Large housing proposal causing ripples

Development would require tearing down several stores to make way for apartments, parking structure

SAN RAMON >> A developer of a San Ramon shopping center has plans to tear down a grocery store, Starbucks cafe and other stores to make way for a 284-unit apartment building and parking structure, much to the dismay of some nearby residents.

The Planning Commission will hold a study session today to discuss the project, which would subdivide the existing 12.47acre Marketplace shopping center property at 130 Market Place, off Bollinger Canyon and Alcosta Boulevard. The project would demolish 57,500 square feet of retail space occupied by the Nob Hill Foods grocery store, a Starbucks, Sports Clips and other businesses, and construct a five-story apartment building, wrapped around a 454-space parking structure. Of the 284 apartments, 32 would be designated as affordable housing.

The shopping center also holds the city’s library, a Trader Joe’s and CVS, which would remain and are not part of the proposal.

The nearby community is buzzing over the height of the proposed apartment building and its high density, plus the traffic it would cause on already busy streets.

Diana Korpi, a local real estate agent and resident for more than 30 years, said one of the things that attracted her to the area was the shopping center and its brick aesthetic. She’s heard from clients and fellow residents concerned that the high- density housing would not match the neighborhood. There are condos and apartments across the street from the shopping center on Market Place, but they are only two stories tall, Korpi said.

“How big that building is going to be, it’s rather detrimental to the neighborhood and not conducive to what’s happening,” she said in an interview.

She’s also concerned about the potential traffic it could bring to the area; Bollinger Canyon Road is already congested, especially dur