Modern condos to change city's hub

CONCORD: As downtown grows, developers hope market downturn won't hurt sales
By Tanya Rose
STAFF WRITER

Article Launched: 02/03/2008 03:06:46 AM PST


Lehmer's Oldsmobile sat on one of Concord's most high-profile intersections for seven decades -- easily the city's oldest car dealership. Owned by a local family, the business enjoyed great success, even though people couldn't see it from the freeway.
But then its employees and proprietors watched from their spot at Galindo Street and Willow Pass Road as downtown Concord changed around them. Soon, the one-story building looked out of place among the new office complexes, the snazzy high-rises and the multiscreen movie theater across the street.

So when patriarch Erv Lehmer died at age 90 in 2004, the family decided to sell the land and move the dealership.

Immediately, plans for hundreds of modern condominiums on the old Lehmer's spot were revealed.

The Signature Properties project would be called the Renaissance, officials said, and would have a Mediterranean theme. It would boast 314 condominiums, and would attract young professionals and families in droves.

After years of waiting, the first phase of the project -- 100 condos -- is set to have an opening party Feb. 23. People can start buying them in March or April. The remaining units will be built between now and 2010, spilling north on Willow Pass Road and along Concord Avenue.

Five years from now, there will have been 1,000 new single-family units-- whether apartments, condos or townhouses -- built in Concord since 2004, said John Montagh, the city's business development manager.

And most of those are within walking or short driving distance of Concord's urban core, Todos Santos Plaza. These new residents are expected to work downtown, to shop downtown, to patronize downtown restaurants.
"Not everyone wants to live in San Francisco to get that urban experience," said Mike Ghielmetti, president of Signature Properties.

"The city has had a good vision. They wanted to enliven the downtown, and there have been some great businesses that have opened up in the last few years, plus new landscaping," he said.

"All that is cool stuff, and we want to be a part of it," he said.

Businesses around Todos Santos, some of which thrived alongside the Lehmers and have been hearing about the condos for years, couldn't be more thrilled.

"More people, more housing; that's always good for business," said Raees Iqbal, who has owned Western Vacuum Center on Salvio Street for the past eight years.

"When the Legacy apartments opened up down the street, all those people started coming in," he said, referring to the luxury Legacy Apartments a few blocks away from the Renaissance on Galindo Street.

"People who had been coming here a long time were starting to say they couldn't find parking, and I worry about that, about the infrastructure, but overall, it's good," he said.

Matt Dalton, manager of Half Price Books, said his store has seen more customers, not only because of new housing but because of the expanding farmers market series and other events and concerts held in the town square.

"We're really excited," he said.

Jim Forsberg, Concord's director of planning and economic development, said the city has tried to create a business hub complimented by retail, restaurants and housing, all within walking distance of one another.

"Every city has its own energy and character, but I think Concord is the only one that has BART downtown," Forsberg said. "Pair that with everything else, and pretty soon you have critical mass in jobs and housing. It's all there. And then we won't have to work so hard to get developers to come. They'll just want to come."

Montagh, the city's business development manager, said condominiums aren't the only new assets. He said there will be a new Una Mas restaurant opening downtown in the next month, along with a new salon and maybe a sit-down restaurant to compliment such existing places as Toscana and E.J. Phair Brewing Company and Alehouse.

As for Renaissance, there's no word yet on the pricing. In early 2006, the condos were to be priced around $400,000 to $575,000. But the downturn in the market could change that.

"The market is lower, no doubt. But the project is unique in that you can't really find new condominiums so close to an urban core," Ghielmetti said. "We're still finalizing the pricing. We'll know more in a month or so."

The one-, two- and three-bedroom condos will be between 800 and 1,700 square feet. Ghielmetti said some will have mezzanines and bonus rooms. The complex will have a pool, spa, gym and other amenities.

Reach Tanya Rose at 925-943-8345 or trose@bayareanewsgroup.com.

online

www.renaissanceinconcord.com