More Than 200 Apartment Units Proposed in East Bay City

PLEASANT HILL — A developer has submitted plans to add more than 200 apartment and studio units to the city’s rental supply.

Danville-based Blake/Griggs Properties is proposing to build 210 apartments on a 2.33-acre parcel at 85 Cleaveland Road in downtown Pleasant Hill, according to city documents.

The project would include a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments and studio units of varying sizes, with 5 percent designated “very low income” affordable and another 5 percent “moderate income” affordable, according to city documents.

An analysis by RentCafe.com shows that the average rent for an apartment in Pleasant Hill in July was $1,966, and the average size was 794 square-feet.

The proposal also includes an underground parking garage, a leasing office, a residents club house, a pet lounge, a fitness center and a pool, as well as a roof deck. It would be three or four stories high along Cleaveland Road and step up to five stories toward the back of the property.

The project would entail razing a two-story building once occupied by a Wells Fargo financing center and an asphalt-paved parking lot. While construction also would require removing eucalyptus and redwood trees, the proposal calls for adding about 50 trees, according to city planning documents.

The proposal will need need to go through a series of approvals. City staff is working on a draft environmental impact report that will address the project’s potential impacts on the surrounding neighborhood, such as traffic, parking and noise. The public will be allowed to submit comments about the project’s potential impacts by 5 p.m.  Aug. 12  to be considered in the report.

For the project to advance, the city must amend its Downtown Specific Plan to allow the development site to be commercially zoned. The site is adjacent to Century 16 Downtown Pleasant Hill and near restaurants and business; it’s about a mile from the Pleasant Hill BART station.