Huge San Ramon development nears finish line

Run Date: September 4, 2009

By Blanca Torres
San Francisco Business Times

‘NOT EVERY BUILDER COULD PULL THIS OFF’

With only 150 homes out of 5,170 left to sell, development of the Windemere master-planned community in San Ramon is in the home stretch of a process that has stretched more than 30 years.

The community has established a suburban enclave of homes for an estimated 15,000 people nestled among rolling hills that were once dotted with cattle ranches. The 2,300-acre site still maintains a sense of open space, with undeveloped hilltops thrusting out of the landscape.

The team: Mark Kaushagen, Pulte; John Ryan, Brookfield; Brian Olin, Lennar; Kevin Pohlson, Brookfield.

If the views from Windemere can be stunning, views of Windemere remain divided. For the three builders — [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest.

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] Lennar Homes, Centex Homes and Brookfield Homes — that formed a partnership to take on the massive project, it is a bedroom community situated perfectly to serve the East Bay job centers nearby. For some urban planning activists, it is the sort of car-centric suburban sprawl that is driving the Bay Area in the wrong direction.

“Our goal was to provide housing for an area that has one of the largest job concentrations in the East Bay: Bishop Ranch and Hacienda Business Park,” said John Ochsner, who worked on Windemere for Centex Homes, which was recently acquired by Pulte Homes.

John Ryan, president of Brookfield Homes, said he expects the development to be completely sold out within a year despite the current downturn in the real estate market.

Prices on homes in the development have come down somewhat, and buyers continue to sign contracts. Windemere offers a variety of home styles from condos and townhomes to large, detached houses with prices ranging from the $400,000s to just over $1 million. Ryan said most of the homes sold when the housing market was booming.

“We hit the upstream on the way up and the downstream on the way down,” he said. “Our sales are still doing well.”

Construction on the first homes started in 2001 after decades of planning that began in the 1980s. The three companies came together in the 1990s and worked to have the project approved, which took several years.

Developers have yet to sell just 150 of 5,170 in the Windemere development in San Ramon.

“For the Bay Area, it was a rare opportunity and the three companies fortunately had the vision to see it,” Ochsner said. “Not every builder could pull this off because of the size, magnitude and cost of investment required. … It was better as a joint project because the risk profile was too great for one builder.”

The builders had to install infrastructure such as roads, sewage systems and electricity. They invested $235 million into building two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. The high school alone cost $160 million, has a capacity of 2,200 students and features an outdoor athletic pool and modern performing arts center. The community also has a child-care center, a 26,000-square-foot community center and a branch campus of Diablo Valley College. Windemere also includes 18 parks.

The project faced opposition from preservationists and residents of neighboring cities who did not want to annex the community, which was originally part of unincorporated Contra Costa County. San Ramon has gradually annexed portions of Windemere as they have been developed.

Brian Olin, Bay Area division president for Lennar Homes, said he calls the site “in-fill,” considering its proximity to major business parks and the few miles to the Interstate 580 and Interstate 680 freeways and BART. Windemere also provides an option for families who might otherwise move farther east to the Central Valley.

“It’s a good balance,” Olin said. “There’s absolutely a need for housing. As a builder, you want to be responsible about what you’re building.”

Groups that opposed the project from the start, however, say that Windemere is outside existing urban boundaries and is simply unrestrained growth in the wrong place.

“This project represents an era of unsustainable growth that must end,” said Christina Wong, who handles East Bay development issues for the Greenbelt Alliance.

Another site the size of Windemere will probably never come available again in the Bay Area, Ochsner said. Nonetheless, while Windemere finishes its build-out, another development team, FT Land LLC, has proposed a mixed-use development called the New Farm Project on 771 acres along Camino Tassajara, just a few miles east of Windemere on unincorporated county land. That proposal would require an amendment to the Contra Costa County General Plan to allow for residential development on areas currently used for cattle grazing. The Greenbelt Alliance opposes that proposal as well.

