Transforming East Bay: Embracing the ’15-Minute Living’ Revolution

Last month, planning officials in Livermore sanctioned another segment of the city’s Isabel Neighborhood Specific Plan, a patchwork of developments spanning 1,100 acres of predominantly publicly held land that will encircle a forthcoming light rail station that is yet to be constructed.

During its meeting on December 17, the city’s planning commission ratified Cornerstone, a residential project comprising 253 units located at the intersection of Collier Canyon Road and Constitution Drive.

Pacific Companies, based in Eagle, Idaho, is intending to develop 143 condominiums for sale, with six units allocated for low-income to extremely low-income households, along with 108 affordable rental apartments for the same demographic. The site will feature 21 three-story residential buildings, a five-story apartment structure, and two parks.

If authorized by the city council, Cornerstone will integrate into the Isabel plan, which was established in 2020 and envisions a new walkable community with more than 4,000 new residences, alongside ground-floor retail spaces and flexible areas for gyms, childcare services, and coffee establishments.

The initial phase of the Isabel plan, approved last year for the region southwest of Portola and Isabel avenues, will consist of 1,299 multifamily housing units, including 363 units marked as affordable. The Isabel plan is centered around the forthcoming Valley Link Rail Station, set to be situated in the median of I-580, east of Isabel Avenue.

Approximately 15 miles northwest of Livermore in San Ramon, Sunset Development submitted an application last month for the redevelopment of the 92-acre site that previously housed the headquarters of oil giant Chevron, which divested the property to Sunset in 2022 for $175 million.

Sunset has proposed plans to replace the Chevron Park office complex at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road with a mixed-use residential neighborhood called The Orchards, which will comprise 2,510 new homes and 125,000 square feet of retail space.

Sunset holds ownership of the 585-acre Bishop Ranch master-planned development surrounding the Chevron site. In 1978, Sunset Development acquired a former peach orchard adjacent to Interstate 680 and transformed it into a 10 million square feet office park with over 500 corporate tenants.

Sunset intends to evolve Bishop Ranch into a $5 billion mixed-use walkable downtown for San Ramon within the next decade, ultimately comprising up to 10,000 housing units, with 1,000 designated as affordable.

The Orchards’ development will progress in three phases. The initial phase will focus on the Orchards Neighborhood, a lower-density area featuring 426 residences in a combination of townhomes and single-family homes dispersed along a network of streets, mews, and pocket parks.

This will be succeeded by a mixed-use district that will host residential areas with ground-floor retail, entertainment, and commercial facilities. A multifamily district will encompass communities designed as apartments and condos, along with housing for seniors and affordable options.

The three sectors of The Orchards will be interconnected by parks and 15 acres of open space.

“Bishop Ranch is initiating an exhilarating transformation, evolving from a conventional office campus to a vibrant mixed-use development that harmonizes seamlessly with our community’s changing needs,” stated Sunset Development in a press release.

“Our goal is to establish an all-inclusive destination that embodies a noteworthy 15-minute lifestyle, alleviating the burdens of long commutes while offering a flawless fusion of convenience and luxury,” the company added.