Waterfront Residents Hope Long Will Push Bayfront Along

Nearly 50 Hercules residents and city officials met at City Hall Monday night for a question and answer session with interim City Manager Charles Long on Hercules Bayfront.

The project is ten years in the making and the subject of frustration for Waterfront residents, the project's developer and the city.

The meeting started out with an introduction from Long, who spoke about his credentials, which included his current position as a mixed-used real estate developer and faculty member at Urban Land Institute Real Estate School as well as a former city manager and town manager.

"I know a little bit about a lot of stuff but not a lot about anything," Long said. The statement seemed to break the ice, and half of the tense crowd let out a laugh.

After his introduction, Long began a presentation on Hercules Bayfront, its history and where it's headed.

Hercules Bayfront is a planned 40-acre new urban community that would include multiple mixed-use buildings and incorporate parks and bike and walking paths. It is an estimated 1,821,000 square feet, and if completed today, would be worth $455,250,000. That price was determined by the amount of square footage multiplied by the $250 per square foot current property value of the area.

Within the 40 acres, the city wants to build a 12-acre Intermodal Transit Center--a transportation hub with bus, train and ferry stops. So far, the city has committed $70 million to the project, Long said.

Residents who bought their homes in anticipation of Hercules Bayfront—a project they thought would be completed years ago—have expressed anger towards the city for not starting the project sooner or being forthright with information about its progress.

Development seems to have stalled for a number of reasons. The most apparent being negotiations between the city and Hercules Bayfront developer Anderson Pacific. Long said he met with James Anderson of Anderson Pacific earlier in the day to discuss the project.

In order to move forward, Long said they will need to determine the overall cost and worth of Hercules Bayfront in terms of financials and overall quality of life for Herculeans.

"We need to see progress. If there is no progress, we need to clearly understand why. I'm a 'show me' kind of guy," said Steve Menefee, a Waterfront resident of eight years, who moved a half-mile from his home on Hercules Avenue to live in the proposed new urban community.

Most of the attendees who spoke at the meeting blamed the City Council and City Manger Nelson Oliva for the project's slowdown and lack of communication on its standing with Anderson Pacific. Some said the city council underestimated their intelligence by denying them information on the project's process.

To that, long said, "I am a broker of information. I'm not a chooser of sides."

Long said he would share information as he received it regarding developer negotiations. He acknowledged the validity of the public's frustration with the city, but said anger will not help with progress.

While the Hercules Bayfront looks to be a lengthy work in progress, several meeting attendees gave Long credit for even hosting the public discussion to begin with, saying it's an encouraging step in the right direction.

"I think it's definitely a huge step in the right direction," Waterfront resident Patrick Tang said about the meeting.

Menefee agreed that the meeting promising, but ultimately, "This is just another bunch of talk and it sounds pretty good. Action, it's all about action."