Two of the Bay Area’s three largest cities — San Francisco and Oakland — made the top 10 list of the most walkable cities in the country.

San Francisco came in second after New York City while Oakland ranked No. 9.

The rankings were compiled by Walk Score, a Seattle-based company that determines how walkable a neighborhood is for renters and home buyers.

“Being able to walk out your door and be at your destination whether that be your job, school, park, grocery store or restaurant is great for your wallet, health, and quality of life,” said Josh Herst, CEO of Walk Score. “For decades, Americans have tended to drive more every year, but that’s changing. Today commuting by bus, bike and foot are on the rise as more people choose apartments and homes in walkable neighborhoods and with shorter, cheaper and happier commutes.”

The company found that homes in highly walkable areas are becoming more valuable as younger people increasingly prefer to walk than drive, residents of walkable areas weigh on average eight pounds less than those who don’t, and most Americans spend an average of $9,000 per year on a car.

San Francisco earned a score of 84 or Very Walkable, which means most errands can be accomplished on foot. Some of the most walkable neighborhoods include Chinatown, the Financial District, Downtown, the Tenderloin and Telegraph Hill.

Oakland brought in a score of 69 or Somewhat Walkable, which means some errands can be accomplished on foot.

“Oakland isn’t the Bay Area’s second city anymore,” the report states. “With its stunning location on the shores of Lake Merritt and proximity to Silicon Valley employers, it’s come into its own. The ethnically diverse population makes it a cultural playground for food, art, music, and more.”

Here is the top 10 list:

1. New York: 87.6
2. San Francisco: 83.9
3. Boston: 79.5
4. Philadelphia: 76.5
5. Miami: 75.6
6. Chicago: 74.8
7. Washington, D.C.: 74.1
8. Seattle: 70.8
9. Oakland: 68.5
10. Baltimore: 66.2

Ellis Partners LLC is revamping its plans to transform Jack London Square with a proposal to build up to 665 housing units.

The developer submitted an application to the City of Oakland to amend a previous development plan. The new plan calls for two housing towers of more than 20 stories on sites currently entitled for office and retail development.

The sites involved are:

• A parcel at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero currently used for surface parking that is across from the former Barnes & Noble store. It was approved for 120,000 square feet of office and retail space.
• A parcel on Embarcadero between Harrison and Alice streets entitled for 135,000 square feet of office. The site is next to the Jack London Market building, which has housing and retail space, and the site of a proposed, 248-room hotel.

Rachel Flynn, Oakland’s planning director, said the city is supportive of allowing the developer to building housing instead of commercial space as long as it activates the area and become landmarks for the neighborhood.

“If they’re not going to have retail, then we want the buildings to be open and have lighting,” she said.

Ellis Partners completed the first phase of its projected, $350 million redevelopment of Jack London Square in 2008. Much of the first phase’s office components leased up to tenants including Sungevity, which moved it’s headquarters to the Jack London Market Building.

The retail part, however, has struggled with the retail component of the market building, about 70,000 square feet, vacant other than Daniel Paterson’s Haven Restaurant and other large retail spaces such as the former Barnes & Noble store empty as well.

The market building was slated to house a multi-level food court and market similar to San Francisco’s Ferry Building or Pike Place Market in Seattle. Last year, Jim Ellis, managing partner for Ellis Partners, said the developer would shift the focus of the market to gourmet food producers who wanted production and retail space. Neither plan materialized.

Meanwhile, housing development is on the upswing in Oakland after laying dormant for close to five years. For the first time in years, developers are proposing hundreds of new units and reviving approved projects.

Several new housing developments have been built in recent years in Jack London Square such as Embarcadero Pacific’s the Bond, Emerald Funds’ the Ellington and Signature Development Group’s 288 Third, giving the area a boost in residents and pedestrian traffic.

Adding more housing to the mix could help entice more retailers, such as a full-service grocery store, to set up shop

Hundreds of seniors are moving into the first phase of Stoneridge Creek, a 635-unit retirement community in Pleasanton.

The developer behind the 46-acre project, Continuing Life Communities LLC, completed 415 units that are offered at between $300,000 and $1 million. About 300 units were reserved before the project was completed.

