March 30, 2004 > Irvington Village Project Stirs Emotions

A March 24th community forum at the Irvington Community Center to introduce two planned residential communities to be built on Tri-City Patio World property (Tri-City Sports will not be part of the development) provoked spirited audience comments. Although specific designs were not available at the time of the meeting, concerns about the location and its impact on surrounding neighborhoods were voiced.

The proposed residential community will actually be two different concepts sharing a single location of approximately 8.6 acres. Regis Homes of Northern California proposes to build 115 - 125 units characterized as two and three bedroom "Town Homes" and "Row Houses" that will vary from approximately 1350 square feet to 1750 square feet. Each will have parking and a private patio or yard along with "public open space." These homes will be "attached products" and are anticipated to include parking below and two stories of homes above.

A separate development sharing the location with Regis will be 100 - 110 "affordable" apartments on approximately 2 acres developed and managed by Bridge Housing Corporation. This will not include "Section 8" housing but will be available at below market rate rents for qualified individuals and families. These are anticipated to be 1, 2 and 3 bedroom living spaces and may project three stories above a parking garage area. Taking advantage of a provision of Fremont's Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, the use of a significant number of "affordable" rental housing on the property will allow Regis Homes to avoid the necessity of offering a mandated 15% of their product at below market rate prices. Those interested in the full text of the ordinance can find it at www.ci.fremont.ca.us.

An audience of over 60 interested citizens debated the merits of the proposed project. The influx of crime, traffic and tenant qualifications were questioned as well as the impact on nearby schools and city services. Some members of the audience expressed interest in living in the new development and indicated the pressing need for more affordable housing in the area.

According to Jeff Smith of Regis Homes, the price of the new homes will be in the "high $400,000's to $500,000's." The review process will include several additional community outreach meetings (not scheduled at this time), Design Review, Site Plan Review, Architectural Review and, if all goes according to plans by the developers, construction in approximately one year.

Tours of previous projects by the developers have been scheduled and those interested should contact either Jeff Smith of Regis Homes (650) 377-5810 or Tom Earley of Bridge Housing (415) 989-1111.

Note: Tri-City Patio World is located at 40800 Grimmer Blvd. in Fremont