OAKLAND | Projects: Under Construction, Approved, and Proposed

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by unpermitted_variance

Boring design, if inoffensive. I'm sure we'll see it evolve, although I can't be sure it will be for the better (I predict they will be made to throw in some random boxes and changes to facade treatment to "break up the massing" and thus make it look like a mess).

It does say "preliminary drawing" and "rough estimate" so I wonder if this design is some sort of placeholder until they refine the design or come up with an actual design.

Originally Posted by unpermitted_variance

There are so many tower proposals for this area of Oakland, especially if you go back a few years in the records. If they all get built it will be transformative. For now, I'm just happy to see that there's still any type of development action at all.

Hopefully they do end up getting built. I think it's pretty clear that downtown Oakland has a lot of potential vs say DTSF which is pretty much fully built out aside from a handful of sites, as well as Central SoMa. There's quite a few numerous low rises and surface parking lots that are for redevelopment.

[rbehs]

Even only a few years ago, when you walked east of Broadway, it felt like a neglected hodgepodge until you got to the lake, except around Grand. So it's nice to see it steadily filling in.

[38 Geary]

Nice project to combine affordable housing with a grocery store.

The current site:
https://goo.gl/maps/FTfX8C55P7KaH2VV7

Concrete Rising For Affordable Housing At 1666 7th Street, West Oakland



BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:30 AM ON FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Construction is starting to go vertical for the five-story affordable housing project at 1666 7th Street in West Oakland, Alameda County. The development, dubbed 7th and Campbell, is now one level closer to having 79 apartments with community space above a new restaurant and grocery store. Oakland & the World Enterprises is the project sponsor, led by the former Black Panther Party chairwoman Elaine Brown.

MWA Architects is responsible for the design. The firm writes that “7th and Campbell is the culminated vision of Civil Rights activist and leader of OAW Elaine Brown, who, combined with [McCormack Barron Salazar], has raised $80 million for this development.” The exterior is undulating to deflect noise from the adjacent BART tracks. While metal cladding faces the train passengers, a softened stucco facade will face the adjacent single-family households.

The 58-foot tall building will yield 76,290 square feet, creating 48,420 square feet for residential use, 9,000 square feet of common open space, and 16,750 square feet of commercial area with plans to host a grocery store, restaurant, and incubator business space. Unit sizes will vary, with 23 studios, 24 one-bedrooms, and 32 two-bedrooms. All units will be designated as affordable for households earning at or less than 30% of the Area Median Income. BOSS will provide on-site support services for residents.

Parking will be included for 10-18 vehicles with stackers and 90 bicycles. West Oakland Farms is slated to move into the second level of the complex, selling produce inside the proposed ground-floor grocery store and restaurant.

https://sfyimby.com/2023/02/concrete-ris...ing-at-1666-7th-street-west-oakland.html

[38 Geary]

Nice progress on this one.

Construction At 2359 Harrison Street In Northgate-Waverly, Oakland



BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:30 AM ON MARCH 3, 2023

Construction has reached the fifth floor of the 330-unit apartment complex at 2359 Harrison Street in Northgate-Waverly, Oakland. The project, led by Holland Partner Group, has already demolished surface parking and low-slung commercial structures. The tower is rising across from Vespr, another project by the same developer.

Once complete, the 178-foot structure will yield 415,800 square feet, of which 234,400 square feet is for residential use, 13,200 square feet for retail, and 87,400 square feet for the 215-car parking capacity. Long-term parking will also be included for 170 bicycles. The L-shaped floor plates will include a 41-foot tall podium with seven private patios, a twin-space plaza, and outdoor seating for dining or lounging. The 15th-floor rooftop courtyard will offer residents a barbeque pit, artificial-grass lawn, and fire pits with panoramic views of bayside Alameda County and the SF Peninsula.

