Director's Report
CUPERTINO CI1Y HALL
10300 TORRE AVENUE
CUPERTINO, CA 95014
TELEPHONE (408) 777-3308
FAX (408) 777-3333
CUPERTINO
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Subject: Report of the Community Development Direct~
Planning Commission Agenda Date: Tuesday, Tune 9,2009
The City Council met on May 27, 2009 & Tune 2, 2009, and discussed the following item(s) of
interest to the Planning Commission:
1. Study Session on the proposed 2009/10 Budget: Council began its review of the proposed
budget and continued the item to a budget study session beginning at 4 PM on June 10, 2009.
2. Appeal of the Valero Carwash @ 1699 South De Anza Boulevard: Council upheld the
appeal with following modifications:
~ Accept staff's recommendations regarding landscaping, egress and ingress, parking
~ Verbiage change to item 11 to read: liThe property owner shall record an access easement with
the County of Santa Clara for ingress and egress access on the northeast driveway between
the property (APN 366-10-120) and the Coach House property (APN 366-10-061)."
~ Add a new condition that states: "Until the above access easement is reciprocated by the
adjacent Coach House property owner, that boundary shall be landscaped by the gas station
property owner. II
~ The convenience store and gas station will open at 6:00 a.m. and the car wash at 8:00 a.m.
~ The southern southeastern driveway along South De Anza Blvd is restored as exit only
3. Housing Element - Council continued this item to its study session scheduled for June 10, 2009.
4. Office Allocation - Council continued this item to July 21, 2009.
Miscellaneous Items:
1. PC Work Program - is scheduled to be heard at the July 7th City Council meeting.
2. Blackberry Farm Playground Build - The Captain Stephens Playground at Blackberry Farm
build day is Saturday, June 6. We anticipate 200 volunteers helping to build a playground in
one day. People can volunteer by registering at www.cupertino.org or by contacting Mark
Linder.
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Report of the Community Development Director
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Page 2
3. Quinlan Community Center Terrace (replacing fountain) - The design of this project is
underway and 25% complete. The project is scheduled to be bid in August 2009 and
awarded in October of 2009 with completion expected in January 2010. This completion date
is one month later than that shown in the 2009 Council workplan because of additional time
necessary to acquire construction management services.
4. Civic Center Fountain - The new electrical transformer and ultraviolet system is to be
installed this month. New nozzles for the fountain have been designed and tested, and the
thirty new nozzles are in the process of being fabricated. This project is still expected to be
completed and back in operation in July 2009 as shown in the Council workplan.
We still don't know if the County Public Health Department will buy our arguments, and this
may have an impact on the operational date. In June we will provide an update on the County
approval issue. However, whatever the outcome with the County, the fountains will be
completed as designed in accordance with the original County directives and will be operational
in July as committed.
5. Estimated Impacts of State Department of Finance Property Tax Borrowing Proposal:
Since the ballot measures failed to authorize additional revenue, the State will be borrowing
8% of our property taxes. Our contribution would be $1,340,158. We have set aside $915,000
anticipating something along this line.
6. Cupertino Square - Grammercy now owns Cupertino Square. Mike Rhode has resigned to
take another job.
Upcoming Dates of Interest:
June 2 Budget Study Session, 4 PM (Community Hall) / Regular meeting at 6:45 PM.
June 4-19 Summer Concert Series (Memorial Park), 6:30 - 8 PM
July 4 Blackberry Farm/Stevens Creek Restoration Project Grand Opening, 12 - 4 pm
Jul13-Aug 7 Nomination Period open
Nov 3 Election Day (no Council meeting, Council may consider an alternate date)
Enclosures:
Newspaper Articles
G: \ Planning \ AartiS \ Director's Report \ 2009\ pd6-9-09.doc
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San Jose gets lion's share of energy stimulus dollars - Silicon Valley 1 San Jose Business J... Page 1 of 4
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Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - May 18, 2009
/sa njose/stories/2009/05f18fstory4.html
SILICON VALLEY I SAN JOSE:
I usinessdluroaI
Friday, May 15, 2009 I Modified: Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 3:39pm PDT
San Jose gets lion's share of energy stimulus
dollars
Silicon Valley I San Jose Business Journal - by Lisa Sibley
SAN JOSE - The city's yellow streetlight glow is slowly going away for good.
The switch from yellow streetlights to LEDs is being done by San Jose with part of an $8.8
million grant from the federal stimulus program.
The Bay Area got $34 million of the $3.2 billion earmarked by the federal government for
energy efficiency and conservation projects. The funds were awarded based on population, so
San Jose received the most out of any Bay Area city. San Francisco will get $7.7 million and
Oakland will receive nearly $4 million. It will ultimately be up to the counties and cities to
decide how to distribute the money, but San Jose already has a list of "shovel ready" projects
ready for upgrades, including its yellow streetlights and fire stations, said John Stufflebean,
San Jose's director of environmental services.
