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| NEWS
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| November 18, 2004 |
| Pardee offers Livermore $159M deal |
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| Katherine Conrad |
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After two years of discovering what Livermore wants and needs, Pardee Homes has unveiled a plan to build 2,450 homes on the 1,300-acre tract known as North Livermore.
To sweeten the pot and convince voters to embrace its Livermore Trails proposal, Pardee will donate a whopping $69 million to the city's ailing schools and more than $90 million for parks and open space.
Pardee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY), intends to place its request on the ballot next year to move the urban growth boundaries to allow for its project. One of the most fiercely contested tracts of land in the Bay Area, North Livermore's rolling hills currently are protected from development by Measure D, passed by Alameda County residents in 2000.
If the land was annexed to Livermore, however, Measure D's restrictions would not apply. But the Livermore City Council is dominated by growth critics. Last year, Mayor Marshall Kamena placed the odds of approving housing on the site at zero.
Carlene Matchniff, Pardee's vice president of community development, unveiled the home builder's proposal at a Nov. 17 Livermore Chamber of Commerce meeting. Pardee proposes to build homes on just a third of the property - 450 acres - over a 10-year period to ensure a slow, measured growth process.
"The chamber was very enthusiastic. The school piece received the most attention. I think that's extremely important to the school district," Matchniff said.
Knowing the budgetary woes plaguing the Livermore school district, Pardee has offered to pay for a high school and an elementary school and give $5 million to relieve the school's deficit. Las Positas Community College Foundation would receive $100,000 to promote "green building" education programs.
The company also would donate 130 acres for a sports park and the $27 million needed to build it, plus provide maintenance for four years. Another $250,000 would go to the Robert Livermore Community Center; $2 million for an endowment toward open space; $4 million to build a fire and police station; and $500,000 in grants to music and arts programs.
The homes would be built using "green" guidelines and 15 percent would qualify as affordable. Ten percent would be senior housing and 25 percent would be homes for middle-income families.
Matchniff hopes that Livermore residents will take a long hard look at her proposal before making any decisions.
"We have done the best job we can to address the community's needs. I hope (opponents) will look at the proposal carefully before saying the same old repetitions that we should have nothing on this land.
"They should really consider the future of Livermore and the future of their children," she said. "This is an opportunity to really get those kinds of amenities and housing opportunities that Livermore needs. With this project, take a really hard look at it, instead of making the standard response."
Reach Conrad at kconrad@bizjournals.com or 925-598-1427.
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc. |
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