Chosen Builder for Sherwin Williams Site Implicated in Bribery and Influence Peddling Scheme

Criminal Allegations:

Crooked Builder Selected to Develop Emeryville's Sherwin Williams Site

Lennar Urban Illegally Paid Concord Mayor 
With Project Pending

The East Bay city of Concord is reeling this week after it has been revealed their mayor illegally accepted money from Lennar Urban, a prominent builder under consideration to build a major housing project in that city and also selected to build the Sherwin Williams Project, a major housing project for Emeryville.  An unnamed number of Concord city council members have also been implicated in the Lennar bribery and influence peddling allegations that were capped on Tuesday with a dramatic turn when investigating Concord City Attorney Mark Coon leaped off a building to his death.

Mayor Tim Grayson accepted $16,800 from Lennar while the City has been considering selecting Lennar to be the lead builder for the 12,000 housing project know as the Concord Reuse Project, a proposal for the development of the existing Concord Naval Weapons Station.

Lennar, a large San Francisco based developer took over Emeryville's Sherwin Williams project as the primary applicant late last year with original developers SRM Earnst and Thompson Dorfman continuing to participate.

Concord has placed the Reuse Project on hold while the investigation of Lennar continues.  Emeryville officials were unavailable for comment on the implications for the Sherwin Williams Project from the Lennar allegations.

Readers can read more HERE and HERE.

Sherwin Williams Project to be the Densest Residential Development in Emeryville History

Ultra Density: Sherwin Williams Project to Break 100 Units Per Acre

Pacific Park Plaza
At 30 stories, less dense than
Sherwin Williams.
Built by Lathrop Construction:
a bunch of pikers compared 
to Ernst & Dorfman.

Opinion
As Emeryville's Sherwin Williams development project is fast tracked through the approval process, having completed the Environmental Impact Report scoping requirements this week, Emeryville residents have been introduced to a new concept: ultra density, the greater than 100 units per acre residential development.  The developers for the project have pulled out all the stops and tweaked their plan to cash in on Emeryville's generous "density bonus" accommodations, pushing the project past the never before achieved in Emeryville greater than 100 units per acre boundary.   The developers have not released exactly how dense they intend the project to be.
The ultra dense project at over 500 all rental units will allow the developers, Joe Ernst Principle at SRM Ernst Development Partners and Bruce Dorfman of Thompson/Dorfman Partners to maximize their profits but it will massively impact the entire city of Emeryville with thousands of extra vehicle trips per day clogging up our streets.

Emeryville has allowed some very dense residential projects in the past, but none have eclipsed the 100 units per acre level.  Here is a breakdown of the five densest residential developments in Emeryville:

Bruce Dorfman
"We build high quality
urban development."
That's why instead I live 
in Mill Valley.

1. Christie Park Towers   100 units/acre
2. Pacific Park Plaza   99 units/acre
3. 1401 Park Avenue   92 units/acre
4. Emeryville Warehouse Lofts   69 units/acre
5. Courtyards @ 65th Street   68 units/acre

Traffic generated by the Sherwin Williams project, a so-called Planned Unit Development located in the Park Avenue neighborhood, will likely forever gridlock 40th Street and Hollis Street but Mr Dorfman and Mr Ernst will build a small park in the project as compensation.

Joe Ernst
We wouldn't live in any of
 our residential developments
but trust us, you'll really
like it, Emeryville.

Bruce Dorfman, a resident of Mill Valley in Marin County was asked about the extreme density proposed at Sherwin Williams this morning and he ducked the question responding simply, "We build high quality urban development".  That may be but if this level of density is an inherent good, we're left wondering why he himself lives in a town that allows only 7 units per acre for single family residences and no more than 29 units/acre for multi-family residential projects.
Bruce's partner for this project, Joe Ernst lives in a "1919 bungalow" in Alameda.  That's a town that allows only up to 8.7 units/acre for residential Planned Unit Developments.
Interesting, these guys don't live in any of the projects they've built and they prefer to live in such low density environments.