“We need to build in a more climate-friendly, affordable and economically competitive way,” Wong said. “We need to reinvest in our urban neighborhoods and suburban downtowns.”

Photo credit: Spencer Brown

Need a Foreclosure Game Plan? Find it on KCBS.com’s “The Real Story With Colleen Edwards”

Run Date: August 27, 2009

By Amy Kennedy
Silicon Valley Mercury News

With a daunting array of foreclosure issues, trends and topics in today’s housing market, there’s a one-stop, go-to solution for those seeking a comprehensive source of information to help in the decision-making process: KCBS.com’s The Real Story with Colleen Edwards.

Edwards offers podcasts and interviews with industry thought leaders committed to providing insights and perspective on the ever-evolving real estate world. As a veteran of more than 30 years in the new home market, Edwards also offers a blog, addressing a variety of compelling subjects to those interested in buying, selling, investing or remodeling.

With regard to foreclosures, Edwards recently interviewed Chris George, president of CMG Mortgage and secretary of the California Mortgage Bankers Association. Here are some topics they discussed:
Consumer confidence is the key to a economic recovery, and it’s increasing slightly a baby step in the right direction.
A wave of adjustable rate mortgages will reset in the next few months, causing more havoc and more opportunity.
If you’re facing foreclosure, be proactive about suggesting a workout plan to your lender.
Foreclosure doesn’t benefit anyone including the bank.

Edwards also talked with Lota De Castro of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage about these issues:
The Three P’s of buying a foreclosure: patience, preview, perseverance.
When buying a foreclosure, how do you know you’re getting the best deal?
The short sale is a long and complex process.
Buying a foreclosure comes with many potential frustrations.

Condos replace Salvatore’s in San Carlos

Run Date: August 23, 2009

By Judy Richter
Special to The Chronicle

SAN CARLOS BILLS ITSELF AS “THE CITY OF GOOD LIVING”

It lives up to that billing with pleasant parks, respected schools, a bustling downtown and a convenient location about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose.

These assets are touted by 1001 Laurel, a 90-unit condominium project that sits between El Camino Real and Laurel Street, downtown’s main drag.

The 1-acre site once was occupied by the Golden Platter restaurant and its parking lot, according to John Baer, a principal in the Matteson Cos., developer of the condos.

The restaurant became Salvatore’s after chef Sal Campagna bought it in 1977 and offered an Italian menu. The San Carlos resident also served as the San Francisco 49ers’ food consultant.

Matteson talked to Campagna about buying the site in 1999, Baer said. Hoping to capitalize on the dot-com boom, the company planned a 100,000-square-foot office building with penthouses on the fourth floor.

On orders from the city, Campagna closed the restaurant on Dec. 31, 2001, because the unreinforced masonry building, the last in the city, didn’t meet seismic safety standards.

In the meantime, the dot-com bust caused Matteson to scrap its office plans in favor of 104 apartments. Once those plans were OKd, the restaurant was razed in September 2005.

More economic changes led to the 90 condos plus 5,700 square feet of ground-floor retail space. “It was a natural evolution,” Baer said.

Construction began about two years ago. By the time the project opened in mid-July, more than 1,300 people had signed the interest list; 500 of them visited on the opening weekend.

1001 Laurel is close to shops, services and restaurants with cuisine from around the world, many with sidewalk dining. Bianchini’s Market opened on Laurel in May.

Laurel hosts a farmers’ market on Thursdays from May through September, while nearby Burton Park offers free Friday night concerts in July and August. The Caltrain station is four blocks away, and SamTrans buses run along El Camino.

Twenty-five of the condos have one bedroom and one bathroom plus, in most, a tech nook. Averaging about 700 square feet, they start at $430,000.

The 57 two-bedroom, two-bath units range from about 1,027 to 1,097 square feet with prices starting at $599,500. With prices starting at $775,000, the eight three-bedroom units have two or three bathrooms and 1,241 to 1,419 square feet.

Some of the one- and two-bedroom units are available for lower prices to first-time buyers who live or work in San Carlos and meet income guidelines.

