Alameda Point Artist Rendering
With developers scrambling to grab land in San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda for new mixed use residential+retail, Vallejo must hold our waterfront as precious and valuable. The convergence of ferry, highway and light rail gives us an amazing advantage in the North Bay—Vallejo could become the next growth hub.
Even a modest waterfront promenade with tourism, a few restaurants and a hotel would create 200+ jobs. For example:
An average hotel of 115 rooms costs ~$9.8MM in materials and creates $8.9MM in construction labor. http://www.fixr.com/costs/build-hotel (Double that if there is hotel and apartment complex next to each other. For example to support expansion of the Maritime Academy.)
Alameda Point Artist Rendering
A 3-star 115-room hotel has operational needs of about 8 people for every 10 rooms, or about 92 jobs. http://www.city-of-hotels.com/165/hotel-staff-en.html
Two medium size restaurants would provide 20-30 jobs. http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/blog/determine-staff-need/
Add facility management, parking attendants, bike rental shop, ice cream cafe… and there is 200 healthy jobs for all skill levels.
And light rail through the center of Vallejo may actually increase local home values! As opposed to heavy rail that decreases home values with its pollution, noise and unsightly trains. http://reconnectingamerica.org/assets/Uploads/bestpractice083.pdf
How can we Vallejo residents encourage our Planning Commission to act like Alameda’s?
“On Monday, March 14th, the City of Alameda’s Planning Board unanimously approved the final design review for Block 11, Block 8 and for phase one of a waterfront park along the Seaplane Lagoon as part of the Site A development at Alameda Point. Block 8 includes a 130-unit affordable housing project for families and seniors, which will have approximately 3,500 square feet of community and amenity uses and an estimated 15,000 square feet of courtyard and roof deck space. Block 11 consists of 221 multi-family residential units with 22,157 square feet of ground floor retail uses looking out over a “shared plaza.” The waterfront park along the northern edge of Seaplane Lagoon adjacent to the shared plaza will consist of 2.7 acres.”