Waymark Development to Replace Nonprofit Site With Townhomes

A Hayward community center and nonprofit campus is poised to give way to a townhome development as East Bay suburbs continue to lean into mid-density housing.

Hayward’s Planning Commission approved a proposal from San Ramon-based Waymark Development to build 83 townhomes at 1101 and 1103 Walpert Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The residences would replace a 37,000-square-foot facility owned by the Arc of the East Bay, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and has occupied the site since 2005.

Arc of the East Bay tapped Waymark to pursue the redevelopment as part of a broader strategy to relocate. The group intends to sell the property “leverage [the] transaction]” to move closer to major transit corridors, aiming to improve access to “critical resources,” Arc CEO Ron Luter said in a letter to the city, according to the Business Times.

Plans call for 14 townhome residential buildings with five to eight units each. The project site was rezoned to medium-density residential in 2024, a move that opened the door for redevelopment and made the property more marketable to builders. Some local residents have voiced concerns about traffic, the lack of on-site affordable housing and other new developments nearby.

Arc and Waymark applied using SB 330, a state law that streamlines approvals locking in zoning at the time of an application, limits public hearings for projects and restricts local governments’ ability to stall proposals that comply with city standards.

The development comes during a broader shift in the East Bay, long known for resisting new housing projects. Developers are gravitating toward townhomes and rowhouses as a more financeable alternative amid high interest rates, elevated construction costs and looming tariff threats, according to the Business Times.

While developers say securing entitlements has never been easier, financing has gotten increasingly harder, per the Business Times. In San Francisco alone, more than 20,000 units have been approved for construction but have yet to break ground as developers struggle to assemble the necessary funding. — Chris Malone Méndez