Fremont City Council Meeting: 02/04/25 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Planning
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5340) DOC ID: 5340
Updated: 1/31/2025 8:54 AM by Dina Lewis Page 1
FREMONT-DECOTO LAND DEVELOPMENT PLAN PROJECT DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE SERVICE AGREEMENTS – Authorize the City Manager or Her Designee to Execute Service Agreements for Technical Project Design and Environmental Clearance Services in Conjunction With a Multifamily Residential Development at the City-Owned Property at the Southwest Corner of Fremont Boulevard and Decoto Road; and Find That This Funding Action is Not a Project Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15061(b)(3) and 15378(b) as it Can be Seen With Certainty That There is No Possibility That Authorization of These Agreements Will Have a Significant Effect on the Physical Environment.
Contact Persons:
Name: Mark Hungerford Dan Schoenholz
Title: Senior Planner Community Development Director
Div/Dept: Planning Community Development
Phone: 510-494-4541 510-494-4438
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: Following State certification of the Housing Element in March 2023, staff initiated tasks to implement Program 63, which includes preparing the 9.59-acre City-owned Fremont-Decoto site for development and future sale. The initial tasks included the hiring of local land developer, WestGate Ventures, to serve as a project manager and staff advisor for the project, including completion of site constraints analyses, environmental characterization, and conceptual yield studies. The City Council authorized the WestGate Ventures funding and service agreement in January 2024 when the initial task work began.
To advance the project to the design phase, staff released a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking proposals from technical design and environmental professionals who could provide services that inform the land development plan. From the RFP submissions, evaluation, and staff interviews, staff is recommending the following firms for plan development through entitlement approval and environmental clearance:
• KTGY – Architecture
• Ripley Design Group – Landscape Architecture / Arborist • CBG – Civil Engineering
• Giacalone Design Services – Joint Trench Design
• ENGEO – Geotechnical Engineering
• Lamphier-Gregory – Environmental Assessment
• Hexagon – Transportation Planning
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager, or her designee, to execute service agreements with the above firms in an amount not-to-exceed $851,488, and to reallocate $1,107,488 from project PWC8811-501, Strategic Investment Opportunity, Council Staff Report (ID # 5340) Meeting of February 4, 2025 Updated: 1/31/2025 8:54 AM by Dina Lewis Page 2
to PWC9112-501, Fremont-Decoto Land Plan, to fund the technical consultant work and staff time related to managing the land development planning process.
BACKGROUND: In the 2023-2031 Housing Element, the City-owned property located on Decoto Road, southwest of Fremont Boulevard, was identified in Implementation Program 63 as a surplus, underused property that is no longer needed for current or foreseeable public operations. Program 63 requires the City to commit to designating the Fremont-Decoto property for residential development, including an on-site affordable housing component, during the eight-year Housing Element planning period. The site is identified as having a realistic carrying capacity of 307 residential units based on site zoning, general lack of constraints, its location within a high resource area, having frontage along the City’s major transit corridor (Fremont Boulevard), and being of sufficient size to accommodate a variety of housing types. Entitling the site prior to sale provides the City with greater control over the site development compared to a sale of unentitled land. It will also increase the value of the property, as buyers will avoid entitlement costs and the land carrying costs associated with unentitled property.
To that end, on January 9, 2024, the City Council authorized the City Manager to enter into an agreement with WestGate Ventures, staff’s recommended project management consultant. Since their hiring, WestGate Ventures has performed or overseen several important steps in the pre-design process including: a market rate demand analysis and assessment of current and projected market conditions for the land use and density options found appropriate for the site; property due diligence, including environmental characterization and analysis of site constraints; determining viable, optimal, highest, and best uses for the site in accordance with City objectives, including adopted regulations, policies, plans and State laws; and expense and revenue analyses based on potential project use mix, housing typologies, and development costs.
The next step in the process is the hiring of a qualified consultant team that, working in close coordination with the City and WestGate Ventures, will provide technical services related to project design, site analysis, and environmental impact assessment.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: An RFP for professional design and environmental consultant services was published in August 2024. The scope of services identified in the RFP included the following tasks:
• Architecture
• Landscape Architecture
• Arborist
• Civil Engineering
• Joint Trench Design
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Environmental Assessment
• Transportation Planning
Following the RFP submission period closure, a total of 20 proposals were received, including four proposals from “teams” consisting of pre-assembled individual consultants that covered the full scope of services requested in the RFP. A review panel consisting of Community Development and Public Works management staff, as well as the City’s project manager, WestGate Ventures, reviewed the proposals for responsiveness, strength of Council Staff Report (ID # 5340) Meeting of February 4, 2025 Updated: 1/31/2025 8:54 AM by Dina Lewis Page 3
qualifications, relevant and local experience, and price competitiveness. Following scoring of the proposals, eight individual consultants and one consultant team were interviewed. On the basis of their proposals and interviews, the following firms have been selected to work on the project:
Architecture: KTGY
Architectural site planning; building, fire, and zoning code analysis; building/unit floor plans; building exterior elevations.
