Planning for a BART Transit Village Back On, But ...

Last year, the long-brewing idea for a transit village around Walnut Creek's BART station hit a snag.

Yes, the economy.

The developer, Walnut Creek Transit Village Lifestyle Associates, which is partnering with BRE Properties Inc., needed time to "re-evaluate the project." The project involved a major overhaul to the 17-acre BART-owned site, bringing in nearly 600 new apartment units, as well as commercial space and an expanded parking garage.

The developer is back with a new, slightly scaled-down proposal, which will go to the city and undergo an environmental impact review. The City Council will consider the new project at a special study session Tuesday afternoon. The session will begin at 4 p.m. in the third-floor conference room of City Hall, 1666 N. Main St.

"As you know, the overall economic and local real estate market conditions have changed dramatically since this project was first proposed," Don Reber, real estate investment director for BRE Properties Inc. wrote in a letter to the city. 

Under the new proposal, the developer wants to:

• Do away with a plan to build a 30,000-square-foot office building that was originally envisioned for a south parcel that runs along Ygnacio Valley Road near Interstate 680.
• Reduce the size of the BART parking garage extension, which is to replace most of the surface parking areas and make room for the apartment units. The new extension would add 885 parking stalls to the existing garage. The developer's original proposal looked at adding 1,029 stalls. With some re-striping of stalls in the existing garage, the station would wind up with  2,241 parking spots, just 116 more than exist now. 
• Build the new, improved BART garage in two phases. 

The plan also includes public plazas, a 15-bay bus station, a bicycle pavilion and a BART security office.

This two-phase construction plan for the garage is perhaps the most worrisome to city planners, who wonder if it is the most efficient, economically feasible way to proceed, according to a city staff report. Meanwhile, residents no doubt will express worry about the size of the project, the volume of traffic it will generate and whether it will disrupt views of Mount Diablo. 

With regard to the two-phase construction plan, Reber said it is the best way for his company to tackle this project:  "Constructing the replacement parking garage in two phases minimizes upfront capitalized costs."

Also on the City Council's agenda Tuesday are a moratorium on wireless communication towers in residential areas and an appeal by residents in the Buena Vista neighborhood of the Planning Commission's approval of a 20-foot antenna on the St. Stephen's church property.