ENA for Factory_OS Project Approved by Vallejo City Council

During their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, the Vallejo City Council approved an Exclusive Negotiations Agreement (ENA) with Holliday Development regarding future development on the Vallejo waterfront. This will allow the City to negotiate with the developer about the specifics of the project and the purchase of the land over the next nine months.

First announced at the State of the City of Vallejo address in February, Holliday Development and Factory_OS aim to construct 120-150 new market-rate apartment units and new retail space at the former post office site (485 Santa Clara Street). The project would wrap around the Phase B Parking Garage, which will be built on the former post office site using Regional Measure 3 money.

Per the Waterfront Planned Development Master Plan, Callahan Property Company (CPC) was to build a hotel on top of the parking garage, but due to the financial infeasibility of the development, the City and CPC agreed to terminate CPC's right to develop that area during a City Council meeting in May.

The Council had a long discussion regarding the many different proposals for the Central Waterfront as a whole:

• Proposal 1: Holliday Development, in partnership with Factory_OS, would build 120-150 new market-rate units with ground floor retail space on the parking garage.
• Proposal 2: Not much is publicly known, but an unknown developer desires to build a hotel on top of the parking garage, along with a conference center elsewhere in the Central Waterfront area. The unknown developer also proposes to help finance the Vallejo Police Station.
• Proposal 3: Callahan Property Company will soon submit a formal application for the development of the Central Waterfront per the Waterfront Planned Development Master Plan (not including the Phase B parking garage development).

City staff told Council that CPC has not had any formal agreements with the unknown developer regarding the proposed conference center. CPC has an obligation to develop the Central Waterfront per a Development Agreement with the City.

Councilmember McConnell motioned that the City give the unknown developer until 18 June to submit information regarding the financial feasibility of the project. If not, the Council would approve the ENA through the Consent Calendar during their 23 June meeting.

However, Councilmember Miessner motioned to approve the ENA, with the conditions that the developer look into the possibility of ownership of units, providing units for different income levels, and that the City work with the unknown developer to look into moving their project somewhere else in the City.

Councilmember Miessner's motion passed 4-3, with councilmembers Dew, Miessner, Sampayan, and Verder-Aliga voting in favor.

As always, you can watch the full City Council meeting here.

We'll keep you updated on future developments en el futuro!

City of Vallejo - City Council Agenda Item 8A 2020-05-26

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