The 92-acre redevelopment by Sunset Development would transform 1.3 million square feet of vacant office space into a 20-year mixed-use community with housing, retail and parks adjacent to City Center Bishop Ranch
The San Ramon City Council voted unanimously to deny an appeal of the Orchards Development Project and uphold the planning commission’s approval of the 2,510-unit master plan on the former Chevron Park campus at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road. The vote allows Sunset Development Company to move forward with what would be one of the largest residential redevelopments in the Tri-Valley. The decision came after more than three hours of testimony from city staff, the appellant, the applicant and members of the public during a special council meeting that extended late into the evening.
The Orchards project would demolish 14 existing office buildings totaling approximately 1.3 million square feet on the 92-acre site that Sunset Development purchased from Chevron in September 2022. In their place, the developer proposes a 20-year phased buildout of three distinct residential districts — a mixed-use district with 619 housing units above approximately 125,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, a multifamily district with 1,465 units, and a neighborhood district with 368 single-family homes and townhomes plus 58 optional accessory dwelling units.
The project is designed to exceed the city’s 15 percent inclusionary housing requirement, delivering 16.2 percent of units as deed-restricted affordable housing. That commitment includes a partnership with Eden Housing to construct a standalone 100-unit affordable community serving very low and low-income households within the multifamily district. Of those 100 units, 99 would be rental apartments and one would serve as a manager’s unit. The Eden Housing development would also include a child care center and is scheduled to appear before the city’s architectural review board this week.
Stephanie Hill, representing Sunset Development, told the council the project reflects years of collaboration with city staff, the planning commission, city council and nearby residents dating back to 2023. She described the retail component as neighborhood-serving, with approximately half the space dedicated to food and beverage and the balance to goods and services. Individual tenant spaces would range from 1,000 to 5,000 square feet, with flexibility for a small grocer of approximately 20,000 square feet along Bollinger Canyon Road.
The appeal centered on whether the city’s reliance on CEQA Guidelines was procedurally sound and supported by substantial evidence. The appellant pointed to several post-certification changes including new citywide objective design and development standards, revised floor area ratio rules, an updated climate action plan and modified parking standards.
City Planning Division Manager Cindy Yee told the council that the CEQA consistency checklist analyzed all environmental factors at both a program level for the master plan and a project level for the neighborhood district. Council members also asked for specific evidence of new or peculiar environmental impacts not already addressed in the general plan EIR.
Several members of the public spoke during the hearing. Residents raised concerns about traffic on Bollinger Canyon Road, the removal of mature trees and the scale of proposed buildings, while others urged the council to deny the appeal and allow the project to advance, citing the city’s need for housing diversity and younger residents.
The Orchards project is part of Sunset Development’s broader transformation of Bishop Ranch into what the company describes as a suburban downtown. Other residential initiatives in the area include the CityWalk framework with approximately 4,500 homes — where Belmont Village has been completed and Avalon Bay is under construction — and the DMU North district where Summer Hill, Trumark and KB Homes are building.
