Signature Development Corp and a Chinese real estate firm will build an all-equity US$1.5 billion housing project along the Oakland, California, waterfront as residential property values rise in the San Francisco region.

The project will consist of 3,100 housing units and 200,000 square feet of offices and shops along Oakland's estuary, Signature President Michael Ghielmetti said in Beijing, where he is accompanying California Governor Jerry Brown on a trade mission. Ghielmetti declined to give details of the equity split.

"This massive influx of Chinese investment will put thousands of Californians to work and dramatically improve Oakland's waterfront," Brown, a former Oakland mayor, said in a statement announcing the development. "This project is just one example of what's possible when business leaders in two of the world's most dynamic regions connect."

Signature's Chinese partner is Beijing-based Zarsion Holdings Group Co, which has built 60 million square feet of largely housing projects in China, Ghielmetti said. The Oakland development doesn't need a construction loan, and the agreement with Zarsion was completed in the last three months, he said. Closely held Signature, based in Oakland, has built over 12,000 homes in San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento.

"The Bay area has a big potential of development," Zarsion said in an e-mail. "The project is near the waterfront, while Chinese people consider water as fortune. We are optimistic about the area and the project."

The project, Zarsion's first investment outside China, will target buyers including Chinese nationals, the firm said adding it plans to invest more in the US.