Peter Hegarty, East Bay Times, March 13, 2019
“A 5.73-acre site 1,000 feet from the San Leandro BART station will be transformed into a 687-unit apartment complex — one of the city’s largest. The site was once used by Caterpillar to store construction equipment.
“The plan calls for tearing down the Filarmonica Artista Amadora de San Leandro Music Conservatory at 857 Alvarado St. and replacing it with a 4,326-square-foot conservatory across the street.
“The Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustments unanimously approved the project.
“Existing buildings will be demolished to construct the 931,989-square-foot development consisting of a six-story building, one of five stories, and a shared underground garage with 892 parking spaces.
“ ‘It’s taking land that has been vacant since the 1980s and making it into what will be the densest housing development in San Leandro history,’ said former Mayor Stephen Cassidy.”
“Many developers have recently turned to San Leandro for new projects because of its pro-business attitude and wealth of vacant or underused sites, writes Hannah Norman in the San Francisco Business Times. ‘It’s one of the few communities that still has capacity with vacant properties and properties that need renewal,’ David Irmer, president of Sausalito-based Innisfree Co., told the Business Times last year. Innisfree’s 235,000-square-foot office park, completed in 2010, sits across the street from 899 Alvarado.
“Andrew Mogensen, AICP, San Leandro’s planning manager, recently told the Business Times, ‘It’s an ideal site for transit-oriented development.’ ”