Mixed-Use Project in Bay Area A Good Model for St. Louis

Yesterday I checked out a recent mixed-use project in the Bay Area, an excellent combination of large grocery store, smaller chain stores and restaurants along with some adjacent apartments. It is still far more suburban than I’d chose for myself but the form and connections are very suitable for nearly anywhere in the St. Louis region.

Now, before you go to the comments to tell me that St. Louis is not San Francisco you are correct, that is why I said this is in the Bay area. The “Shops at Waterford” is located in the town of Dublin — a good 35 miles from San Francisco near the intersection of two major interstates, the 580 & 680. This is part of an area in the East Bay known as the Tri-Valley which also includes Pleasanton, Livermore and San Ramon.

So, what is so great about the Shops at Waterford? Well, it is a new kind of suburban model of urbanity that places a high priority on pedestrian connections in a highly auto-centric area. It is neither old urbanism nor the new urbanism.

Here is the arial of the area (image1), with Waterford in the center of the image, at the NW corner of Dublin Blvd & Tassajara Rd (see map):

Both major streets are 4-6 lanes with zero on-street parking. As you can see, this is the first development on the intersection. Out parcel buildings are not some tiny Starbucks drive-thru but larger structures placed up to the streets.

The large roof you see is a large Safeway grocery store. To the top of the site are apartments built around a central parking garage, to the left are townhouses and then single family houses. From above it looks pretty conventional, but on the ground it is quite different than your typical shopping area in St. Louis.

2) Above: The view looking west along Dublin Blvd. This is pretty common for much of this area, street trees help separate pedestrians from the passing traffic. This wide boulevard includes a bike lane and in this area a right turn lane into the residential area.

3) Above: The opposite view looking East along Dublin Blvd. over toward the intersection with Tassajara. At left is the building which “holds” the corner. Again, street trees help improve the pedestrian experience as well as give the area a more pleasing appearance. The drives out to the street are only two lanes — one in and one out. This keeps the pedestrian crossings short.

4) Above: The pedestrian connection from Dublin Blvd. is quite well marked. This clear pedestrian path is welcoming.

5) Looking back to Dublin Blvd. we can see the first of many bike racks. Note the generous width of the sidewalks within the private development.

6) From this same spot we can look over toward the parking lot and see the nice walkway through to the building at the corner of the site. Of course, this also creates a pleasant pathway for those arriving by car.

7) Above is the same walkway seen from the parking lot.

8) From the crosswalk we can look North into the development. At left you can see the two entrance/exits for the Safeway with the apartments in the background at the far edge.

9) Standing in front of one Safeway entrance looking North we can see the second entrance (the green tower) and another bike rack. I like that the bike rack is not some cheap design meant to hold 20 bikes and squished up against a wall in a dark corner. Also note the stone wall that screens the extra shopping carts from view.

10) Continuing past the Safeway we can begin to see how the apartments relate to the shopping area.

11) Above is the second of the walkways out into the parking and smaller out buildings. More bike racks and benches.

12) Looking back where we’ve been, the generous sidewalks and adjacent parking make a decent place for outdoor seating.

13) The corner where the one-story shops meet the apartments is great for a restaurant with outdoor seating. I’m not sure you can get real Texas BBQ in Northern California but that is a subject for another blog.

14) This view back to the South gives us a nice overview with the Safeway store dominating the center of the buildings.

15) Looking to the West we can see the buildings do not actually meet. The strip with the Safeway on the left stops short enough to leave a generous walkway to the adjacent residential neighborhood. Apartments with ground-level retail are on the right.

16) Above is another view of the same corner. To the right is an entrance to a parking garage for apartments residents and to serve as additional parking for the shopping area. The apartments surround the garage so you don’t see it from the shopping area.

The bright colors of synthetic stucco are par for the course in California, something I don’t care for too much. But, my point is not to look at those issues but look at the form of the buildings.

17) Turning to the East (Tassajara Rd.) we can see more of the retail spaces topped by apartments.

18) As we walk along by the retail/condos we look back to the South and on the right we can see where we walked with the Safeway in the center. On the left is an out building that we’ll get to later. Once again, note the very clear & inviting pedestrian walkways within the project.

19) Looking back to the West we see the how the apartments relate to the internal sidewalk and parking area. We are now at the East end of the project at Tassajara Rd.

20) At Tassajara Rd. we look to the North and we can see how the condos continue for a good distance, the shopping center walkway is to the left. Street trees between the sidewalk and street improve the experience for those walking from their apartment to the store. But let’s head back South along Tassajara Rd. toward Dublin Blvd.

21) The pedestrian crossing here could have been done a bit better, pushing it back away from the curb a bit. This would have reduced the width a pedestrian has to cross.