The two-bedroom units come in two variations. Of these, Plan 1 is shown as a model.

On one side of its entry hall is a combination closet and laundry area for stacked appliances. On the other side is the kitchen, which features maple cabinets, granite counters, gas stove and stainless steel appliances.

The kitchen looks into the dining area and living room. Off the living room is a door to a patio on the ground floor and to a balcony on the upper floors.

The second bedroom has a wide closet, while the master bedroom has a walk-in closet. Its bathroom includes both a tub and a shower. The other bathroom, across from the second bedroom, has a tub with shower.

Homeowner dues at 1001 Laurel range from $320 to $420, including water and gas. Dues for two-bedroom units are projected from $360 to $390.

One-bedroom units get one underground parking space. Others get two. Extra storage is available for purchase on each floor. All units have air conditioning.

The four-story building is arrayed around a central courtyard with a fountain, barbecue area, fireplace and trellised sitting area. There’s a fitness center on the ground floor.

Matteson is negotiating leases for the retail spaces. Two of the tenants are expected to be an accountant and a drop-off site for White Oak Cleaners of San Carlos.

VITALS

Address: 1001 Laurel St., San Carlos
Developer: Matteson Cos.
Architect: Christiani Johnson Architects
Model: Two bedrooms, two baths
Price: Starting at $599,500
Square footage: 1,027-1,097
Price per square foot: Starting at $583.74
Parking: Two underground spaces
Monthly homeowner dues: $360-$390
Sales office hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday-Thursday
Phone: (650) 594-1005
Web: www.1001laurel.com

Have your questions answered by industry experts

Run Date: August 16, 2009

San Jose Mercury News

Visit TheRealStoryBlog.com for a Webcast of the recent housing market panel presentation featuring industry thought leaders from Zillow.com, CBS MoneyWatch and CMG Mortgage, presented by KCBS 740 AM and moderated by The Real Story’s Colleen Edwards.

KCBS sponsored another of its popular Business Mixer events with Edwards, host of KCBS.com’s informative The Real Story online real estate resource.

The event was titled “Making Lemons Into Lemonade—Practical Tools to Help You Squeeze Opportunity from a Sour Economy” and attracted a capacity audience July 30 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.

Edwards was joined onstage and led a panel discussion about housing market issues with Zillow.com’s chief economist Stan Humphries; Alison Rogers, “Ask the Agent” of CBS MoneyWatch.com in New York; CMG Mortgage president Chris George (also secretary of the board of directors of the California Mortgage Bankers Association); and Carolyn Said, a Bay Area journalist covering real estate and business.

“We presented each side of the coin—both the pain and excitement of today’s home buying market,” said Edwards, a veteran or more than 30 years in the real estate industry. “The panel delivered practical solutions to the audience, helping them to shape informed decisions about how best to navigate the ever-changing Bay Area real estate landscape.”

Each of the panelists have agreed to do a week-long podcast segment for The Real Story in the near future. Send questions to http://therealstoryblog.com/ask-colleen/. Edwards will use many of the questions in her upcoming interviews with the panelists.

Summertime and the living easy at 1001 Laurel

Run Date: July 22, 2009

Judy Clarke and Kelly Clarke
San Carlos Real Estate Blog

It’s the opening that the Peninsula real estate community has been waiting for—1001 Laurel, the new architectural jewel with 90 condominium homes in downtown San Carlos. The sales office will be open Saturday through Thursday beginning July 25th.

Light-washed interior spaces. Exquisite appointments and finishes. A central courtyard and a well-appointed fitness center. 1001 Laurel is stylish and functional—perfect for your buyers wanting a walk-around lifestyle. They’re offering 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom home designs. Check out their website for floor plans and images (a picture IS worth a thousand words!) Pricing starts in the $400,000s for 1 bedrooms. $600,000 for 2 bedrooms and up. HOA dues are in the low $300 to $400 depending n the square footage and include everything but electricity.