HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.2 Grace Pointe Dublin Centre Exempt Surplus Land
STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
Page 1 of 3
Agenda Item 5.2
DATE: October 7, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Colleen Tribby, City Manager
SUBJECT:
Grace Pointe/Dublin Centre Exempt Surplus Land
Prepared by: Jason Earl, Senior Management Analyst
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will consider declaring the 1.83-acre portion of property in the Dublin Centre
to be Exempt Surplus Land for an Affordable Housing Development. Declaring this land to be
Exempt Surplus Land will enable the City of Dublin to transfer the property to Sunflower Grace,
L.P., for the development and operation of affordable rental housing in accordance with the
terms of the Development Agreement for the Dublin Centre Project.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt the Resolution Declaring Property Located in the Dublin Centre Project to be Exempt
Surplus Land for Affordable Housing Development Pursuant to the Surplus Land Act.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
DESCRIPTION:
Background
On December 6, 2022, the City Council approved the Development Agreement for the Dublin
Centre project. As part of the project’s compliance with the City Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance,
the developer agreed to donate land at the corner of Dublin Boulevard and Brannigan Street
(the Property) to the City or its designated recipient for a multi-family housing project affordable
to lower income households.
On November 5, 2024, the City Council entered into an Affordable Housing Assistance
Agreement (AHAA) with Sunflower Grace, L.P., for the Grace Pointe project. Under the terms
of the AHAA, Sunflower Grace L.P. will be the recipient of the Property for the purpose of
constructing and operating an affordable rental housing development thereon.
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Page 2 of 3
Sunflower Grace, L.P., which includes affiliates of Sunflower Hill and Satellite Affordable
Housing Associates (SAHA) as general partners, proposes to develop a 60-unit low- and very-
low income affordable housing project for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities
(I/DD) on the Property. As a non-profit affordable housing developer, Sunflower Grace L.P.,
will be seeking funds from multiple funding sources to construct the Grace Pointe project.
Receipt of property as exempt surplus land allows certain funding applications, such as the
Multifamily Housing Program by HCD, and the Multi-Family Super NOFA Capital funding, to be
more competitive. Therefore, Sunflower Hill requested that the City acquire the Property from
the Dublin Centre master developer and subsequently transfer it to Sunflower Grace, L.P., as
surplus property to enhance the competitiveness of its affordable housing funding applications.
Analysis
Pursuant to the Surplus Land Act (Government Code Section 54220 et seq.), local agencies
must determine whether publicly owned land is “surplus” or “exempt surplus” prior to its sale or
lease. The Property qualifies as “exempt surplus land” under multiple provisions of the Act:
Section 54221(f)(1)(A) defines exempt surplus land as property used for housing
developments pursuant to Government Code Section 37364, which allows cities to
convey land for housing when at least 80% of the land is developed for housing and at
least 40% of the units are designated for low and very low-income households, with
affordability restrictions lasting at least 30 years. The AHAA exceeds these
requirements by mandating that all units (except one manager’s unit) be restricted to
low and very low-income households for a period of 55 years.
Section 54221(f)(1)(F) further defines exempt surplus land as property used for
housing developments where 100% of units (excluding a manager’s unit) are restricted
to low- or moderate-income households, with at least 75% restricted to lower income
households, and rents set at least 20% below median market rates for the
neighborhood. These restrictions must be recorded in a covenant or regulatory
agreement. The AHAA requires a Regulatory Agreement to be recorded against the
Property for a term of 55 years.
Section 54221(f)(2) requires notification to certain entities if the land is located in
sensitive areas such as coastal zones or near historic sites. The Property does not meet
any of these criteria, and therefore no such notification is required.
The Surplus Land Act Guidelines require that a local agency making an exempt surplus land
determination must document its findings and submit them to the California Department of
Housing and Community Development (HCD) at least 30 days prior to disposition. A
Resolution documenting the findings and declaring the Property in the Dublin Centre Project to
be Exempt Surplus Property for affordable housing development is included as Attachment 1 .
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
Strategy 3: Housing Inclusivity and Affordability
Objective A: Implement the goals, policies, and programs in the 2023 -2031 Housing Element.
Objective B: Support efforts to produce housing affordable at all levels of income.
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Page 3 of 3
Objective E: Support efforts to address housing for special needs communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
The action of declaring the Property to be exempt surplus property for affordable housing
development is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 as th is action does not meet CEQA’s
definition of a “project” and would not result in either a direct physical change, or a reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The City Council Agenda was posted.
