An unentitled development parcel at Isabel Avenue and I-580 presents a unique opportunity.
LIVERMORE, CA—Multifamily vacancy in the Tri-Valley is hovering just above 4%. It was below 4% from 2012 to 2015 but there were a lot of new deliveries in 2016 and 2017, which pushed vacancy up slightly. However, rent growth–which was flat in 2016–started rising last year and is trending up as new units are delivered, according to JLL.
And, prime sites for transit-oriented development are few and far between in the Bay Area, leaving investors and developers with few high-density options in addressing the region's growing housing crisis. That is why the marketing of a 45.37-acre site with direct access to Interstate 580, adjacent to a planned light rail station and just minutes from Livermore's Municipal Airport is a rare occurrence. To be sure, an unentitled development parcel at Isabel Avenue and I-580 in northwest Livermore presents a unique opportunity, given that the Tri-Valley is one of the hottest residential markets in the Bay Area.
International migration into the area is responsible for much of the Tri-Valley's population growth. More than 57% of the area's population is in rental housing and average rents are more than $2,400 per month, says JLL.
JLL multifamily capital markets experts are marketing the opportunity to acquire the parcel.
“This is unique opportunity to acquire and add value to a significant parcel of transit-oriented land in a significant swath of Bay Area growth,” according to Stephen Jackson of JLL. “The Isabel Avenue site is perfectly positioned to benefit from upcoming changes to the city's specific plan as well as the proposed Valley Link connecting the Bay Area to the Central Valley via rapid transit connector between BART and the Altamont Corridor Express.”
GlobeSt.com learns that the Isabel Specific Plan envisions three neighborhood parks as well as up to 4,095 multifamily housing units, as well as commercial development of office, business park/industrial and retail. The city of Livermore is expected to undergo a complete revision of the Isabel neighborhood Specific Plan in 2019. Because the city's long-term goal is the creation of a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood expanding the area's housing options, the 45-acre site is ideally situated for high-density development.
The site is just 6 miles from the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station and less than 3 miles from the Altamont Corridor Express/ACE station in downtown Livermore. There are plans to link ACE and BART through an extension of the ACE tracks along I-580 and with a station located at Isabel Avenue. The Tri-Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority was formed in 2017 to oversee the connector, which would run along existing railway rights of way.
The Isabel Avenue neighborhood already is home to Las Positas College, a fully accredited two-year community college with more than 10,000 students and the area is well-served by retail amenities including several shopping centers and a nearby Costco warehouse.
“Surrounding retail amenities include restaurants and shops in downtown Livermore including Trader Joe's, Safeway, CVS, San Francisco Premium Outlets, Vintage Square and Plaza 580 shopping centers as well as several major retail centers in Pleasanton including Stoneridge Mall,” Jackson tells GlobeSt.com.
The Tri-Valley is home to more than 450 tech companies and the greater East Bay region was named the number one market for the high-tech industry in 2017 by the Milken Institute. GlobeSt.com learns that there is a 3% unemployment rate in Livermore and the area has a thriving distribution-warehouse sector.
Livermore is also home to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the nation's top research and development institutions, which has a federally funded annual budget of $1.5 billion and more than 5,000 employees.
For more information on multifamily news, join us at RealShare Apartments in Los Angeles from October 29-30, 2018. RealShare Apartments brings together the industry's top owners, investors, developers, brokers and financiers as they gather for THE MULTIFAMILY EVENT OF THE YEAR! This conference leverages the strength of ALM's Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com which report on the multifamily sector daily. Register for RealShare Apartments.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
