Developer files preliminary application for 120 new housing units downtown
Major downtown landlord and developer ACV Argo Tiburon has submitted a preliminary application for 120 new housing units at three sites along Tiburon Boulevard, including at the old Bank of America and Shark’s Deli sites and the parking lot between CVS and Town Hall.
The residential-only concept from the firm’s developer and project applicant, Fairfield-based Russell Square Consulting, would put 82 of those units at the Beach Road corner with the old bank and its parking lot, at 1601 Tiburon Blvd. and 4 Beach Road; 12 more would go on the opposite corner at the former deli site at 1600 Tiburon Blvd.; and the remaining 26 would go into the 1525 Tiburon Blvd. lot by Town Hall.
The bank and deli buildings would be demolished, while each of the three new buildings would have a three-story mix of studios and one- to three-bedroom units ranging from 540 to 1,266 square feet, served by a combined 163 parking spaces.
Sonoma-based A&C Ventures, which does business locally as ACV Argo Tiburon LP, has a downtown portfolio that also includes the buildings housing Bungalow Kitchen and Caffe Acri, Malibu Farm, Cinelounge and Petite Left Bank, along with the Maritime Center across from the downtown fire station plus the terminal serving the Golden Gate Ferry. Founder David Grieve, of Grieve Family Vineyards, has a local office above his Main Street tasting room, Squalo Vino.
The new residential proposal includes 112 units at market rates and eight designated as affordable to very-low incomes, enough to trigger California density-bonus laws that allow A&C to develop more units than the underlying zoning allows, to receive an unlimited number of development waivers to ensure the affordable-housing project can be built at the bonus capacity and to get at least one concession that reduces construction costs.
Combined, the sites cover 2.86 acres in a neighborhood commercial district that allows 30-35 units per acre, for a maximum of 94. The eight affordable units make up about 8% of that, for a state density bonus of 27.5%, or 26 additional units for 120 total.
For waivers and concessions, the application seeks allowances for no retail, no massing or façade setbacks, no balconies projecting into the setback, reductions of open-space requirements and building heights that exceed the 38-foot limit for downtown buildings fronting Tiburon Boulevard. The bank site, as submitted, “exceeds 45 (feet) with flood-(plain) consideration”; renderings show a foundation rise to level out the building on a changing grade.
The preliminary application was filed under the streamlining rules of Senate Bill 330, or the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which locks in fees and development standards until the developer can submit a full, formal application. The preliminary application was filed Dec. 30, and the freeze expires after 180 days, or on June 28.
The 40-unit redevelopment process of Mallard Pointe in Belvedere took a similar path, using SB 330 and state density-bonus laws. In Mallard Pointe’s case, the preliminary application was followed by community meetings and public study sessions with city officials to adjust the plan based on community and city concerns before the formal application was filed, though it still faced significant community opposition and underwent several major revisions before it was approved. It’s not yet clear what next steps A&C will take.
A&C Ventures’ President and CEO SG Ellison, real-estate Vice President Robert Brown and company spokesperson Rob Poetsch did not respond to emails and voicemails by press time, nor did Blaise Hilton, Russell Square’s named representative on the preliminary application.
It was also unclear why the submission came as a single preapplication, as the three projects appear to be distinct and individual. However, they share single affordable-housing and density-bonus calculations that could distribute the density and locations of affordable units in ways not allowed under separate applications — and that still may not be allowed by Tiburon. For example, by Ark calculations using Tiburon zoning laws and state-density-bonus requirements, the 1.64-acre bank site would allow for 58 units where 82 are proposed, an overage of 41%. Such a bonus would require 13%, or all eight, very-low-income units be at the bank site, with none left to use for any density overages desired elsewhere. But at the 0.65-acre parking lot site, 23 units are allowed where 26 are proposed. A&C would have to add 5% very-low-income units there to win the minimum density bonus, or two affordable units for 10 total across the three-site project under separate applications as the 0.39-acre deli site seeks no bonus, with 12 units proposed where 14 are allowed.
The locations for affordable housing aren’t specified in the preliminary application.
Since preliminary applications are not subject to review for completeness, Tiburon Director of Community Development Dina Tasini said she would not comment until a formal application is submitted.
If a formal application is filed, it would go under 30-day review by the town for completeness, with the developer then getting another 90 days to amend the application with revisions or additional materials if necessary before public hearings would be scheduled.
Under SB 330, Tiburon will only be able to apply local objective design and development standards as it reviews the project, and any project that complies with those standards within the town’s general plan and zoning ordinance must be approved unless Tiburon can “make significant, written findings that there would be a specific, adverse impact to the public health or safety and this impact cannot be mitigated,” according to a Jan. 24 town newsletter.
The project would be subject to no more than five total public hearings, including all review by the Design Review Board, Planning Commission, Town Council and appeals of decisions.
Under the state density-bonus requirements using very-low-income housing, the offered units must be identical to those offered at market rates and be rent-controlled for no less than 55 years. Current qualifying incomes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the San Francisco metro fair-market-rent area, which includes Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, are below $68,550 per year for one person, or up to $97,900 for a four-person household, where the area medians are $130,600 and $186,600, respectively.
Rents, which must include a utility allowance, are then pegged at 15% of the area median for the household size, currently $1,632.50 for a one-person studio and $2,332.50 for a four-person three-bedroom, though unit sizes for the affordable units in A&C’s proposal have not been specified.
The preliminary application comes as Tiburon must issue permits for 639 new housing units, 303 of those affordable to lower incomes, in the next eight years under its state-mandated 2023-2031 housing element and California’s goal to build 2.5 million new homes by 2030.
The element identified all three A&C sites for potential housing with combined realistic capacity of 79 units, or 41 fewer than proposed. The bank site and its lot was projected with a realistic capacity of 49 units, or 33 fewer than proposed; the deli site was projected with a realistic capacity of 11 units, one fewer than proposed; and the lot adjacent to Town Hall was projected with realistic capacity of 19 units, seven fewer than proposed.
Under the concept, the bank site would cover 102,236 square feet and include a fitness room, mail room, leasing office, lounge and bicycle parking on the first floor. The design shows two courtyards and three amenity spaces on the second floor, with two roof decks on the third floor. It would have an underground garage for 82 vehicles, with most parking organized as semi-automated puzzle lifts and some regular parking spaces designated as accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to early diagrams. Nine units would be studios, with 44 one-bedroom units, 24 two-beds and five three-bedroom units.
The former Shark’s Deli site would be 19,057 square feet, where the renderings call for a fitness center and leasing office, with Juanita Lane serving as the entry point for the 12-vehicle garage; most parking stalls would also be puzzle lifts. The second floor would include a courtyard and amenity space. Four units would be studios, with two one-bedroom units, four two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units.
The Town Hall-adjacent parking site would be 29,205 square feet, with the garage entry along Tiburon Boulevard and bike parking on the first floor near the lobby. An amenity and courtyard would be on the second floor. Ten of the units would be studios, with eight one-bedroom units, four two-beds and four three-bedroom units.
Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634.