Bad news; good news. First the bad – we received news last week that the owners of Diablo Road are withdrawing their offer to lease the property. The official reason is that due to financial condition of their company they are electing not to make any capital investment in this property. Whether this is the real reason, Diablo Road is no longer an option for us, so we must move on. This is a very disappointing development and further delays our intended opening of a DI facility next year. But read on, there is good news to report.
Fortunately, a new property search began a few weeks back. Our broker identified 27 properties along the 880 corridor of which 10 properties have been shortlisted, and we plan to tour 7. Last Friday, 6 of the properties were viewed and 3 identified that meet our criteria (the 2 most promising properties are in Hayward less than a mile from Diablo Rd). Another property remains to be checked out this week (or next). They all have sprinklers (yeah!) and most are in the originally budgeted price range.
Over the next few weeks further research will be conducted on these properties to assess their feasibility, and hopefully resulting in the submission of a non-binding offer for 1 or 2. Once terms have been submitted and agreed upon, the Board will then conduct another member vote asking for authorization to move forward.
We’ve learned a lot about building a DI facility, so our budget estimates can be more accurate and our ability to turn around a new design requiring government approval will be easier and faster.
Although we are still very encouraged with the potential for dedicated ice in the San Francisco Bay Area, we wanted to offer donors every opportunity to adjust based on the new circumstances. The Board has also unanimously agreed that any donations can be refunded with no-questions-asked by emailing our treasurer. This option will be available until the board executes a lease for a property.
We’re still excited about building a dedicated ice facility in the San Francisco Bay Area and need your help. We have over 70 new members (and counting), have raised over $140,000, and our club has never been more vibrant. Please consider donating one league fee ($330) to keep our momentum going as we continue to reach towards our goal.