San Ramon Express : Plans for new restaurant on Mudd's property fall through

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Uploaded: Sunday, January 20, 2013, 8:12 PM

Plans for new restaurant on Mudd's property fall through
Successor Agency will officially end contract, begin sale of land

by Jessica Lipsky

Photo

Plans for a new restaurant on the former site of Mudd's restaurant have officially fallen through, after an Oakland-based restaurateur failed to comply with a development agreement.

After the dissolution of state redevelopment agencies (RDA) in February 2012, San Ramon's Successor Agency entered into an agreement with Pican founder Michael LeBlanc to demolish Mudd's and develop a similarly sustainable restaurant on the its footprint. In a disposition and development agreement (DDA), LeBlanc would raise $4.5 million to build his new restaurant and event center and fund its operation while the city would contribute nearly a half million dollars to tear down the original building.

However, LeBlanc was unable to meet the deadline to submit plans on how he would fund the project and asked for a 90-day extension on Feb. 28, 2012. The city's Successor Agency Oversight Board considered the extension nine months later and gave LeBlanc 30 days to submit "satisfactory evidence of financing" or the DDA would be dissolved.

"We did not receive anything from Mr. LeBlanc," Economic Development Director Marc Fontes said of the Jan. 15 deadline. "Because of this somewhat cumbersome process as it relates to redevelopment agency dissolution, we have to go to the Successor Agency first, then effect approval from the Oversight Board to terminate the agreement."

At its Jan. 22 meeting, the Successor Agency will request approval to dissolve LeBlanc's DDA as well as permission to sell the 2.2 acre property adjacent to the city's Crow Canyon Gardens Park. The Successor Agency would advertise the property with a price tag of at least $2 million, Fontes said.

Following oversight approval, the Mudd's property will become open to a variety of offers, including that of Growing Room President James Larson. The after school day care company submitted a proposal to turn the property into a nature and day care center in May 2012.

Mudd's opened in 1981 as a 9-acre combination conservation center, garden and restaurant at 10 Boardwalk Place. San Ramon's RDA bought Mudd's at a county foreclosure sale in 2008 and has since worked to dissolve the asset through its Successor Agency.

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Comments

Posted by Roz Rogoff, the San Ramon Observer, on Jan 21, 2013 at 11:58 am
Roz Rogoff is a member (registered user) of San Ramon Express

A group of us are still working to save this property and restore it to its original condition for use as a Nature Center or other use compatible with the organic gardens. This is a historic building for San Ramon and incorporates many energy savings and innovative design features.

Here's a note from the architect, Max Jacobson, about this building's place in the history of sustainable design.

"As far as the pioneering aspect of the building, it was pretty early. Our energy consultants on the building were the Berkeley Solar Group, the organization that was asked by the then (and now) Gov. Brown to develop energy standards for what is now known as Title 24, the statewide legislation that governs the energy efficiency of new and remodeled buildings. It was the first restaurant to serve food grown locally on the grounds, and I think the first restaurant building to utilize passive solar strategies for heating and cooling."

History is happening all around us, but we tend to ignore what is too close to us. I'm not trying to save this building for now. I'm trying to save it for the people who will appreciate it's importance 100 years from now.

I hope the Successor Agency will at least consider the offer from the Growing Room before putting the building up for sale.

I wish Mr. LeBlanc well. I hope he will work out his financial difficulties and will be able to build his restaurant and event center somewhere in San Ramon, just not on top of Mudd's.

Roz Rogoff

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