World Oil envisions upscale development; traffic concerns a hurdle
| Friday, Mar 20 2009 10:34 PM
Last Updated Monday, Mar 30 2009 04:24 PM
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Bakersfield Commons is a proposed mixed-use project on Brimhall Road that would span west and east of Coffee Road. The 255-acre site, owned by World Oil, would feature an outdoor lifestyle center with shops, restaurants and cinemas. The project would be built in phases, proponents say, with the retail element coming first, followed by office buildings and homes. Rendering by Alex Kosich, AIA.
Another view of the proposed Bakersfield Commons mixed-use project. Rendering by Alex Kosich, AIA.
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World Oil wants to bring upscale shops and boutiques with charming facades, cafes and movie theaters to northwest Bakersfield.
Its defining feature, proponents of the project say, is a traditional “Main Street,” a central gathering area for patrons to come together to shop, dine and stroll.
Tree-lined paths and paseos would connect the center to surrounding neighborhoods.
The massive development, dubbed Bakersfield Commons, would occupy 255 acres along Brimhall Road, with some big-box retail east of Coffee Road.
“We think we’ve got a great product. We love the demographics of northwest Bakersfield,” said Dan Niemann, the project manager.
It has three phases, with buildout scheduled for 2030. It’s like two Valley Plazas on the same piece of land, city planners said.
But first, World Oil and the city of Bakersfield need to figure out how to handle traffic.
TRAFFIC ISSUES
A revised traffic study by World Oil’s consultants is in process. A project spokesman said it may be ready in a few weeks.
City staffers and consultants would be next to review it; it would drive an air quality study before a draft environmental impact report may hit the streets. The project is a big infill site, a vacant area near existing homes, businesses and the Friant-Kern Canal.
It’s also near several chronically overloaded intersections, such as Coffee and Stockdale Highway and Coffee and Rosedale Highway, said City Manager Alan Tandy.
Tandy believes the planned Westside Parkway, the future Highway 58, needs to first be in place — or a significant chunk of it — because “it represents relief to a great many of our severely congested street segments and intersections,” he said.
The size of the project and its proximity to existing developments and roads makes the Parkway’s presence a necessity.
“We are trying to work with the city to invest in the transportation improvements that are their priority,” said spokesman Steve Sugerman. That could include paying traffic impact fees upfront.
“They are on a segment of road that is clearly an issue to us right now,” said Raul Rojas, the city’s public works director. “We are taking this very, very seriously. We understand that the public would not tolerate anything less than that.”
The City Council could decide the development’s benefits to the community outweigh traffic concerns.
The traffic study’s been delayed, Sugerman said, because the traffic model Kern Council of Governments uses needed some tweaks.
The regional transportation and planning agency uses models and assumptions about future housing and employment to forecast what the region’s traffic would be like in 2030 and beyond. About a week ago, KernCOG ran an analysis that Sugerman said is more realistic.
KernCOG’s executive board awarded federal infrastructure funds Thursday to widen a portion of Highway 46 rather than a later planned phase of the Westside Parkway because the latter isn’t shovel ready.
WHAT'S NEXT
World Oil, the sixth largest privately owned company in the state, plans to tout the project and its benefits at a series of meetings with civic groups in the next 30 to 60 days, Sugerman said.
He added the company would welcome any chance to talk about it with Bakersfield residents. Want them to come to your living room? They just might.
World Oil would team up with a national development firm on the project.
As proposed, the Bakersfield Commons would be similar to Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, which includes retailers such as Macy’s, Ann Taylor Loft, Anthropologie and Crate & Barrel.
Office space would be part of the project’s second phase, and housing would comprise the third.
World Oil extended escrow on Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s power plant, which has been an industrial sentinel since the mid-1980s.
“Right now, we’re focused on development rights on the 255 acres,” Sugerman said. “We’re taking time to evaluate whether or not to purchase that property.”
In addition to the $5 million purchase price, Sugerman estimated it could cost $15 million to $20 million to remediate the site.
Councilman David Couch, whose ward includes the project site, encouraged World Oil to meet with neighbors about its plans.
“I’m hopeful there are some things that we can do, that they can do that will allow their project to move forward that will allow traffic mitigation. As I sit here right now, I don’t know exactly what those are.”
