This is what the future of the bulk of the Bay Area’s housing development looks like: higher-density multi-family projects near transit. In this case, Developer, BHV CenterStreet Properties LLC, is working on a 178-unit project called the Landing on 1.78 acres adjacent to the Walnut Creek BART Station.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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With much-debated, frequently derided Plan Bay Area now approved, our region is officially on notice that it needs close to 200,000 new housing units over the next few decades. Next question: Who’s going to build it all?

Planning for new housing is great and all, but only time will tell if developers bite and actually build the housing the way the plan advises — high-density and near transit.

Plan Bay Area sets out growth and development guidelines to accommodate a 30 percent population increase, 2.1 million new residents, and 33 percent more or 1.1 million job increase in the Bay Area through 2040. The plan’s goals involve steering away from sprawl, building housing for all income levels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Theoretically, (Plan Bay Area) is a good idea,” said Paul Menzies, founder of Laconia Development, a multi-family developer. “The issue with the plan is that bureaucrats are imposing rules on the rest of us who are trying to be creative and trying to make money.”

Development is a business, he said, but one that involves input from the developer, the community and city officials, so the better the cooperation, the better the project and the better cities and regions become.

Plan Bay Area could be a boon for development, Menzies said, if the policies make it easier and less expensive to develop projects either by streamlining the entitlement process or providing some financing tools.

The plan’s main backers, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Association of Bay Area Governments, along with congestion management agencies have about $28 million to fund local planning efforts such as creating specific plans that guide development for a neighborhood or environmental impact reports. In some cases, cities establish plans and zoning to comply up front with California Environmental Quality Act regulations.

Blanca Torres covers East Bay real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/07/plan-bay-area-a-boon-for-housing.html