The energy efficiency and conservation block grants can be used for nearly anything that would
ultimately reduce fossil fuel emissions, reduce total energy use or improve energy efficiency in
the transportation or building sectors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. In
determining how to spend the money, Stufflebean said city officials considered each project's
potential to advance the city's Green Vision.
"These are all projects we want to do," he said. "This (funding) allows us to do them sooner
than we would have otherwise."
Of the $8.8 million, $2 million will be spent on a program to use light-emitting diode
technology (LED) for streetlights. LEDs emit a white rather than a yellow glow, use less energy
and last longer.
"We see the next generation of street lights going away from the yellow ones," Stufflebean said.
Yellow low-pressure sodium bulbs, installed in the 1980s throughout much of the city, offer
energy efficiencies and lessen light pollution for astronomers, according to Sustainability
Officer Laura Stuchinsky, who works in the city's Department of Transportation.
Today's LEDs offer a more cost-effective option, but the technology behind them is still in
development.
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"There's a number of manufacturers coming out with LED streetlights," Stuchinsky said. "It's a
very new, emerging market."
Stuchinsky said the city intends to dim LED lights in less trafficked areas by 50 percent at
night, along with other monitoring goals to reduce costs. The city currently spends about $3.5
million on its street light program annually. The stimulus funding will allow the city to convert
1,500 lights to LED over the next three years. The city has a total of 62,000 lights.
The city has a number of small pilot and demonstration projects under way from other funding
sources to convert yellow lights to LED. One uses technology from Michigan-based Relume
Technologies Inc. while another uses that of Ruud Lighting Inc. and control company Echelon
Corp. of San Jose. Stuchinsky said additional companies are coming out with products that
could meet the city's lighting needs, including Philips Lumileds Lighting Co. of San Jose and
Watt Stopper.
Stimulus dollars pour in
Stufflebean said another $5 million of the $8.8 million will be spent on municipal energy
efficiencies as well as city building and lighting improvements. The city will take steps to
reduce operating costs associated with heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems by
replacing chillers, boilers and other HVAC equipment. The $1.2 million being spent to upgrade
the HV AC systems at sites, including many community centers, is expected to save $214,000 a
year.
San Jose also plans to upgrade building management control systems, allowing the integration
of the city's building equipment using automation and information technology for greater
control and easier access to daily operations of the facilities. Stufflebean said it will "enable
facility managers to identify when the building isn't performing as it should so that they can fix
issues and get the building back to its optimum efficiency." The $360,000 allocated for this
project is expected to save $65,000 a year.
Variable Frequency Drives to be installed at sites such as the police communications building
will vary the speed at which motors and pumps run, to reduce energy consumption. The
$175,000 project could generate $54,000 in annual savings.
Sites throughout the city, including libraries, senior and community centers and services yards,
will be brought up to date energywise.
Stufflebean said the $390,000 budgeted for this project could generate savings of $195,000.
San Jose Fire Station 10, on Monroe Street, will be getting a "cool roof," made of materials that
reflect the sun's energy. Cool roofing solutions reduce the roof surface temperature by up to
100 degrees Fahrenheit, thereby reducing heat transferred to the building below and in turn
reducing energy costs. The $75,000 project is expected to save $11,000 a year. An additional
$25,000 will be spent to install new water heaters at three municipal facilities, for a cost
savings of $5,000 a year.
The city will also spend $2 million for municipal solar energy - both solar electric and some
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solar hot water - on 25 fire stations throughout the city. These projects, Stufflebean said, are
poised and ready to go out to bid. The solar installations are expected to be completed in 12 to
18 months. The city will partner with a third party that will get any applicable tax rebates.
Another $1 million will be spent to implement energy-efficient projects in low-income
community projects.
Stufflebean said the savings received from the first year of all of these projects will go back into
a revolving energy-efficiency fund, used to make later improvements. The fund was created last
year and has about $600,000 in it to date.
San Jose Stimulus breakdown
Here's what city leaders have determined they will do with an infusion of Department of Energy
funds:
$2 million: LED lights (such as the one shown here, outside City Hall)
$2 million: Municipal solar energy
$1.2 million: HVAC replacement at several community centers and police offices.
$1 million: Additional low-income energy efficiencies for community projects
$800,000: Overhead costs
$775,000: Design costs and contingency
$390,000: Retrocommissioning - a process to ensure all building systems perform interactively
- at several libraries, community centers and other public buildings.
$360,000: Upgrade to building management control systems, adding automation and
information technologies.