“The demand was strong and continues to be strong,” said Troy Bourne, vice president of planning for Stoneridge Creek.

The developer, based in Carlsbad, bought the property and 5 acres for a park from the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority and started construction in 2011. The first phase cost more than $100 million to build.

Bourne said the average resident is in their 70s looking for an “all-inclusive” living situation and a community where they can live out their final years.

The way the community works is that residents pay a set amount upfront for a unit and services such as meals, house cleaning, utilities and amenities such as an onsite theater, gym, pool, spa and outdoor areas.

The units in the first phase range from small one-bedroom apartments to large penthouse apartments and single-level homes that are between 700 to 2,500 square feet. The maximum occupancy per unit is two people.

“Our residents are people who have a home they’ve lived in for a number of years and they’ve reached a time when maintaining the home is getting to be too much,” Bourne said.

Demand has been strong with residents coming from through out the East Bay and Peninsula cities, he said. Nationwide, demand for housing that caters to older generations has ballooned as Baby Boomers age and retire.

By 2030, about 18 percent of people in the United States will be age 65 or older, according to the Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, that figure was 13 percent in 2010.

Besides retirement communities, the change in demographics has pushed other trends like multiple-generation families living under one-roof and cooperative housing developments.

Continuing Life plans to build another 220 units at Stoneridge Creek and already has a waiting list of about 50 prospective residents. Those units could get underway in the next few years. Bourne said the developer wants to see which types of units sell best during the first phase.

Stoneridge Creek will also includes 68 assisted living apartments and a 73-bed skilled nursing facility that will be ready for residents in 2014.

The California Staffing Professionals was honored at Staffing World^® 2013, the annual convention and expo of the American Staffing Association, held Oct.8-10 in Orlando. CSP received The Chapter Achievement Award and Legislative Showcase Award for its outstanding programs and chapter efforts during 2013.

CSP Past President, Joe Mackey, CSP, accepted the award from ASA chairman, Bob Livonius, at a special award ceremony during the convention.

ASA evaluated state associations on their support of the staffing industry through chapter meetings, special events, educational seminars, government relations activities, and community outreach efforts, and honored chapters with the most outstanding programs with merit awards.

CSP is an association for staffing companies in California. The staffing industry in California employs an average of 307,468 temporary and contract employees per day.

ASA and its affiliated chapters advance the interests of staffing and recruiting firms of all sizes and across all sectors through legal and legislative advocacy, public relations, education, and the promotion of high standards of legal, ethical, and professional practices. ASA members provide the full range of employment and work force services and solutions, including temporary and contract staffing, recruiting and permanent placement, outplacement and outsourcing, training, and human resource consulting.

To learn more and become an active member of CSP like Community Staffing Resources has visit: http://www.cspnet.org/

Contact:

Chapter President:

Thomas Tassinari
Synergy Management Solutions

14081 Yorba St. Suite 211

Irvine, CA 92620

949-861-3981

tom@smsicorp.com

A decade after UC Berkeley shut down its Laguna Street campus in San Francisco, the site will finally find new life as a housing development.

Wood Partners has started demolition of the non-historic structures on the 5.8-acre development at 55 Laguna St., a $150 million project that will total 330 market-rate rental apartments. The site will eventually include a 110-unit affordable senior development by Mercy Housing and OpenHouse, but that project is not fully financed and is probably about a year away from construction.

Wood Partners Director of Development Brian Pianca said that the first phase would consist both of the demolition and the rehabilitation of the two historic buildings, Woods Hall and the Woods Hall Annex, that the group is responsible for restoring. The renovation of a third historic building, Richardson Hall, will be part of the Mercy/Open House project. Build Group is the contractor.

The Laguna campus opened in 1920 as a property of San Francisco State University. The campus was purchased by UC Berkeley Extension in 1958. The campus was shut down in 2003 and developer AF Evans spent five years working on entitling it, but eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Wood Partners took it over in 2010 and hired BAR Architects to redesign the project. With the recession in full swing, Wood Partners worked to cut the cost of the project by about 10 percent, said Pianca.

