Lots of members have been working hard to make DI happen. The Architecture & Design Committee have the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) ready to submit to the city of Hayward, and have been working on program design options for the Diablo Ave space. The fundraising committee has been working on, well, fundraising, primarily focusing on soliciting donations from all of you.
[separator]The one activity that has been frustratingly slooow has been the lease negotiations. This has been a really crazy experience, but unfortunately we are not in the driver’s seat. We have been working diligently to negotiate a fair deal with the Diablo Avenue building owner, but nonetheless we have not been able to close the deal, meaning – a signed Letter of Intent (LOI). Right now, we are working towards completing this in June.
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All of this means our original schedule of being in a facility by Fall will not happen. Based on what we know today about construction of a DI facility, which is quite a bit, we are estimating we need 9 months from the time a LOI is executed. Once that happens, we will submit the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to the city of Hayward the end of June and then expect to proceed along the schedule outlined below. Note that our original schedule reflected a 6 month timetable. Based on all the city approvals we must go through, we have had to add 3 months to that schedule. Also, it is important to note that we do not perceive a significant impact on our financial model for day-to-day operations.
[separator] DI Facility Schedule- Sept ‘14 — Approval of the CUP application & Sign the Lease
- Oct ’14 — Mobilize the troops & Begin site preparation
- Dec ‘14 — Building permit approved & Commence construction
- Mar ’15 – Substantial completion and Certificate of Occupancy
- April ‘15 — Open facility