We should consider these developers aren't looking out after our best interests.
Emeryville residents should decide among themselves how much density is good for our town.  We shouldn't simply leave it up to a couple of profit seeking developers from Mill Valley and Alameda with a cock and bull story about how great it's gunna be when traffic is gridlocked in our town.  We need a debate around this issue and now that we've elected a new City Council that will listen to us, we say let's get the conversation started.  Sorry Joe 'n Bruce; we're going to not just take your word for it how wonderful this level of density you're proposing for us is.  We're taking control of our town.  Stay tuned.

With No Returns Coming, Why Should We Say OK to the Sherwin Williams Development?

We're Not Legally Required to Say Yes to Developer's Projects

So Shouldn't We Hold Out For Real Benefits for the Neighborhoods?

Opinion
Everybody knows Emeryville City Hall gets revenue from business development.  But how much revenue does the City get from residential development?   The answer may surprise some; it's less than zero.  It's negative revenue.  Residential development in Emeryville actually costs City Hall money because residents use a little more in services than they pay in.  As it turns out this dynamic is pretty normal in the world of municipal budgeting and financing.  Cities generally don't use residents to generate cash, they don't imagine making money off the residents.  Emeryville is no exception, we lose money on residents.  It makes sense because after all, Emeryville is us.

So residential development costs us money.  We should get other non-monetary benefits from developers of large scale residential projects then, right?

Sherwin Williams Project
They're going to dump thousands of cars into
our city as the developer seeks to maximize
his profits.  Shouldn't we maximize OUR profits?

Against this backdrop, picture an alternative Emeryville where the City Council was working wholly in the interests of the residents and not the developers (you'll have to use your imagination with this).  In this imaginary Emeryville, developers would have to show real benefits to the residents in trade for approving development proposals.
Now imagine a lousy proposal from a developer for a residential project with little or no benefits.  That fictitious City Council could say NO to the developer, right?  Well, because of constitutionally ensconced private property rights, the answer is they would have to say YES to the project.  State law forces any city hall to allow a developer to build a residential project, regardless of any benefits to the residents, for any project up to 20 units per acre. If the developer wanted to build a project at more than 20 units per acre, well then the imaginary Emeryville City Council could force the developer to negotiate.  That's the leverage point where residents could see benefits emerge.  The Council could trade increased units per acre for resident amenities.

But this is just a thought experiment, albeit a pleasant one.  In the real Emeryville, the City Council majority simply grants the developer whatever he wants without asking for benefits.
It's happening right now with the Sherwin Williams project on Horton Street.  The Developer, SRM Ernst Development Partners has done the obligatory shopping of the project around town and they're now quietly working to secure entitlements to build their residential project at 80 apartment units per acre.  Remember, we're only legally required to allow them to build 20 units per acre.  Those additional 60 units per acre are going to massively impact our town, especially the Park Avenue neighborhood.  The project is going to add thousands of vehicle trips per day on our already crowded streets.

Councilman Kurt Brinkman
We're not in any position in Emeryville
to ask developers for anything.  Besides
developers are already looking out
after our interests.  We're in good hands
when we let them run the show.

  The "benefit" for this project essentially amounts to a center green space proudly touted by the developer.  But this isn't really a space meant to be used by residents outside the project.  This greenery is meant to serve as bling to increase cache for the project to help SRM Ernst's bottom line.  It's meant to be used as a device to bump up the rents at the Sherwin Williams apartments.  The small amount of green space proposed on the periphery of the project is land already owned by the City of Emeryville.
The greenery is the sum total of project benefits at the Sherwin Williams project.  So the City Council is  giving away 60 units per acre for that.

We need to do a proper costs/benefits analysis with Sherwin Williams as it's being proposed.  If we add up all the losses and compare that with the benefits, it's no contest: we're on the losing side with this project.  We see the down side, but where's the up side?  Since we don't legally have to make this lousy deal, and since City Hall is going to perpetually lose money with it, then why should we allow it?  What's in it for us?  It seems crazy that we would allow this deal.


We already know the three Council members, Nora Davis, Kurt Brinkman and Ruth Atkin are pro-developer ideologues.  We know they're not going to ask the developer for any resident benefits in trade for approving this project.  But this is the last large piece of fallow land left in Emeryville.  It's our last big hurrah.  Why should we accept the imaginary Emeryville scenario where the City Council operates in our interests, strictly as fantasy?  The Sherwin Williams developer is working to maximize his profits with this project.  We're about to give away something extremely valuable on this site.  Shouldn't we expect our government to work to maximize OUR profits?

