New development expected to spark downtown revamp
City hopes mixed-use development entices further construction
Downtown Fremont soon will get its first dose of what’s been sprouting up in commercial districts throughout the Bay Area — a mixed-use development.
Along with the new civic center complex that city officials are planning for, the Locale @ State Street development should spark a downtown revitalization, according to Fremont Urban Initiatives Manager Cliff Nguyen. A ceremonial groundbreaking for the project took place June 17 on Capitol Avenue between Fremont Boulevard and State Street.
Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison described the project as a “lightning rod” that will energize future construction in downtown Fremont.
Capitol Avenue from Paseo Padre Parkway to Fremont Boulevard is considered downtown’s “signature street,” Nguyen said.
Locale @ State Street is not only downtown’s first mixed-use development but also its first public-private partnership project, he added.
The developer, Fremont State Street Center LLC, includes TMG Partners, Sares-Regis and SummerHill Homes. The 6-acre property is still owned by the city and the title will be conveyed to the developer as part of the public-private partnership, Nguyen said.
City Manager Fred Diaz said the development has been eight years in the making. In 2008, the city selected TMG Partners to initially develop the site. Instead of abandoning its plan when the recession hit, the city used the big, he said.
“The recession created an opportunity for us to plan for a downtown,” he said at the groundbreaking.
Katia Kamangar, executive vice president and managing director for SummerHill Homes, said the $110 million development should be completed within two and a half years. Some grading and other preliminary work on the site has started and activity should pick up in August and September, she said.
Plans for the project, approved in November 2014, call for 157 market-rate condominiums and approximately 21,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space along Capitol Avenue.
A pair of five-story “podium” buildings will house shops and restaurants on the ground floor and 81 condos in the upper floors. Behind them will be 11 threestory buildings aligned in rows with 76 condos inside.
The property, formerly a shopping center that included Nob Hill Foods, is adjacent to a 5.7-acre site at the northeastern corner of Capitol Avenue and State Street where the city envisions a large public plaza, city administrative offices and a community center.
Construction of the first phase of the civic center project — a two-story community lull to think center and the plaza — is expected to begin in late summer 2017, at an estimated cost of $30 million. Phase two, expected to begin in 2020, will involve construction of a $161 million City Hall.
Nguyen said the Locale @ State Street project fits into Fremont’s vision of transforming itself from an auto-oriented suburb into a sustainable, strategically urban and modern city. Key to that change will be downtown and the Warm Springs Innovation District, which is anchored by Tesla Motors.
In 2012, the Fremont City Council approved the Downtown Community Plan to serve as a blueprint for creating the city’s “social heart” while encouraging economic development and establishing an “identifiable civic center.”
Downtown property owners recognize the potential for revitalization and the city anticipates similar development opportunities, some on city-owned property, within 10 years, Nguyen said.
“There’s a lot of interest” in the Capitol Avenue area, he said.
Meanwhile, another downtown mixed-use development is in the building permit review process, Nguyen said. It was approved in May 2015.