Danville Hotel Project Talks Reaching 'Crescendo'

In the next few months, Danville residents may see plans for the Danville Hotel site. The property, on Railroad Avenue behind the Sideboard Cafe and Polka-Dot Attic, has seen tenants come and go over the years.

Danville Planning Chief Kevin Gailey said there has been a "dialogue over the last several months with the developers that is coming to a crescendo."

That dialogue included a meeting in early February with the developers to discuss redrafting the plans for the site.

Gailey said the plans, which he hoped to see in the next 60 to 90 days, could include a large central courtyard between the corner of Prospect and Railroad Avenues as well as retail space and 12 to 14 residential units.

As you pass by the red Wild West-esque buildings today, curtains sometimes billow from the top story windows.  However, because the site is in compliance with town building codes, the town is not required to take immediate action.

"I think people now are just begging us to tear it down," said Town Council member Candace Andersen of the buildings constructed in the 1960s.

The tough economic climate that, as Town Manager Joe Calabrigo said, "has affected everyone," has made it more difficult to find a plan that fits the vacant property.

The most recently considered plans, in the pre-submittal phase two years ago, included underground parking and office spaces. Those plans were no longer viable after the 2008 economic collapse, given the expense of building the parking structure and difficulty of finding tenants for office space.

The property is owned by a partnership between Castle Properties and the Neron Company. Castle, run by longtime Danville resident Thomas Baldacci, also owns the International Village shopping center on Town and Country Drive,  Marshalls shopping center on Fostoria Way, and is a major ownership partner in the Rose Garden Shopping Center on Camino Ramon, among other residential and office properties in town. The property owner was unavailable for comment before the time of this story's publication.

Calabrigo said the owners of the Danville Hotel property have been dealing not only with the difficult economic situation, but also, finding the right mix of uses that also meet the design guidelines for the site.

"We want something that is compatible with the scale and character of downtown," he said. He added that the site is one of three special opportunity sites downtown. That is, a large site requiring special consideration in terms of how it fits with other downtown buildings.

Downtown Danville is home to 19 historic buildings including the Danville Depot across from the Danville hotel site. Now home to the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, the building served as a train depot for the Southern Pacific line from 1891 until 1978.

Therefore, given its location, the Danville Hotel project will also need to fit historic design guidelines.

"The architects will need to come up with a design that is complimentary to the historic character of the downtown, but doesn't mimic it," said Calabrigo.

As for the future of the Danville Hotel site, said Council member Candance Andersen, "it's going to be the centerpiece of the downtown."