LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA – For a while, it was just a concept on a planning commission docket. Now, it’s a swarm of construction equipment, flattening buildings and preparing to create a big, new one.
If you have driven past Lafayette BART recently and wondered about the large construction site taking shape nearby, it is the start of a major new condominium development called Oak Hill.
The complex broke ground earlier this week, as we covered previously. We’ve been in touch with the developer, who sent these quite dramatic photos of the work taking place already.
Here’s how the area looked as of 2024.
And today:
The little wooden sign at the lower left of the frame is the only reference point that remains. Otherwise, the previous buildings are all gone.
The seven-story project is being built at 1001 Oak Hill Road, across from Safeway and Millie’s American Kitchen, on the former Blockbuster and Indigo & Poppy site. Diamond Construction officially broke ground on the development June 25.
The project will replace three older commercial buildings and surface parking with 85 for-sale homes, making it one of the larger new residential projects underway in downtown Lafayette. The City of Lafayette lists the development as being under construction on a roughly 1.2-acre property.
Oak Hill will include 74 market-rate condominiums and 11 below-market-rate homes — four reserved for very-low-income buyers and seven for moderate-income buyers. Plans also call for approximately 2,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 155 vehicle parking spaces and storage for 50 bicycles.
The building will rise to nearly 88 feet at its tallest point, a noticeable change for a site that has long been occupied by low-rise commercial buildings. It is designed as a mixed-use project, with parking on the first and second floors and residences above.
The finished complex is expected to include 23 one-bedroom homes, 41 two-bedroom homes and 21 three-bedroom homes, along with amenities such as indoor and outdoor fitness areas, a golf simulator, conference room, library, dog run, Zen garden, fire pits and an elevated lounge with Mount Diablo views.
Construction is expected to continue for about two years, with completion currently targeted for summer 2028.
We’ll continue to be in touch with the folks behind this massive project, and we’ll keep you in the loop on construction. Make sure to join our free 925 News newsletter so we can share more updates.
