry Of Construction Going On In Western Walnut Creek

The sound of bulldozers, backhoes and hammers is echoing through the western half of Walnut Creek these days.

Three major projects are currently under construction.

Between them, they will produce 475 apartments and condominiums as well as more than 600 parking spaces and 38,000 square feet of retail and commercial space.

There’s more to come, too.

A pair of projects that have been approved but aren’t under construction yet will bring another 148 apartments.

Three other developments under review would add another 900 apartments as well as 40,000 square feet of commercial space and 2,000 parking spaces.

And this doesn’t include the planned redevelopment of a segment of Broadway Plaza that could add as much as 300,000 square feet of retail shops to downtown Walnut Creek.

Steve Buckley, the city’s planning manager, said the sudden flood of developments in the project pipeline is due to the loosening up of funding and the return of confidence in the real estate market after the recent recession.

He added there is a five-year backlog of projects that are starting to now be built

“I guess it is unusual but not unexpected,” said Buckley.

One of the ones under construction is the Brio Apartments, formerly known as the Paragon Apartments.

They are going up on North Civic Drive near Broadway on the 5-acre property that used to house Long’s Drugs headquarters.

When completed, this project will consist of 300 apartment units with a pool, fitness center and clubhouse. It’ll also have a 468-stall, five-story parking garage. It’s expected to be completed next summer.

Also under construction a few blocks away is the North Main Apartments on a 1.2-acre site that used to house the Walnut Creek Motor Lodge at North Main Street and Ygnacio Valley Road.

When completed, this project will have 126 apartments with 170 parking spaces.

In the downtown area, construction has begun on The Village Mixed Use project. on a 2-acre site at Main Street and Newell Avenue that was the site of an 8-story office building and a 7-11 store.

The buildings were demolished late last year and the rubble was carted away.

Going up in their place is a 4-story, 128,000-square-foot building that will include 49 condominiums and 38,000 square feet of retail shops. It will also have two levels of parking.

Construction could begin soon on another development on the other side of downtown. The plans for the Arroyo Apartments have been approved by the city.

The apartment building will be on a one-acre site on Arroyo Way between Civic Drive and Broadway. It’s replacing a 1950s-era office building.

When completed, the six-story complex will contain 100 apartment units.

Also approved is the Third Avenue Apartments on Baldwin Lane in northwest Walnut Creek. The .84-acre project will have 48 affordable rate apartments once it’s built.

On the drawing boards and under review by city planners are three other residential-retail projects.

The 1500 North California Mixed Used project would replace a vacant restaurant at a bank building now on a 1.2 -acre site on Bonanza between Locust Street and North California.

When complete, the complex will have 141 apartment units, 19,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space and 210 parking spaces.

Over near the BART station, there are plans for 178 apartments on two parcels totaling 1.7 acres in the 200 block of Ygnacio Valley Road.

The Landing at Walnut Creek would be a six-story building with two levels of parking and four levels of residential units.

Across the street is the biggest one of all. The BART Transit Village is under review by city planners.

This project would put 596 apartments and 21,000 square feet of retail space at the Walnut Creek BART station.

It would also replace 851 parking spaces at BART as well as add 775 parking spaces in the complex itself.