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| East Bay Business News Take a sneak peek at the newest condos to hit the Richmond waterfront amid flurry of development
By Alex Barreira – Editorial Intern, San Francisco Business Times
Mar 26, 2019, 1:53pm PDT Updated Mar 26, 2019, 5:39pm EDT
Richmond has long been characterized as an economic “underdog” lacking the infrastructure or investment of other Bay Area cities. But the opening of a new ferry terminal and a flurry of residential developments in the works signal that the times are changing. Developers are selling the latest waterfront condos there on the merits of access to a “yacht harbor...just a few feet from your door.”
Next month Shea Homes, one of the Bay’s largest residential builders, will open two model homes to showcase their 60-unit development, “Waterline on the Bay” at 101 Seacliff Drive in Point Richmond. The project includes eight floor plan variations with 2-3 bedrooms and 2.5-3.5 bathrooms over a total of 2,000 and 3,000 square feet.
The condos feature interiors with high ceilings and spacious living and kitchen areas as well as customizable amenities for the deck and patio. Other customizable amenities include open concept living areas, home offices, lofts, 2 or 3-car garages, and a deck overlooking the water. Home prices will start at just under $900,000. Even before the model homes finished construction, one quarter of the project units had already been sold.
Other developers, in addition to Shea Homes, see the lure of the Point Richmond waterfront.
“It’s once-in-a-lifetime real estate,” said Terry Manley, founder of developer New West Co., about the area.
There’s ample interest in Richmond as the site of residential and commercial development along the waterfront since the ferry terminal (and its 35 minute commute into San Francisco) launched in January. The location affords proximity to the city, Marin, Berkeley, Oakland and Wine Country.
After taking a gamble on 18 waterfront acres along 1135 Canal Blvd., New West could break ground on a 200 homes there as soon as next month. They’re also in the hunt to snap up a 5-acre parcel near the ferry terminal for 600 future apartments or condos.
Lyon Homes is close to finishing construction on 98 residential condos and bringing them to market, while Latitude — a 316-unit project, located at 1500 Dornan Drive — includes 295 condominiums and 21 single-family homes from the partnership of Laconia Development and Chinese developer Suzhou Weibang Properties LLC.
According to Richmond Mayor Tom Butt, as of January there were already over 2,000 homes slated to be built within five miles of the terminal. Another waterfront project elsewhere in Richmond envisions at least 670 homes at Point Molate. |