Who's Building Emeryville's Sherwin Williams Project?

Tjlisul Skosnbn Jinkleb Tken!

The Sherwin Williams project, the most consequential development in recent Emeryville history, is going to massively impact our town.  With up to 1000 new residents and a glut of traffic generated by the project, Emeryville residents would be well served to know just who's behind this project.  The answer is SRM Ernst Development Partners, an Oakland development company.  A recent check of the corporation's website clears it up for us.  Here are the main characters responsible for this Emeryville project:

Joe Ernst

Joe Ernst
Principal

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Emily

Emily
Project Manager

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Laura

Laura
Project Manager

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To any that might be concerned, the company's website  assures us, "Emeryville project nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue."  

This text is lifted verbatim from their website.  It's just one page of many like it.  We should all be cognizant of the fact that the people who tell us they can build a massively impacting project like this, a project that will benefit us all because of their high level of competence they say, are the same ones that run a website like this.

Update: 1/1/14
Sherwin Williams developer SRM Ernst must be Tattler fans!  Sometime after this Tattler story posted, SRM Ernst pulled the website.  After sitting out there for more than a year, they've finally taken it down.  Below is the screenshot we took....they can't take THAT down!

Developer Shops the Sherwin Williams Residential Housing Project Around Town

Emeryville's Last Chance to Get it Right

Opinion
As the developer for the Sherwin Williams site at Horton and Sherwin Street, Oakland's SRM Ernst Development Partners, goes through the paces to get their mostly residential project approved, a track well worn by many other developers in recent years, Emeryville residents would do well this time to get more involved in the process.  We say this because by adding perhaps 1000 new residents to our small city, not only will this project be extremely consequential as to the long term livability of Emeryville, so too this site promises to be the last large development for at least a generation to come, what with all our new residential techie loft buildings sprung up chock-a-block over the last 15 years.  Such are the consequences of a former manufacturing hub filled with rusting factories and warehouses seizing a rare opportunity and rapidly remaking an entire city as Emeryville has done (for better or worse).
With a finite amount of land available, Emeryville's frenzied transformation into a land 'o lofts and a warren of anonymous shopping malls was bound to come to an end.  We're now at that end.  We're just about all developed up.

Well, maybe not the Earth...
but certainly a huge chunk
of Emeryville.

The transformation hasn't been without negative consequences, not the least of which is the stultifying domain one gets when one frantically caters to so specific a demographic as Emeryville has: the 30-40 year old techie commuting to San Francisco.  This housing type, preferred by developers, has produced hundreds of copies of the Emeryville magnum opus: the loft condo (even though that word loft is beginning to get a little long in the tooth).   Today's particular market has put a slight twist on the formula.  Now it's going to be all rental all the time.  And that's what it's going to be at Sherwin Williams the developer tells us.  Anything else won't pencil out you understand.

But the developer hasn't been focusing on the residential part of the project at the community meetings even though its almost all residential.  Instead the development team has been mixing it up at these meetings, bringing an air of excitement..... there's going to be retail too..... and they want our input.  They want what we want they're telling us.  We're supposed to dream big about what kind of locally serving retail shops we want.  The problem, of course, is we've already seen this show...it doesn't end well for us.  We've seen too many developers simply mollify potential neighbor critics to their projects with retail fantasy wish lists only to have them not materialize after the project gets built.  Care for a mattress chain store instead?  But the Sherwin Williams developer team seems so nice in their presentations.  Maybe this time it'll be different.

The site being last large piece of fallow land left in Emeryville, SRM Ernst admits the Sherwin Williams project will hugely impact our town.  In fact, they're downright giddy about it: they're building us a "town center" (towne centre perhaps?) they tell us.  That's funny because we already have two town centers; the East Bay Bridge Mall and the Bay Street Mall.  Both those respective developers (Catellus Development and Madison Marquette Development) said the same thing; their project would be Emeryville's "town center".  Maybe Emeryville will be henceforth known as the town with three developer built towne centres all competing with each other leaving no center at all.

Fill in "More Cars" and you won't be disappointed