Tenants May Finally Start Moving Into The Mostly Vacant Pleasant Hill BART Office Complex

For years, people have driven by the office development in front of the Pleasant Hill BART station and asked, “Why are all those places empty?”

That may soon be changing.

The firm that manages those commercial properties says a pair of the vacant spaces will be occupied later this year and others may soon follow.

“We feel like we’ve turned a corner,” said Craig Semmelmeyer, founder and principal of Main Street Property Services.

The Contra Costa Centre Transit Village, as the development around the BART station is called, was planned and built two decades ago with the help of bond money.

The idea was to construct a high-density retail and residential complex with parking near a transit center. The development got some high praise early, but it’s had difficulty delivering on the promise.

After a slow start, the apartments on the upper two floors of the three-story complex have been filled the past several years.

Commercial Struggles

The retail area on the first floor, however, has remained mostly vacant.

Currently, 10 of the spaces are without tenants or signed leases.

Only three have businesses in them right now. One is the Starbucks on the corner, which by all accounts is busy. There’s also an Allstate Insurance office and a Third WorkPlace.

There are signs of life, however. Construction is under way for a Zoom Room dog training facility, which is expected to open in August.

Liz Claflin, owner of Zoom Room, said she chose the location because there is a lot of traffic cruising by on Treat Boulevard and the demographics of the nearby area is conducive for a dog-oriented business.

Claflin also noted the complex has a Walnut Creek address, although it is officially in an unincorporated slice of Contra Costa County.

Claflin said there is also plenty of parking, not always the case in downtown Walnut Creek.

“The rent is also more reasonable than downtown,” she said.

The owners of the Peruvian restaurant Mochica in San Francisco have also signed a lease for a corner space near Zoom Room.

Semmelmeyer said the signing could be a game changer for the complex.

“We’re thrilled,” he said. “There’s a lot more interest when you sign a special client like them.”

Semmelmeyer said his company is in negotiations now with a yoga studio, a financial institution and a bicycle shop to lease space at Contra Costa Centre.

He said the complex has had a high vacancy rate not only because of the sluggish economy but because his firm has been picky over who they sign leases with. He said he’s turned down clients such as sandwich shops and hair salons because they didn’t fit what Main Street Properties is trying to create at the center.

“It’s better in the long run to be choosy,” said Semmelmeyer. “Most people take whoever will sign. They do what’s easiest. That’s why people hire us. They want something different.”

More tenants would be welcome news for Clyde Smith, the agent at the Allstate office. He’s in the second year of a 5-year lease.

Smith said he likes the frontage along Treat Boulevard, the easy parking and the walk-in traffic he gets from BART patrons.

His biggest concern is the increase in maintenance fees being leveled by the project owner, Avalon Walnut Creek.

Smith said they’ve tripled to $900 a month since he moved in and there’s not much he can do to stop it.

Residential Success

Officials at Avalon Walnut Creek did not respond to requests for an interview for this story.

However, Semmelmeyer said the 422 apartments there are almost all rented out.

“The residential here has been a phenomenal success,” he said.

Jason Bryan and his wife, Ryna, live at a corner apartment with their 7-month-old son. The couple has been there for two years.

Bryan, a documentary filmmaker, likes the proximity to BART as well as the safety and security at the complex. He also said the landlords have responded well to maintenance issues.

He said the rents range from $1,500 to $2,500 a month, depending on the size of the apartment. However, the rents have been going up, the latest increase being 15 percent.

“They’re getting a premium for those spaces,” said Semmelmeyer, “because it’s a popular place.”

Another reason is the cost associated with the construction of the complex. The developers were required to pay prevailing wages, which drove up expenses.

Everyone interviewed said they liked the farmers market that’s at the BART station every Wednesday.

They also said they don’t hear the BART trains, whose screeching can be heard in the back yards of some homes miles away.

The tenants credited good insulation and construction for the relative silence.