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Nearly a decade after approving mixed-use development plans for a vacant site in northeastern San Ramon, the city’s Planning Commission is set to review a new concept for the property adjacent to Windmill Farms Produce that would reduce the number of housing units and eliminate the retail portion that was previously floated.
Permits for the previously proposed project at the 2.5-acre site at 2251 San Ramon Valley Blvd., a 169-unit apartment building and 6,100 square feet of retail space, expired at the start of 2025 after they were approved by the city in 2016. The upcoming concept review for a 45-unit, multi-family townhome project comes ahead of formal applications for the new plan, with the goal of providing input to the applicant prior to the permitting application process.
The new homes would be situated within five separate, three-story buildings with porches, ranging from two to four bedrooms with 87 parking spaces currently proposed – three below the two-per-unit requirement under the city’s zoning ordinance standards. Although a majority of the townhomes would have two-car garages, 10 of the two-bedroom units would have only one-car garages as the plan currently stands, with additional on-site parking also proposed.
While the applicant, Santa Clara-based ROEM Development Corp., has submitted plans for layout and utilities of the site, what it might ultimately look like depends largely on further conversations with the city.
“The architectural style has not yet been finalized, but the applicant intends to collaborate with the City to establish a visually appealing and context-appropriate design,” director of community development Lauren Barr and assistant planner Lucas Haase wrote in a staff report for the upcoming meeting.
Hearing from the Planning Commission and the public is the primary goal of the upcoming meeting, in which city staff are recommending the commission provide any specific input it has on architectural styles and layout, as well as density and its appropriateness within the city’s current vision for the neighborhood.
Since the previous project was approved in 2016, the city has gone on to adopt its updated general plan in 2023, with the site sitting within the San Ramon Village Specific Plan that was adopted in 2020 and amended as part of the most recent general plan update. Those are also factors that staff are recommending the commission address this week.
According to an overview of the specific plan, it aims to provide “a vision for an area of San Ramon that is currently underutilized but has the potential to develop into a vibrant mixed use district for the community.”
That’s the latest in a series of planning goals and efforts from the city for the northeastern corner of town nestled near the Danville border. The area was first eyed as the city’s central gathering area under the 1986 Downtown Specific Plan, later being incorporated into the Conservation and Enhancement Program in 1991 then into the 2006 Crow Canyon Specific Plan.
“The original concept for the area as a downtown for the community was preempted by the development of the City Center Complex, which shifted the community’s focus southward and east of I-680, and diverted demand for the retail marketplace envisioned by the Downtown Specific Plan,” consultants from the urban planning firm Dyett & Bhatia wrote in the current San Ramon Village Specific Plan.
The upcoming proposal is also the latest in a series of plans for the site, which previously housed Outpost Sports Bar and Grill. The applications approved in 2016 were for a revamped project that was modified multiple times since its initial concept review in 2014, and was set to include 20 below-market-rate units.
In 2019, the applicant sought the city’s support in shifting to a 100% affordable housing project designed for military veterans after facing a $17 million shortfall in construction funding in order to be eligible for funding under the 2018 Housing Programs and Veterans Loans bond.
“ROEM has over 30 years of experience in affordable housing and understands the importance of providing affordable housing in today’s real estate climate,” the applicant wrote in 2019.
However, those plans never came to fruition. The applicant returned in 2021 with a revised plan for a 60-unit townhome project with 3,000 square feet of retail and 161 parking spaces submitted for a concept review, proposing nine below-market-rate units in accordance with the city’s inclusionary housing policy.
The latest proposal incorporates the shift to a townhome concept minus the previously planned retail space, and lowers the number of BMR units to seven. Developers pointed to development restrictions on the site as a challenge in meeting the city’s two parking space per-unit requirement.
“The main goal of this Conceptual Review is to have the commission designate this proposal in line with the definitions set forth in the General Plan,” ROEM Development Manager Jim Campbell wrote in the company’s latest submission to the city.
“For this site, and many others, the required residential density based on gross acreage will make the sites undevelopable,” he continued. “One of the key factors in making this determination is the fact that there is not enough buildable land left to provide the parking required for the number of units required combined with retail parking needs.”
Following the upcoming meeting, it remains to be seen whether the applicant will continue to pursue the current concept with commission and public feedback in mind.
“Should the Applicant decide to proceed, additional details, studies, and project
plans will be required to be submitted for review by Staff prior to Planning Commission
consideration,” Barr and Haase wrote.
While the current proposal consists of the lowest number of affordable housing units yet, Campbell noted that it will nonetheless be subject to bonuses and waivers under recent state housing laws that have been implemented in the years since the original application.
The San Ramon Planning Commission is set to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday (June 2). The agenda is available here.