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Resolution Declaring Property Located in the Dublin Centre Project to be Exempt Surplus
Land for Affordable Housing Development Pursuant to the Surplus Land Act
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Attachment 1
Reso. No. XX-25, Item X.X, Adopted XX/XX/2025 Page 1 of 3
RESOLUTION NO. XX – 25
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
DECLARING PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE DUBLIN CENTRE
PROJECT TO BE EXEMPT SURPLUS LAND FOR
AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PURSUANT TO THE
SURPLUS LAND ACT
WHEREAS, on December 6, 2022, the City Council approved a Development Agreement
for the Dublin Centre project, and as part of the project’s compliance with the City’s Inclusionary
Zoning Ordinance, the developer agreed to donate land within the Dublin Centre project to the
City or its designated recipient; and
WHEREAS, on November 5, 2024, the City Council approved an Affordable Housing
Assistance Agreement (“AHAA”) with Sunflower Grace, L.P. with respect to certain approximately
1.83 acres of real property located in the Dublin Centre project, a portion of APN 985 -0051-006-
00 (the “Property”), for the development and operation of an affordable rental housing
development thereon; and
WHEREAS, Sunflower Grace, L.P., which includes affiliates of Sunflower Hill and Satellite
Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA) as general partners, proposes to develop the Grace
Pointe project on the Property consisting of a 60-unit low- and very-low-income affordable housing
project for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD); and
WHEREAS, Sunflower Grace, L.P. requested that the City acquire the Property from the
Dublin Centre master developer and subsequently transfer it to Sunflower Grace, L.P. as surplus
property to enhance the competitiveness of its funding applications; and
WHEREAS, the Surplus Land Act, Government Code Section 54220, et seq., provides that
local public agencies must determine whether land owned by the public agency is “surplus land”
or “exempt surplus land” prior to the sale or lease of such land; and
WHEREAS, Section 54221(f)(1)(A) of the Surplus Land Act provides that surplus land that
is transferred by a city pursuant to Government Code Section 37364 is “exempt surplus land”;
and
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 37364 authorizes cities to convey real property
when not less than 80% of the property will be developed for housing, and not less than 40% of
the housing units will be developed for low and very low-income tenants at an affordable rent, and
restricted for a period of at least 30 years; and
WHEREAS, the AHAA requires that all of the Property will be developed f or housing, and
all of the housing units thereon (except for one manager’s unit) will be developed for low and
extremely low income tenants at an affordable rent, and restricted for a period of 55 years,
pursuant to a Regulatory Agreement between the City and Sunflower Grace, L.P. to be recorded
in the official records of Alameda County; and
WHEREAS, Section 54221(f)(1)(F) of the Surplus Land Act provides that “exempt surplus
land” includes surplus land that is to be developed for a housing development th at restricts 100
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Reso. No. XX-25, Item X.X, Adopted XX/XX/2025 Page 2 of 3
percent of the residential units to persons and families of low or moderate income, with at least
75 percent of the residential units restricted to lower income households, with an affordable rent
for 55 years for rental housing, and the maximum affordable rent level is at least 20 percent below
the median market rents for the neighborhood in which the site is located, with such requirements
contained in a covenant or restriction recorded against the surplus land that runs with the land;
and
WHEREAS, the AHAA requires that a Regulatory Agreement will be recorded against the
Property at the time of conveyance to Sunflower Grace, L.P. which requires that for a period of
55 years the rental of 100 percent of the residential units (except for one manager’s unit) will be
restricted to persons and families of low or moderate income, with at least 75 percent of the
residential units restricted to lower income households, with an affordable rent, and the maximum
affordable rent level will be at least 20 percent below the median market rents for the
neighborhood in which the Property is located; and
WHEREAS, Section 54221(f)(2) of the Surplus Land Act provides that notwithstanding the
foregoing exemptions, a written notice of the availability of surplus land for open-space purposes
shall be sent to specified entities if the land is within a coastal zone, adjacent to a historical unit
of the State Parks System, listed on or determined by the State Office of Historic Preservation to
be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, or within the Lake Tahoe region; and
WHEREAS, the Property does not meet any of the criteria of Section 54221 (f)(2) of the
Surplus Land Act, and therefore no written notice of the availability of surplus land for open-space
purposes is required to be sent with respect to the Property; and
WHEREAS, the Surplus Land Act Guidelines provide that a local agency that determines
that property is exempt from the Surplus Land Act shall support such a determination with written
findings and shall provide a copy of the written determination to the California Department of
Housing and Community Development at least 30 days prior to disposition; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to declare the Property to be exempt surplus land and
to make certain findings with respect to the City’s conveyance of the Property to Sunflower Grace,
L.P.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin hereby
makes the following findings and determinations:
1. The Property is designated as exempt surplus land on the basis that the City intends
to convey the Property in accordance with Government Code Sections 54221 (f)(1)(A) and
54221(f)(1)(F).
2. The City Council hereby directs the City Manager or her designee to transmit a copy
of this resolution to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and to
transmit such further information and documents as are necessary for the Department’s review of
the compliance of this transaction with the requirements of the Surplus Land Act.
3. The conveyance of the Property to Sunflower Grace, L.P. pursuant to the AHAA
shall occur no earlier than the first to occur of (a) the approval of the findings hereof by the
California Department of Housing and Community Develo pment, or (b) thirty days after the
submission of this resolution and all accompanying documents to the California Department of
Housing and Community Development.
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Reso. No. XX-25, Item X.X, Adopted XX/XX/2025 Page 3 of 3
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 7th day of October 2025, by the following
vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
______________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
City Clerk
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