PG&E is making a major move into a new facility near Bishop Ranch in San Ramon, CA. PG&E has signed papers on a 135,000 square foot building in Bishop Ranch that they will renovate with state-of-the-art technology for their employees. The new building is adjacent to PG&E's San Ramon Valley conference center (Crow Canyon Road and Alcosta Boulevard), which hosts training sessions and meetings for the utility.

This announcement must have Mayor Wilson dancing in the street as it is just the kind of economic support he is seeking. PG&E’s move will provide a nice shot in the arm to the local economy and to the new City Center when it is completed.

Inside Bay Area – Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will move 550 employees to San Ramon — including 450 from San Francisco — in a quest to operate more efficiently and reduce its costs, the utility giant said Tuesday.

Besides the 450 employees who will move out of San Francisco, the San Ramon building PG&E will occupy in the Sunset Business Park will also house about 75 workers from Pleasant Hill and 25 from Danville, said David Eisenhauer, a PG&E spokesman. The relocation of hundreds of workers to San Ramon is likely to bolster the East Bay city and nearby communities.

East Bay Biz Times – PG&E consolidating Bay Area operations, leasing space in San Ramon

"The state-of-the-art amenities that will be installed and the fact that it is next door to our conference center are going to make this a great location for our folks to work," said Des Bell, vice president and chief procurement officer for PG&E. "In addition to serving our employees well, we will be able to save millions of dollars a year in operating costs, so this is truly a win-win."

The Harper–Mees Team would love to help anyone relocating to San Ramon or the San Ramon Valley as a result of PG&E’s relocation find their dream home. We also have several very qualified Realtors we have worked successfully with in San Francisco that we can refer you to.

If you are thinking of relocating to the San Ramon Valley, note that we know the area – our team members live in Danville, San Ramon and Walnut Creek. Tracey grew up in Pleasanton and knows every nook and cranny of the TriValley.

If you’re relocating and have school age children – we have two seasoned mothers that can help you with the schools!

Our buddy and strategic partner, Dennis Viers, wound up in the hospital the other night with a ruptured appendix. I asked him if this was a result of all the hard work and long hours he has put in on the San Ramon Planning Commission and the City Center Project.

He told me it was probably due more to all the celebration around the improvement in the local housing market. I checked the IV and, sure enough, there was a morphine drip attached, so he is seeing things a little differently than some!

He’s in room 3057 at Kaiser in Walnut Creek for those who wish to visit. I don’t know if he wants flowers, but Kris is there non-stop, so take her a cheeseburger, a latte or some chocolate.

Citizens of San Ramon turned out last night to voice support and concerns over the proposed City Center project. The San Ramon Community Center provided the venue for the Planning Commission's "public record" meeting.

There were many fine points raised by local citizens both pro and con. The number one concern of the moment was having more time to wade through the DS-EIS, environmental impact study that weighed in at 422 pounds. Just kidding! It was voluminous and technical enough to provide a significant challenge to the average citizen to read and provide written comments on in the 3 weeks remaining weeks for public comment. The majority of citizens attending, both pro and con,  wanted an additional 90 days to review the EIS and provide comments, but the extension granted was only 15 days, which seemed to be based upon some point of procedure.

City Center supporters included Craig Harper of The Harper Team, who spoke in favor of the project. Craig acknowledge the concerns raised by others speaking and said he hoped the points raised could be addressed in a meaningful way with appropriate solutions being found so the project could move forward.

He also noted the interest being shown in the project by people relocating to the San Ramon Valley. He said he believes the City Center will support a family's choosing San Ramon over one of the neighboring communities as the place to purchase a home.

We, The Harper Team, agree on a couple of points: 1) We would frequent the City Center shops and restaurants (especially me, since I hold a lot of informal business meetings already at Peet's, Whole Foods, or Borders) and 2) the project will support appreciation of property values in the immediate area. In fact, we think it might provide a real impetus for remodeling and renovation in the housing area south of Montevideo to Pine Valley and between the freeway and the iron Horse Trail.

This area of town consists of homes built in the 70's with nice lots, but in need of modernizing. We have seen some terrific remodels and additions happening in that neighborhood over the last few years. The completion of the City Center would make the convenience of this neighborhood very appealing given the proximity of all the schools and parks in the area.

We look forward to more news on the project. 

San Jose Mercury News Article 

Last night, August 21, the San Ramon Planning Commission held a public meeting on the proposed San Ramon City Center project.

After calling the meeting to order and addressing other business, Chair, Dennis Viers opened the meeting up to the main subject of the evening – the San Ramon City Center project.

A quick overview of the project was given by both the City of San Ramon and Sunset Development, partners in the 44 acre project.

Emails from various parties were read and then the floor was opened for public comments. I think the majority of opinions expressed were in favor of the project, though some of those in favor had concerns about specific aspects of the project. Many of those in favor represented businesses or organizations, it seemed.

There were several oppositional opinions voiced which seemed to come mostly from citizens in the community. The main concerns I noted were: traffic, blockage of the ridgeline view, setbacks, and sidewalk width.

As usual (in my opinion) in these type of public forums, it seemed that the most passionate opinions came from individual citizens that had strong personal views on the project.

It wasn’t a large turnout, maybe 80 or a hundred and there were only about a dozen or so comments given. None of the material given was entered into the public record, that will happen at the next meeting on September 4.

This is a huge project and will have longterm ramifications for the City of San Ramon and the San Ramon Valley. We urge everyone to attend the meeting on Sept. 4^th to voice your opinion.

Amongst the three of us (The Harper Team) it seems we are mostly in favor of the project. Our greatest concern seems to be traffic – how the flow will be addressed. We see increase in traffic as inevitable as Bishop Ranch and the community grow, so we are more concerned with how it is handled rather than the given fact that it is going to increase.

Myself – I’m more worried about motorists going fifty miles an hour through the intersection of Bollinger Canyon Road and Alcosta Boulevard and up the hill toward Gale Ranch and Windermere. Additional congestion on I-680 I see as happening whether this project gets built or not. Projections on job growth at Bishop Ranch have always been in the 10 to 15 thousand range, so the City Center project seem to be inline with that.

Planning Commission – Public Hearing
Tuesday, August 21 - 7:00 PM
San Ramon Community Center

Whether you live in San Ramon, or just transact business in this city, the proposed new City Center is an important project that will impact us all.  This is of particular importance to those of us in the real estate industry because of the housing element contained in the plan.  Please come learn more about it and take this opportunity to let the Planning Commission hear how you feel about the new City Center.

Come Hear the Details and Give Your Opinion