Fremont City Council members Tuesday unanimously approved a master plan for a community with up to 1,000 multi-family residential units, 5,000 square feet of commercial development and 2 acres of parkland on 34 acres to the east of the Warm Springs-South Fremont Bay Area Rapid Transit Station set to open later this year.
Proposed by Pennsylvania-based developer Toll Brothers Inc., Warm Springs Station will be built on a vacant property bounded by Interstate 680, Grimmer Boulevard and Warm Springs Boulevard, and located within all of Planning Area 9 of the Warm Springs/South Fremont Community Plan.
Required for projects larger than 5 acres, the master plan will serve as a guide for future development on the project site by establishing land use mix, intensity of development, construction phasing, and public improvements for the site, according to city staff.
In conjunction with the master plan, an affordable housing plan calls for the construction of 132 on-site below market rate rental housing units to satisfy requirements of the city’s affordable housing ordinance.
Rick Nelson, Toll Brothers division president, described Warm Springs Station as a “critical catalyst” for the city’s Warm Springs Innovation District, which covers a total of 880 acres across 10 planning areas. City leaders envision up to 20,000 jobs and 4,000 dwelling units in the district along with as much as 11.6 million square feet of floor space.
Toll Brothers’ $400 million investment in the project will create thousands of jobs and generate $21 million in park fees to fund and develop new public parks in the city, Nelson said. Site improvements could begin as soon as spring 2016 with vertical construction later that year, he added. Occupancy of the initial project phase is forecast in 2018.
Wayland Li, associate planner for the city, said Toll Brothers is expected to come back to the city soon with applications for project entitlements.
Rick Williams, of Van Meter Williams Pollack Architects LLP, said Warm Springs Station would “set the stage” for the Innovation District with a variety of housing types, and densities across several four- to six-story buildings with mixed-use development — retail space on the ground floor and residences above — closest to BART. The layout of the project is meant to be pedestrian friendly with private open spaces and a park at the center of the community.
The San Francisco-based firm designed Cottonwood Place, 98 senior units on Peralta Boulevard.
A total of 1,001 residential units would include a mix of housing types, such as for-sale condominiums, townhouses and flats, in addition to the 132 rental apartments at below market rate prices to be managed by a nonprofit housing company. The retail component would include business such as dry cleaners and coffee shops, city staff said.
On June 18, Fremont Planning Commission recommended the master plan’s approval to the city council without a senior housing component, which Toll Brothers had sought. The applicant proposed 66 units, or 50 percent, of the 132 rental off-price units to be designated for senior housing, ages 55 and up. Staff had recommended that no more than 43 units, or 33 percent, be set aside as senior housing because the Warm Springs/South Fremont Community Plan envisions residential development in the community plan area to provide nearby housing for workers within the Warm Springs Innovation District.
Seniors are an “underserved population” which is growing in Fremont, Nelson said. Also, there are fewer traffic impacts and no school impacts with senior residents. Additionally, the location is next to the BART station for access to transportation. A senior housing component would also allow for certain tax credits from the state, he said.
To break even on senior housing, Toll Brothers said it would have to develop at least 60 senior units. The senior units would be smaller than the planned family off-price housing and situated in a separate building from the family units.
Toll Brothers plans to partner with Bridge Housing Corp. to operate the below market rate units. Kevin Griffith, director of business development for Bridge Housing, said the nonprofit manages thousand of affordable senior units in the Bay Area and California.
Mayor Bill Harrison said he favored workforce housing at the development. However, senior housing would also be welcome.
“I think either way we’re going to have a great project,” he said.
Councilman Vinnie Bacon echoed Harrison’s comments on workforce housing being a priority at Warm Springs Station.
“This is not a place I think for senior housing,” he said.
To give Toll Brothers flexibility in case the tax credits for an exclusively senior housing project come in before they are able to attain tax credits for an affordable family housing project, the council gave the applicant a chance to come back and request an amendment to their affordable housing plan in the future.
Fremont Unified School District Superintendent Jim Morris, the only speaker from the public on the item other than the applicant, backed the project. He said a final agreement is close to complete on an unprecedented partnership between the district and developers, including Toll Brothers and Lennar Corp., to build a new 5-acre transitional kindergarten to fifth grade school in Warm Springs.
“We’re excited about the school that will be built in this community,” he said.
Lennar Corp. plans to build 2,200 housing units along with 1 million square feet of office and industrial space on 110 acres in Planning Area 4 of the Warm Springs/South Fremont Community Plan. Included is a 4-acre joint-use park to be shared between the school district and city.
The property, anticipated to be the site of the new school, is tucked between the Warm Springs-South Fremont BART Station, expected to open in December, and the Tesla Motors plant.
Council members are scheduled to convene again at a regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1 after their annual August recess.
