Title
Del Monte Development Agreement Annual Review - Applicants: TL Partners I, LP and Alta Buena Vista Owner, LLC. The applicants are requesting a periodic review of the Del Monte Warehouse Project Development Agreement. The consideration of an Annual Report is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). No further environmental review is required.
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) Section 30-95.1 requires the Planning Board to conduct a public hearing at which the applicant must demonstrate good faith compliance with the terms and conditions of the Del Monte Development Agreement. TL Partners I, LP (TLP) and Alta Buena Vista Owner, LLC (ABV) (together, the Developers) have submitted a letter demonstrating their good faith compliance with the terms and conditions of the DA. (Exhibit 1.)
Staff is recommending that the Planning Board approve the annual report and find that the Developers have complied in good faith with the terms and conditions of the DA. The Development Agreement can be found on the City of Alameda website at:
<https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Planning-Building-and-Transportation/Planning-Division/Major-Planning-Projects>
BACKGROUND
On January 15, 2015, the City of Alameda (City) and TLP entered into a Development Agreement (Original DA) for the Del Monte Warehouse Project. The Original DA has been amended by a First Amendment to Development Agreement dated June 8, 2017 (First Amendment), a Second Amendment to Development Agreement dated July 18, 2018 (Second Amendment), two ministerial amendments dated October 25, 2018 (Ministerial Amendment) and September 25, 2019 (Second Ministerial Amendment), and a Third Amendment to Development Agreement dated January 4, 2021 (Third Amendment, and together with the Original DA, the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, the Ministerial Amendment, and the Second Ministerial Amendment, the Development Agreement or DA).
On October 9, 2019, the City granted its written consent to a Partial Assignment of certain rights and obligations under the Development Agreement from TLP to ABV. ABV is currently under construction on the Del Monte Building and Clement Avenue extension. TLP still owns rights to the small pad at the northwestern end of the site.
ANALYSIS
Since executing the Original DA in 2015, the Developers and the City have accomplished a number of public benefits required by the Development Agreement. Those include:
Restoration and Adaptive Reuse of the Del Monte Warehouse Building. The DA established the obligation of the Developers to restore and adaptively reuse the Del Monte Building, a designated City Monument, for residential and commercial use. After much delay, TLP sold the rights to ABV in 2019, and in 2020, ABV acquired the necessary building permits and began restoration and rehabilitation of the building. The work is currently underway and the Developers hope to have the first tenants moving into the building in the fall of 2022.
Jean Sweeney Open Space Park: The Developers are obligated by the DA to make a payment of $2,000,000 in order to fund portions of the Jean Sweeney Open Space Park (JSOSP), a 22-acre park. TLP made an initial payment of $300,000 in February 2015 and paid $1 million to the Recreation and Parks Department in 2017. In 2018, TLP paid the remaining $700,000 of the $2 million obligation. Using TLP’s $2 million contribution as matching funds, the City secured a $2 million grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The City has also received a $2.3 million grant from the Regional Active Transportation Program, specifically for completion of the Cross-Alameda Trail, which runs the length of the park.
Affordable Housing: In compliance with the DA, the Developers submitted for review and approval by the City Council an Affordable Housing Agreement for the provision of fifty-five (55) affordable housing units. In 2015, the City Council approved the Affordable Housing Agreement and the agreement to convey the City-owned portion of the property (which would contain the 31-unit senior affordable housing building), to the Housing Authority of the City of Alameda. In 2018, the Housing Authority in collaboration with TLP completed construction of 31 units for very low- and low-income senior households at “Littlejohn Commons”. The 24 remaining affordable housing units will be provided within the adjacent Del Monte Building, which is currently under construction.
Beneficial Transfer Fee Agreement: The Beneficial Transfer Fee Agreement was executed concurrently with the Development Agreement in 2015.
Transportation Demand Management Program: The DA and Del Monte Master Plan require that the Developers establish and operate a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Program to reduce peak hour vehicle trips generated by the Del Monte development. Pursuant to those agreements, the Developers are required to initiate TDM services upon occupancy of the building, and the Developers are required to submit an annual report documenting compliance with the Planning Board-approved TDM program for the project. The first TDM annual report will be provided by the Developers upon building occupancy.
In 2017, TLP played an important role in assisting the City to establish the Alameda Transportation Management Association (ATMA) to coordinate supplemental transit services, leverage transportation resources to improve services for Alameda residents, and expand transit services citywide. The Del Monte project is an active member in the ATMA, which includes all of the projects in the Northern Waterfront and all of Alameda Point. During the review period, Easy Passes were provided for all 31 units within Littlejohn Commons.
Clement Extension: The DA and Master Plan require the Developers to construct the Clement Avenue extension from Atlantic Avenue to Entrance Road and to have those improvements completed by January 15, 2022. The agreement allows for the City Manager to grant a one-time one-year extension, which was exercised to extend the deadline to January 15, 2023.
Although the work on Clement Avenue is substantially complete, the extension was granted for several reasons:
• Since work began, the work has moved as expeditiously as possible given constraints brought upon by COVID 19 and a delayed approval of the Water Main Line by EBMUD. The COVID 19 crisis resulted in a delay of approximately 2 weeks and caused a reduction in labor for an extended period of construction. COVID 19 also delayed EBMUD’s approval for the Main Line Application, which plays a critical role in the completion of Clement Avenue.
• Transportation Planning and Public Works would like to delay the opening of the Clement Extension to better coincide with the construction of the final gap in the extension, which will be constructed through the former Pennzoil property. Until the Pennzoil portion is open, circulating automobile and truck traffic behind the Del Monte building will require a detour around the Pennzoil site, which will cause disruption to the Marina Shores neighborhood. Staff felt that it was best to delay opening of the Clement extension to minimize the period of disruption.
• Although the Clement extension is not open for trucks and automobiles, it was opened for bicyclists and pedestrians.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Periodic reviews of a Development Agreement are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the draft resolution (Exhibit 2) finding that the Developers have demonstrated good faith compliance with the terms and conditions of the Development Agreement.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas
Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Exhibits:
1. Annual Report Letter from Developers
2. Draft Resolution Approving Annual Report