$175,000: Install Variable Frequency Drivers, or systems that control speed motors and pumps
to reduce energy consumption, at police buildings, an animal care shelter and a health
building.
$75,000: A new "cool" roof for Fire Station 10 that consists of materials that deflect sun light
and lower building temperatures.
$25,000: New water heaters at three venues
Who's seeing stimulus funds
In total, Silicon Valley cities received more than $19 million in DOE funding. San Jose received
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the most funding, with Fremont and Sunnyvale also bringing in more than a million each.
Campbell $163,700
Cupertino $526,200
Fremont $1.89M
Gilroy $207,000
Milpitas $662,400
Morgan Hill $157,100
Mountain View $719,000
Newark $173,200
Palo Alto $663,000
Redwood City $736,300
San Jose $8.84M
San Mateo $875,800
Santa Clara $1.18M
Santa Cruz $553,800
Sunnyvale $1.29M
Union City $638,200
Watsonville $215,100
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Offices empty, but deals pending - Silicon Valley 1 San Jose Business Journal:
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Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. May 18, 2009
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SILICON VALLEY I SAN JOSE
lusinessJlurlal
Friday, May 15, 2009
Offices empty, but deals pending
Silicon Valley I San Jose Business Journal - by Katherine Conrad
Silicon Valley's vacancy numbers are worsening, but the head of Cornish & Carey Commercial's
South Bay office said real estate "deals are brewing."
"The next quarter should look a lot more interesting," said Todd Shaffer, senior vice president
for Cornish. "Landlords are more aggressive to do a deal even in the premium markets due to
the vacancy rates. They are focused on occupancy more than holding on to their asking rents."
A building costs money with or without a tenant, Shaffer said.
So if the operating costs exceed $1 a square foot, landlords might as well have a tenant in there
helping to pay costs, he said.
Shaffer said he hopes to see more positive numbers in the coming months in Cupertino, the
West Valley and even some parts of San Jose where rents are particularly low.
Some rents are so low, they're nonexistent. Free rent for as long as a year has become more the
rule than the exception in this climate. Shaffer said landlords simply don't have access to cash
for tenant improvements and offer free rent as a way to offset the costs of building out space.
And the flights to frugality are still full, as companies steer clear of flashy space that looks like
it costs a lot even if it doesn't.
Jim Beeger, a broker at Colliers International, is tracking 170 potential deals from companies
seeking roughly 6 million square feet throughout the valley to discover where the market is
headed.
He hasn't crunched all his numbers, but so far he has found that an equal percentage of tenants
are seeking more space, less space or for the same amount of space but at a better price.
"My gut feeling is that once the totals are compiled the downsizing portion will be the largest
component and the expansion portion will be the smallest," he said.
In a normal market, as much as 80 percent of transactions are for companies seeking larger
offices, he said. During the dot-com boom, that rose to 90 percent. In this market, however, it's
a different story. But some activity is better than none. The next trick, Beeger said, is to
persuade tenants to do something.
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Delinquent comlnercial mortgages rise
The monthly report from Realpoint Research LLC contained more sobering news.
Delinquencies in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market rose by $3 billion to $17
billion in April.
That amount is more than 300 percent higher than April 2008. A total of $66 million worth of
loans either were liquidated or resulted in loan workouts.
With 230 loans worth $1.9 billion in delinquencies, Texas is the worst among the lo-state heap
in terms of the highest value of delinquencies. California is a close second with $1.8 billion, and
Florida is third with $1.6 billion. Nevada rounds out the top 10 with $645 million.
One of the loans spotlighted by Realpoint was an 88,000-square-foot industrial property in
Morgan Hill sold by Butterfield Technologies LLC for $4 million, 45 percent less than its $9
million loan balance, to Pinnacle Manufacturing.
Dome expands into South Bay
Dome Construction Corp. has opened a San Jose office with veteran Melody Spradlin at its
helm. Spradlin, who most recently built labs for Genentech Inc. in South San Francisco, has
more than two decades of experience focusing on tech construction. Spradlin, who was a
consulting professor at Stanford University until 2003, has also built projects for Sugen Inc.,
Amgen Inc. and Sequus Pharmaceuticals.
She acknowledged that opening a new office in such an economy is risky, but said the San
Francisco-based Dome wants to be closer to the tech companies that will require its services.
"I've never seen a market like this," she said. "But I'm really good at making connections and
helping people solve problems. There are still people out there who need someone who can pull
together a team who understands their problems."
Spradlin said that last week she signed a client who she cannot name yet but who will require a
data center and office.
Katherine Conrad can be reached at 408.299.1820 or kconrad@bizjournals.com.
All contents of this site @ American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
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