“The evaluation from Wood Partners, and we agreed, was that the site plan was a little difficult from a construction standpoint; that the buildings didn’t follow the topography in a way that was going to be as affordable as they wanted it to be,” said Chris Haegglund, a principal with BAR Architects. “They were willing to take a step back in entitlements and redesign the site plan. So we did that. We ran the buildings parallel to the grade instead of perpendicular to the grade.”

Wood Partners and BAR also worked to reduce the amount of automobile traffic going through the site. While Waller Street originally bisected the property, BAR designed the site plan to make it a pedestrian green space called Waller Park. Other public spaces will include a mews called Palm Lane, a community garden, and the historic 10,000-square-foot Woods Hall Annex, which will likely be an arts space. Wood Partners is in discussions with a neighborhood nonprofit that would program the arts space.

Wood Partners will build the entire market-rate project at once, rather than phasing it. He said the decision not to spread out the risk and build in phases was driven by both by belief in the strength of the market as well as design considerations. “If you look at amenities like Waller Park and the Woods Hall Annex, they are requirements of a single project, not two separate projects,” he said.

The developer plans to start leasing units in 2015. The development will have a gym, club room and bike shop.

“I think what really differentiates us is the amount of open space on our site,” Pianca said. “So many others are typical urban density projects, which are great, but it’s rare to have so much open space within an urban project. We have community gardens and courtyards and parks mixing in with the historic structures and new buildings.”

Haegglund said the project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for BAR.

“It’s not many times you have a chance to work on a site of this size and importance interwoven into the fabric of a neighborhood like Hayes Valley,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge improvement to the neighborhood. It preserves historic buildings, gets rid of a lot of surface parking lots and introduces this Waller Street park that right now is a complete barrier to the neighborhood.”

A warehouse near Alameda’s waterfront will soon be torn down to make room for new homes after a chain reaction of real estate deals.

The site was recently picked up by homebuilder Lennar, which plans to build 89 homes on the 7.2-acre plot at 1551 Buena Vista Ave.

Lennar bought the site for $17 million from Trident Partners, which spent close to a decade entitling the site for 52 single family homes and a 37-unit condo building and finally bought the property in January 2013.

Like many homebuilders, Lennar has been aggressively going after new home sites as the Bay Area market roars back to life.

“We continue to invest in carefully underwritten strategic land acquisitions in well-positioned markets,” said Lennar executives in its most recent quarterly earnings report.

The Buena Vista site, which sits close to a marina, has a 138,000-square-foot warehouse that was occupied by Chipman Relocations, a moving and storage company, for close to 30 years.

The property is a former industrial area the City of Alameda rezoned to allow for housing development.

Chipman vacated the warehouse earlier this year and moved to 1575 Zephyr Ave. in Hayward, where the firm leased 95,050 square feet. Kevin Hatcher and Mark Maguire of Colliers International represented Chipman in its lease.

Jon Cook and Steve Chess represented the landlord of Chipman’s new Hayward space.

Coincidentally, Cook also represented Trident in its purchase and sale of the Alameda property.

“It’s a nice property, it’s going to have water views,” Cook said.

For all the talk in recent years about more Bay Area residents steering toward a “car-free” lifestyle, it sure is hard to find a place to live that is affordable and pedestrian-friendly once you leave San Francisco’s city limits.

Emeryville-based ZipRealty Inc. ranked the most walkable cities with the most affordable homes near San Francisco and came up with a whopping four cities: Emeryville, downtown San Jose, Albany and Berkeley.

ZipRealty used data from WalkScore.com, which ranks locations with walkability scores of 0 to 100, to come up with its list.

“One of the allures of living in San Francisco is the city’s beautiful and convenient walkability, and that appeal is well-reflected in its lofty real estate prices,” said CEO and President Lanny Baker. “According to our partner Walk Score, San Francisco is the second-most walkable large city in the United States, behind New York City. In the local study we conducted, the most walkable and affordable communities were quite surprising alternatives to the high average price in San Francisco, which currently exceed $1 million.”

Here is a breakdown of the four cities with median home price and Walk Score:

1. Emeryville: $388,888 / 80.
2. Downtown San Jose: $508,450 / 74.
3. Albany: $622,500 / 86.
4. Berkeley: $786,256 / 95.

This list points out some interesting dynamics about Bay Area real estate. It appears living in a city where you can get around without a car will cost you a premium. San Francisco by nature is a dense, walkable city with amenities around the corner in most neighborhoods. In contrast, cities around San Francisco developed with the more suburban model of separating residential and commercial areas, making residents dependent on cars.

