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sense of vision for the entire area which has evolved, thinks good concepts have been laid down which can be used as the park matures. Karla Brown, speaking for Task Force Member -at -large Anne Fox, said her concern is the amount of open space. She did not think a 1/2 acre park was acceptable given the number of units, voiced concerns about key traffic flow on Owens Drive and the boxy nature of the plan, and asked that they be softened with meandering trails. Task Force Member John Steinbuch, W.D. Carey, agrees with comments regarding the retail conversation. They were given core guidelines and the main issue was high density residential. They spent a lot more time talking about retail than design of residential buildings. BRE Properties will invest $150 million in the community on two parcels which is a big risk. The project needs to be feasible, provide a return on investment and also a product that the City is proud of and is successful, along with retail leased to viable, long -term tenants. Mayor Hosterman noted that part of the settlement order was that the City could not set conditions that would preclude a development project. Task Force Member Zaka Ashraf, Archstone Apartments, said he has lived in Pleasanton without a car for 8 years up until about 5 months ago, his focus has been to ensure livable development for different types of families. His main focus has been ensuring the plan has biking, public open space for kids to play, transportation connections, buses, and park places. He agrees there was a focus on retail, but the truncation of timelines affected the number of questions they could have delved into. He cares about the green aspect of the development, the Iron Horse Trail, and the need to be educated on the financial viability of the project. Task Force Member Don Reber, BRE Properties, said they have owned Parcel 2 since 2007 and recently came into contract to purchase Parcel 1. He said they want to arrive at a financial feasible project and one that meets the settlement agreement at 30 units to the acre requirement. In looking at today's guidelines, some items need work that would help meet the density and economics of the project, stating the product modeled is a little more dense and vertical than they had in mind. Because of market dynamics, there are only two building types that could be economically viable; the three -story garden product with a four story wood podium to get up to 30 units to the acre. These are a little more horizontal than vertical and take up space, and it starts becoming a problem to hit the 30 units to the acre along setbacks and the street. The other issue is the live /work units. Each unit takes up two residential units and this works against providing density, as well. He also suggested being careful with live /work products, and often spaces are found with blinds drawn year round 24/7 because it is live /live and people want privacy. Another issue relates to retail. They have been vocal about it being a very high risk proposition. Most mixed use projects are in far better locations and they are very difficult to make work, hold tenants, and from becoming vacant space most of the time. However, they are willing to give it a try. They will provide the bulk of retail at the corner of Owens and Willow on their site and will need to park it conveniently and angled. The problem with the frontage on Owens is that there is an acceleration lane there now which tapers in and out, and this is an important piece of real estate. To get lower density buildings, all diagrams show a continuous line of diagonal parking against Owens, which eats up into 20 feet of space they really need. He noted that BRE has done their own site plan and financial modeling and can share this information with the City. Joint Workshop Minutes Page 6 of 13 December 16, 2010