22) Crossing the entrance we see a sign indicating that recycled (gray) water is used for the landscaping irrigation. This is a very effective way of using non-sewer water, such as rain water. This lessons the load on the sewer system.

23) OK, we’ve crossed the entrance/exit heading South along Tassajara Rd. This is an out building yet it doesn’t give a blank wall to the sidewalk, Stacey’s restaurant has their patio along the sidewalk. A bit of trivia, Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams is the owner of Stacey’s.

24) From the same spot we can look back into the project, we see more bike racks and additional outdoor seating for Stacey’s restaurant. Through the system of walkways we could get to Safetway from here without having to cross through a parking lot.

25) And for context we look back at the apartments.

26) Further down the sidewalk we turn back again to see Stacey’s patio and the condos across the entrance.

27) Back on track heading South along Tassajara Rd. toward Dublin Blvd. we see on the right the out building that contained the Stacey’s restaurant. At the opposite end we see a Blockbuster Video. This is actually the back of the store but it has windows to break up anotherwise empty facade. The sidewalk, while not the urban ideal that I prefer, is about as pleasant as it can be along a 6-lane arterial roadway.

28) In the background is the corner out building which, like the one we just saw, has windows and other features to make it interesting from the main streets but entrances face the parking lot. This is a great way to design for both pedestrians and autos.

29) I didn’t head down to the corner, instead let’s walk back into the development next to the Blockbusters. We will see how these out buildings relate to each other and to the rest of the development.

30) Above we are looking North back toward the apartments. The entrance to the Blockbuster is on the right, the Safeway is to the left across the parking.

31) As we walk back North toward the apartments we can see this area actually has two separate out buildings, the Stacey’s/Blockbuster on the right and another on the left.

32) At the opposite end of this walkway we look back to the South. The Stacey’s is on
our left.

33) Looking back to the East (Tassajara Rd.) we see the opposite view of #24 above.

34) Above is the view looking East toward the main strip center.

35) Continuing on the same path heading back to the main center we see the opposite side of the walkway shown in #11 above.

36) Turning to the North we look back at the apartments and the walkway shown in image #18. Throughout the entire project generous walkways guide the pedestrian from store to restaurant and either back to their car or their residence.

I rejoined my father and brother who had finished their shopping while I was taking pictures. Once back in the car, we headed around back to check out the loading dock area for the Safeway.

37) Here we can see the back of the store, not great but I’ve seen considerably worse.

37) Safeway’s loading dock, above left, is well screened. The sidewalk is likely not used much due to better access that I will show you shortly. This “attached” sidewalk is minimum width with little for the pedestrian. For drivers the view is not bad for the back of a major grocery store.

38) Townhouses across Glynn’s Rose Drive back up to the road, just as the Safeway store does.

39) Above, at the intersection of Glynn’s Rose Drive and Roscommon Way we can see the wide walkway into the corner of the shopping center shown in image #15. The apartments at the corner here have a view down the street but also the loading dock area at right.

40) Turning to the East we can look down Roscommon Way toward the new single-family houses. Again, I’m not a fan of attached sidewalks but it does get the job done. Clearly, the families living in these houses have a pretty easy walk to the store.

From a 2003 Business Journal article:

Shea Properties, the Orange County-based investment real estate division of J.F. Shea Co., which designs, develops and manages commercial and residential developments in California and Colorado, was eager to spearhead the development because it tries to specialize in unique projects.

“This project is a first for our company and groundbreaking as well for suburbia – having a vertical, mixed-use development in a place like Dublin,” said Bob Burke, Shea’s general manager of Northern California operations.

“We have 47 (residential) units per acre, which is twice the average in Dublin,” Burke said. “The apartment complex consists of four-story buildings surrounding a parking structure, which is a novel approach to achieve higher density in the suburbs. Doing something like this in suburbia is unique.”

The master planning and some architecture was done by SPGA. A BART station (Dublin/Pleasanton) is a couple of miles away from this project, a bit too far to walk but not bad for a short bike ride.
As I indicated at the opening, this development is not even close to being urban enough to entice me to live there, but that is OK. As suburban development goes, it does not get much better than this project. People from the surrounding municipalities can arrive easily by car while those that live in the immediate area have only a short walk. All can easily walk throughout the project.

In the City of St. Louis I think we need to be more urban than this project, with true urban buildings facing streets with on-street parking. However, in more auto-centric areas such as near our highways or highly abandonded areas this might be a good model. Couldn’t Loughborough Commons have had such a well-designed relationship? Shopping on North Grand could have had such a connection to the new Hope VI housing.

Nearly every other place in the St. Louis region, especially those developed in the last 50 years, could benefit from such a well-designed project. The question is, do we have the will to demand quality developments such as this that are accessible by foot, bike or car?

For additional photos of this project click here.