Emeryville is a compact, 1 square-mile sized city that has undergone a major transformation during the past few decades from an industrial wasteland to a city with thriving commercial and retail districts. Most of the housing there is either apartments or condos, as is the case with most of the homes for sale that fit ZipRealty’s criteria for affordable and walkable.

Having alternatives to driving is not just better for the environment and buyer’s pocketbooks, but has other benefits, said Josh Herst, CEO of Walk Score.

“The trend in urban areas is moving toward less dependency on cars and a greater commitment to live more sustainably,” Herst said. “People in walkable neighborhoods weigh six to 10 pounds less than those who don’t. Walk Score has also done extensive research showing that walkable places make people happier and healthier. Finally, short commutes reduce stress levels and give people more free time to be involved in their communities.”

“Are You My Mother?” is a classic children’s book that is a perfect analogy to the need to network to find your next job.

“Are You My Mother?” is the story of a hatchling bird. The mother, thinking her egg will stay in the nest, leaves her egg alone and flies off to find food. The baby chick hatches. He does not understand where his mother is, so he goes to look for her.

In his search, he asks a kitten, a hen, a dog and a cow if they are his mother. Each says “No.” Then he sees an old car, which cannot be his mother for sure. In desperation, the hatchling calls out to a boat and a plane, and at last, convinced he has found his mother, he climbs onto the teeth of an enormous steam shovel.

A loud “SNORT” belches from its exhaust stack, prompting the bird to utter the famed line, “You are not my mother! You are a SNORT!” I want my mother!” he shouts.

At this climactic moment, his fate is suddenly reversed. The shovel drops him back in his nest just as his mother is returning home. The two are united, much to their delight, and the baby bird tells his mother about the adventure he had looking for her.

What does this children’s book have to do with your job search? According to Berry Zimmerman, CEO of BizEnrich and creator of Gifted Referrals, “you are the bird, and the SNORT is a very valuable referral source. The question for your referral sources is, ‘Who do you know that can take me to my next job, hiring manager, or company?’ ”

Here are three things for you to do right now to find your mother … I mean, next career move.

1. Get out from behind your computer (your nest) and meet people. Network, connect, and build relationships. Get out there and meet helpful, professional people! Naturally, aim for people working in a similar field, either in your target industry or in your target function such as sales, operations, or finance. Find events through your local Business Journal and on LinkedIn.
2. Communicate your career goal. Zimmerman says “the bird’s goal was clear, to find his mother. Create a clear, concise and repeatable message about your goal.” A good example: “I’m seeking a financial analysis position in Chicago, preferably with a manufacturing company.” Or “I’m seeking a marketing coordinator position in a large technology corporation here in Seattle.”
3. Track your network and stay connected with them for years and years. If you seek help once and then disappear, it’s called U-S-I-N-G. So write down everything at events, put the contacts in your computer, and get in the habit of keeping in touch.

Your mother is out there. Engage referral sources to find her. Be persistent, thoughtful, considerate and clear. The results will follow. Say, “Thank you” for referrals, even if they don’t result in a job.

Remember, there are companies out there who want to hire you and need your skills. You just need to find each other.

It’s always fun and interesting to see how these property management companies have grown and expanded. Some have managed to keep their names on the list and some are newcomers to the list. Below I have listed the top 10 but to see the 50 larges click on the link below.
Here are the top 10…who are managing 1,152,000+ total units
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Greystar Real Estate Partners, 192,000+ units

Riverstone Residential Group, 170,000+ units

Lincoln Property Company, 144,000+ units

Pinnacle, 138,000+ units

Equity Residential, 119,000+ units

WinnCompanies, 91,000+ units

Aimco, 88,000+ units

Archstone, 78,000+ units

Camden Property Trust, 67,000+ units

Bell Partners Inc, 65,000+ units

Here is the master list of rankings for the 50 Largest Property Management Companies, http://www.nmhc.org/Content.cfm?ItemNumber=56165&NavID=586