Cost of services: $238,000
Landscape Architecture / Arborist: Ripley Design Group
Landscape site planning; fence/wall plan; irrigation plan; lighting plan; tree disposition and mitigation plan.
Cost of services: $35,000
Civil Engineering: CBG
Site survey; technical site planning; Vesting Tentative Tract Map; preliminary grading, utility, and stormwater plans.
Cost of services: $245,000
Joint Trench Design: Giacalone Design Services
Utility company outreach; as-built utilities review; preliminary joint trench design.
Cost of services: $25,000
Geotechnical Engineering: ENGEO
Preliminary geotechnical exploration; geotechnical characterization and stormwater infiltration testing; preliminary geotechnical report.
Cost of services: $41,000
Environmental Assessment: Lamphier-Gregory
Advisement on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance options; technical environmental project analysis; Initial Study and Environmental Impact Report preparation.
Cost of services: $105,488
Transportation Planning: Hexagon
Local Transportation Analysis (LTA); Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) analysis; traffic signal design plans.
Cost of services: $84,000
To promote collaboration between related disciplines and for administrative ease, the following firms would be hired as subconsultants: Ripley Design Group (under KTGY, architects), and Giacalone Design Services and ENGEO (both under CBG, civil engineers).
Consultant services would extend from the project’s design phase through design review , permit/tentative map approval, and CEQA clearance (i.e., Notice of Determination filing).
Staff anticipates the filing of a project entitlement application in Fall/Winter 2025 and public hearings for approval of the project in Summer 2026.
The recommended consultants would contribute in varying degrees to the project’s community outreach and stakeholder engagement efforts, which will be central to development of the land plan. Specific dates for outreach have not yet been scheduled but Council Staff Report (ID # 5340) Meeting of February 4, 2025 Updated: 1/31/2025 8:54 AM by Dina Lewis Page 4
are expected to occur in Summer/Fall 2025. The City’s webpage for the project provides updates on the land development planning progress for ready access to its status, outreach efforts, draft planning documents, and future public hearing actions. Once scheduled, outreach meeting information will be added to this page and publicized through other City communications channels.
FISCAL IMPACT: The collective service agreements will have a not-to-exceed amount of $851,488, which includes a 10% contingency. Staff costs associated with the design and entitlement phase of the project are estimated at $256,000, bringing the total project cost to $1,107,488. The costs of preparing the Fremont-Decoto property for sale would be funded from the Strategic Investment Opportunity project, PWC8811-501, which currently has an unallocated fund balance of approximately $8.7 million. Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the reallocation of $1,107,488 from PWC8811-501 to the Fremont- Decoto Land Plan (PWC9112-501) to fund the required project work.
The requested funding is based on the consultant team’s scopes of services and a best estimate of associated administrative staff costs. Public input, changes in project direction/composition, and other factors may increase the amount of funding required to complete the land development plan through entitlement. Should that be the case, staff may request Council authorization of additional funds to complete the project. Staff estimates that the costs associated with entitling the property will be more than offset by the net increase in sale price that entitling the property will bring. Funds from a property sale are expected to fully reimburse the costs associated with developing the plan and would also be available to fund other City priorities.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The proposed authorization to execute agreements and fund the consultant work are exempt from environmental review as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that authorization and funding of these agreements will have a significant effect on the physical environment. As such, pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Sections 15061(b)(3) and 15378(b) the proposed action is not a project under CEQA.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Project Location Map
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the City Manager, or her designee, to execute service agreements for technical project design and environmental clearance services with KTGY, Inc., Lamphier-Gregory, Inc., CBG, and Hexagon Transportation Consultants in a combined not-to-exceed amount of $851,488 and to reallocate $1,107,488 from PWC8811-501, Strategic Investment Opportunity, to PWC9112-501, Fremont-Decoto Land Development Plan, to fund the project design and environmental clearance consultant services and staff costs associated with overseeing the planning process.