SteelWave LLC recently submitted an application to the city of Pleasanton to annex and rezone about 20 acres of land just east of the city's border so that the developers can construct three commercial buildings.
According to city communications manager Heather Tiernan, the San Mateo-based real estate developer's plans consist of the three buildings that would take up under 300,000 square feet on the piece of land just west of El Charro Road and south of Arroyo Mocho.
SteelWave senior managing director Steve Dunn, who oversees all real estate activities in the Bay Area, told the Weekly that right now, the development plans are "speculative, meaning we don't know who the tenants are."
Dunn also wanted to clarify that SteelWave owned that piece of land and that it has nothing to do with the other land that SteelWave had sold to Amazon in 2021, located to the south of the El Charro land.
According to Tiernan, the parcel will have to be rezoned to allow for light industrial and service commercial uses as well as "selected other uses such as a data center, life science uses, retail services and warehousing."
She also provided some insight as to how city services would apply to the area given that it is just outside of the city's borders and technically belongs to the county jurisdiction.
"If the city approved annexation of the property, the city would also provide municipal services to it," Tiernan added. "As part of the annexation process, Alameda County and the city of Pleasanton will negotiate a tax-sharing agreement, to determine the appropriate apportionment of future tax revenues between the city and county."
Dunn said there is a long process to get the annexation agreement done anytime soon given that the project still has to go through the California Environmental Quality Act review and an environmental impact report prior to the city development approvals of the parcel of land.
"If it's endorsed and approved, it will probably take anywhere from 18 to 24 months," Dunn said. "And then we would be submitting for development applications thereafter. So it's nothing imminent, or even decided."
This is not, however, SteelWave first time applying for annexation and rezoning for that same piece of land.
According to Tiernan, the developers had submitted a preliminary application and then a formal application in 2017 for a similar annexation and rezoning of the same parcel of land and the construction of three similar buildings.
"At the time, anticipating a restart of the East Pleasanton Specific Plan process, the city recommended the application be considered as part of the broader EPSP," Tiernan said.
But then, those prior applications were ultimately withdrawn, Tiernan said.
The East Pleasanton Specific Plan, which sought to lay the policy groundwork for future development of more than 1,000 homes plus commercial and other uses, was halted by city officials in 2015 but has been debated for a possible restart in recent years. SteelWave property on the east side was excluded from the most recent city Housing Element update process.
