Oakley Agrees to Sell Surplus Property in Hopes of Attracting Agricultural Business

Last week, the Oakley City Council agreed in a split 3-2 vote to sell surplus property on Main Street in hopes of bringing an agricultural retail store to the City of Oakley.

The council agreed to sell the combined parcels of 2.77 acres located at Main Street and Neroly Road to Thomas Properties Inc for $1.675 million.  But the sale did not come without debate after Thomas Properties presented two options of what it could do with the property.

• Option 1 – mid-sized retail agricultural supplies and equipment store, occupying a range 15,000 sq ft. This facility will also include an outdoor display area at the back of the facility, as well as a designated parking lot.
• Option 2 – a combination of sit-down and quick service restaurant, a fuel and convenience store, and a car wash at the back of the premises.

The council pushed for Option 1 to be the option and encouraged Thomas Properties to make it happen.

Harumi Murata, Economic Development Analyst, presented the item noting the property is 2.77 acres and is currently being used as a city Corp yard while being declared as surplus property last year.

According to Murata, the City received several competitive proposals, which were subsequently evaluated on a range of criteria. After a review of all the proposals received, the decision was made to proceed with a bid from a real estate developer with the highest monetary purchase price ($1,675,000) whose proposal closely aligns with our current project requirements that include a commitment to sustainability, such as the potential for substantial generation of sales tax and employment.

Based in Walnut Creek, Thomas Properties, Inc. operates as a comprehensive real estate developer emphasizing residential and commercial real estate investment, development, construction, and property management. The company possesses significant experience in the field of commercial development, as they are involved with multiple commercial projects across East County, the broader Bay Area, and the Sacramento region, and was the developer responsible for Popeye’s project (101 Carol Lane) in Oakley.

Oakley Option 2 would include a gas station, fast food, car wash.

Murata said both scenarios while different share potential to stimulate the growth of ancillary businesses, as it may trigger an increase in sales tax and direct employment opportunities – which is expected to generate a ripple effect in fostering broader local economic development.

Sam Thomas, of Thomas Properties, shared they developed the Bank of the West on Balfour in Brentwood, the Popeye’s Chicken at Carol Lane in Oakley, and recently opened the Grocery Outlet on Brentwood Blvd and Sand Creek – along with Habit Burger, Wendy’s Chipotle, Panda, Denny’s, Quick Quack, and 7-Eleven. — see overview of proposed projects.

“We presented to Harumi and Josh two schemes prioritized by one mid-sized format boxed retailer that has the need for a second store in East Contra Costa County. The sphere of influence is where the city owned property is,” stated Thomas. “We aim to prioritize bringing that retailer to Oakley. We can’t guarantee it, it’s the retailer’s decision but there a highway focused and a regional draw. They would be a fantastic use whether its this property or another property they would be wonderful to have.”

Thomas stated while priority 1 was his preference and priority, option 2 was complimentary of the freeway access and compliments other uses in the area such as the logistics center.

Mayor Aaron Meadows stated his preference was Priority 1.

Vice Mayor Anissa Williams stated as a council, they get a lot of flack for fast food, car washes, gas stations and was hesitant with the sale.

“Since this is a city owned property, I am not comfortable with the sale unless we can have more things like priority 1 and nothing to do with priority 2,” stated Williams. “Because we own the property, in good conscious I can’t. We are already getting all this heat about Wendy’s across the street and I think the drive-thru across the street is still empty. I just have a lot of trepidation and would like us to figure this out so if its not proposal 1 its something more like proposal 1.”

City Manager Josh McMurray stated it was the councils decision on what to do with the property and how they want to sell it.  He said staff had shared concerns of proposal 2 and it was their desire they would have to go back and renegotiate and there was a chance of “no deal” as Thomas Property is going to invest a lot of time and money and would need to recuperate costs if a mid-size retailer does not come to Oakley.

“Our desire is to land scheme 1,” stated McMurray. “But when we start looking at the entire city, its important to note its not a one size fits all approach and there are different parts of the city where some uses are more appropriate than others.”

McMurray further highlighted over the past two years they talked about these four sensitive uses (car washes, fast food, gas stations, car washes) where they have crafted regulations and zoning to protect residential properties and schools.

“This really is a highway serving intersection where we have a lot of activity,” stated McMurray. “We are talking to many interested parties who are interested in vacant parcels. A large part of it has to do with the logistics center, development and success of that project.”

He said he understood the councils desire and would work with Thomas Properties.

Thomas shared in complete transparency that the retailer has also looked at the City of Antioch which is not his choice, they would have to invest significant money to give it their best shot.

Meadows again stated he preferred option 1.

“I am not opposed to scheme 2, but I prefer 1. If it was scheme 2, it is right on SR-160 on a main corridor.  We have heard and discussed when we looked at Quick Quack and McDonalds with the ordinance. That site is one for hose that is appropriate for those kind of uses, but saying that, I do prefer you go after and push hard on option 1,” stated Meadows. “It would be great for Oakley.”

Fuller said he preferred Option 1 but wasn’t sure how an agricultural business operation is going to do in California. He also preferred a sit-down restaurant such as Denny’s. He said he was comfortable with how Thomas Properties has approached this.

Councilmember Shannon Shaw said Option 1 was the best option and if they had an option to limit it to Option 1 she would like to see what that would look like.

Councilmember Hugh Henderson agreed that Option1 is the preference but should not delay the sale of the property.

Williams again stated she received a ton of comments about the Wendy’s not even built and the empty drive thru across the street had no interest.

“I feel like we have things that are sitting there already and take into account what we heard from our economic development consultants who talked about we got enough drive thru, gas station and fast food type businesses and they said the future of Oakley is more living wage jobs,” stated Williams.

She believed since it was in the proximity of the logistics center, they could put some conditions on the sale of the property.

“It’s not the responsible things to do when the city owns the property if we cant guide that a little bit better,” said Williams who said they could be setting up the developer for failure if they come back and they put all these conditions on them for conditional use permits.

Fuller motioned to approve the item as presented seconded by Henderson.

The item passed in a 3-2 vote with Shaw and Williams dissenting.