CUBIX CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

This project spans an entire block of busy Stanley Boulevard between Valley Avenue and Reflections Drive.  Its entrance on Reflections is shared with an adjacent single family residential development.  The site is close to downtown with a frontage along Stanley Boulevard of approximately 1,250 feet and due to it fronting on the prominent intersection of Stanley and Valley, the City considered this a gateway location for those entering the City from the east.

 

The Zoning for the property was unusual in that it previously carried a spot zoning, or Planned Unit Development, for a combination of commercial buildings and self storage.  The Developer and Cubix worked with the City to obtain a new PUD approval exclusively for self storage albeit with extensive architectural treatments and close to 90 Conditions of Approval.  The Developer also was able to benefit from some additional advertising at the Stanley and Valley intersection by offering to reconstruct the former ‘Welcome to Pleasanton’ sign which now also has the facility’s name, and it was built with the matching materials to harmonize with the rest of the development. 

The increased sensitivity for this gateway location triggered special attention for the streetscape.  It was decided that the project should match, in character and materials, the immediately adjacent residential development.  This resulting in the manager’s building, which sits right opposite the residential neighborhood, inclusion of matching rooflines, lap siding, covered porch, roofing materials, and similar colors.  The long frontage of the storage buildings along Stanley was treated to have consistency with the sound wall at the adjacent residential development including faux stone, lap siding, split face block, wood trellises, and several roof gables. 

The long narrow site was challenged with only one means of public access from the surrounding roads, so a hammerhead turn around for fire equipment was incorporated at the far end, and an EVA gate with grass block pavers was added in the middle.  The narrowness of the site also meant special attention was required to create a floor plan to meet the developer’s desired unit mix.

The offsite improvements came with a number of complications as well.  One of the City’s primary concerns for the shared entry with a residential development with to insure that traffic to and from the self storage would both maintain slow speeds and would discourage traffic, specifically trucks, from driving into the residential neighborhood.  This was accomplished with a traffic calming island constructed at the storage’s entry driveway.  Due to a series of mature heritage Black Walnut and Oak trees along the Stanley frontage, Cubix had to work closely with the City and arborist to design a public sidewalk that meandered around the exiting trees.  There were also extensive requirements for frontage improvements, that included undergrounding existing overhead utilities, working around existing fiber optic cables and a high pressure gas line, as well as a need to relocate several easements to make optimal use of the property.