Legacy Partners Updates San Carlos on Transit Village Plans.
March 25, 2010
Informational Meeting.
Last week, in a meeting hosted by the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce, representatives from Legacy Partners presented an update to their vision of the San Carlos Transit Village. For those of you not familiar with the Transit Village, it's a concept being considered by the City of San Carlos to significantly modify the land on both sides of the historic train depot in San Carlos by adding retail space, high-end residential rental units, and additional parking. Legacy Partners was chosen by the City of San Carlos as the lead developer for this concept.
For more information, visit the City of San Carlos page for this: San Carlos Transit Village.
Updated Presentation.
In last week's meeting, which was attended by about 30-40 people (including 4 of the 5 City Council members, the City Manager and the Asst. City Manager), Legacy Partners gave a fairly detailed presentation on their vision of the Transit Village, as well as any changes from previous specifications. For example, the number of luxury rental units in the concept dropped to 280 units. There was consternation expressed by representatives of the Greater East Side San Carlos group for lack of any mention of the impact to the residents in Clearfield Park in their presentation.
Timing for this project (if it even moves forward) is still pretty far out on the horizon. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) still needs to be completed, discussed, and approved before much else can happen. Consequently, it's going to be a few years before the first shovel of dirt is turned….if it happens at all.
Legacy Partners was nice enough to provide me with a copy of their presentation to post on the site. Click here to download it: Legacy Partners; San Carlos Transit Village 3-16
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Wait wait wait….We are getting rid of our police department..but the city wants to re-invent the transit corridor? How much of this project is the city going to fund? Once again, the city has their priorities wrong wrong wrong. So when the plan goes over budget and they can’t pay the Sheriff’s Office, what happens then?
I don’t see how the two issues are related. On the contrary, building the plaza (housing + commercial) is probably going add a lot to the city and county budget.
Here are some rudimentary numbers:
280 units at 500k per unit = $140 Million in increased assessed value
Total real estate tax generated = 140M * 1.1% per year = $1.5M
Total real estate tax for San Carlos per year = ~ $400k (i cold be wrong here)
In addition, there will be countless permit fees, inspections et all during construction and the business generated by the commercial establishments.
Looks like a pretty good deal to me.
Other upside: this will be one of the few smartly designed residential spaces. We have this incredible resource (Caltrain) and most people have to drive to it to get on the train and then take shuttles to their work. What a badly designed transit system. I am all for having higher density housing and offices near caltrain.
On the downside, there will be more traffic on Holly and I feel the residents on Holly street.
My understanding is that the City’s required financial contribution is pretty minimal. The land is owned by SamTrans, so it’s a development deal with them, and San Carlos stands to gain significant tax revenue from the Plaza. The big problem to overcome will be the traffic impact on Holly, and making sure the Plaza doesn’t further divide the east side of San Carlos from the west.
Great project! I can’t wait to see more Mediterranean restaurants in San Carlos.
Have you tried the new Peruvian restaurant on Holly, across the street from 7-11? It’s not Mediterranean, but it’s great.
There may be some redevelopment agency money used in this project. That money cannot legally be used for public safety. The required 15% affordable housing in this project will be helpful in getting us a little closer to meeting the State requirement. We are way behind! It is also a feather in our cap because it is the first Transit Oriented project in this area. We’ve already been praised by housing advocates. Projects like this will make San Carlos look much better when we apply for grants. This will be an overall win for the City.
Terrible idea! I do not want to see 4 story buildings with hundreds of apartments crammed next to the rail road tracks. This is one of the worst ideas San Carlos has considered! There is no way our city can handle hundreds more people – we can’t even provide basic services to the people here. Bad, bad idea!
Also, doesn’t SamTrans have enough office space right now? Do they really need to build new office buildings on top of our historic train depot?
Most people in San Carlos will oppose this terrible overdevelopment of our city!