Council approves Cornerstone housing project in Isabelle plan area with 43% affordable units

The Livermore City Council on Tuesday approved the Cornerstone project, a residential development within the Isabelle Neighborhood Specific Plan area that includes townhomes, a five‑story apartment building, public open space and a high share of affordable units.

City planning staff said the project site is just over 13 acres in Specific Plan subarea 2D and would be developed with 21 townhome buildings and a T‑shaped apartment building, public parks, and a pedestrian‑and‑bike path along Collier Canyon Creek. Emily Ladue, assistant planner, described the proposal and its required entitlements, including a vesting tentative map, site plan/design review and a conditional use permit.

The project will provide a 2.5‑acre public park, a 0.4‑acre pocket park, trail connections to Gateway Avenue and North Canyons Parkway, and double rows of street trees along Collier Canyon Road. Staff said the design uses three townhome architectural styles and a traditional style for the apartment building; typical townhomes will be three stories with maximum heights about 40 feet. The apartment building’s roofline and a stair tower reach higher: staff said the apartment building roofline would be up to about 61 feet with a stairwell up to 70 feet at a portion of the building.

Staff and the applicant said the project will provide deep affordability. Ladue reported that the development “provides 114 affordable units, 108 of which are for rent and 6 of which are for sale,” and that overall the project is about 43% affordable. Of the rental affordable units, staff said 20% of rental units will be reserved for low income households, 60% for lower income, 10% for very low income and 10% for extremely low income; the for‑sale affordable units would be reserved for moderate‑income buyers. The applicant also carved space in the apartment building for on‑site wraparound services for residents, the presentation said.

Because the project relies on the state density bonus framework, the applicant asked for concessions and waivers. Ladue identified four waivers related to building design and scenic‑corridor height, and seven waivers related to comparability of affordable units to market units; staff recommended granting the requested waivers and concessions under state density bonus law and found no public‑safety or historic‑resource conflicts. The planning commission had earlier recommended adoption of findings and approval of the entitlements and directed staff to file a CEQA notice of exemption.

Cornerstone Fellowship’s lead pastor and chairman, Chris Stockhouse, said the church chose to maximize affordable housing on land it owned and to partner with housing developers and service providers to serve extremely low and very low income residents. Michael Keeney of Trumark Homes said the developer team would answer technical questions from council.

Council members asked about height, unit placement, parking and services. Staff said the affordable rental units are largely concentrated in the apartment building and that state law allowed the developer to request density bonus waivers that reduced the city’s usual dispersal requirement for affordable units. Planning manager Steve Riley explained the city’s scenic‑corridor height policies along I‑580 and how they interact with zoning height limits.

Public comment included a labor representative urging use of local apprentices and a resident urging the council to spread affordable units throughout developments rather than concentrate them. Council discussion centered on tradeoffs: several members emphasized the need for deeper affordability and for wraparound services, and others raised clustering concerns that the state density bonus framework limits the city’s ability to require spreading the affordable units.

Council Member Dunbar moved to approve staff’s recommendation; Vice Mayor Branning seconded. The motion passed with four votes in favor and one opposed.

The council’s approvals allow the project to proceed to building permit and subdivision implementation steps subject to the conditions of approval and the city’s follow‑up requirements.