Fifteen units will be low-income affordable housing for residents earning between 30% to 50% of the Area Median Income. The proposal also entails creating a new public plaza spanning approximately 6,800 square feet at 24th and Harrison Streets. Interior amenities include a fitness center, dog run, public plaza, and open-air deck.

...

The project is located across from a Whole Foods grocery store on the neighborhood’s northern edge, built up over the last decade from car dealerships and surface parking lots with less than a dozen developments. The northern tip of Lake Merritt is just one block away, and 19th Street BART is just ten minutes away. AC Transit will offer even better movement for residents across the bayside East Bay.

Construction is expected to top out later this year, with completion in the summer or fall of 2024.

https://sfyimby.com/2023/03/construction-at-2359-harrison-street-in-northgate-waverly-oakland.html

[38 Geary]

And the images:







https://sfyimby.com/2023/03/construction-at-2359-harrison-street-in-northgate-waverly-oakland.html

[cbg015]

https://www.loopnet.com/viewer/pdf?file=...mClpMKTHhg%2fOakland%2520247Brochure.pdf

John Reed Fitness Gym will be leasing over 32,000 square feet in the Vespr apartment building (312 24th St). John Reed is a very high-end gym. It's marketed towards affluent Gen Z people. The only other US locations are in DTLA and Dallas. They have a ton of locations in Europe.

[unpermitted_variance]

Originally Posted by cbg015

https://www.loopnet.com/viewer/pdf?file=...mClpMKTHhg%2fOakland%2520247Brochure.pdf

John Reed Fitness Gym will be leasing over 32,000 square feet in the Vespr apartment building (312 24th St). John Reed is a very high-end gym. It's marketed towards affluent Gen Z people. The only other US locations are in DTLA and Dallas. They have a ton of locations in Europe.

Good find! I'd seen the notice up for a new gym and juice bar for a while, but no recent activity inside from what I've seen. I'm very interested to see what goes in the more prominent corner retail space.

Overall, Uptown retail seems to be doing very well right now, a lot of new restaurants opening and plenty of foot traffic. Hopefully we'll see it translate into some adjacent underutilized areas getting developed.

[38 Geary]

Some nice shots of downtown Oakland from the YIMBY tour of 1900 Broadway:























https://sfyimby.com/2023/03/yimby-visits-topping-out-for-1900-broadway-in-downtown-oakland.html

[38 Geary]

Pretty cool project. Almost like a college dorm vibe which isn't too surprising since it was an art school. Glad they'll put putting this former campus to good use. Like that they're including a good amount of public open space as well.

Meeting Today For Former CCA Campus At 5200 Broadway In Oakland


BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:30 AM ON MARCH 22, 2023

The Oakland Planning Commission is scheduled to review reduced plans for the former Oakland Campus for the California College of Arts at 5200 Broadway in Rockridge, Alameda County. The residential capacity has been reduced from 510 to 448 units while preserving the Treadwell Estate with Macky Hall and the Carriage House. Emerald Fund and Equity Community Builders are the project sponsors.

The development will yield 578,410 square feet across four structures, with 479,750 square feet of residential floor area and 14,390 square feet of commercial space in the two historic structures. Parking will be included for 237 cars and 476 bicycles. Of the 448 apartments, there will be 62 studios, 12 junior one-bedrooms, 199 one-bedrooms, 163 two-bedrooms, a loft unit, and 11 townhome-style units.

...

The property is located by the intersection of Broadway and College Avenue in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. The property is in a desirable area close to Piedmont Avenue and a close AC Transit Bus ride to Berkeley. The Rockridge BART Station is four minutes away by bicycle.

https://sfyimby.com/2023/03/meeting-today-for-former-cca-campus-at-5200-broadway-in-oakland.html

[38 Geary]

And the renderings:















https://sfyimby.com/2023/03/meeting-today-for-former-cca-campus-at-5200-broadway-in-oakland.html

[unpermitted_variance]

From SFYIMBY: Updated renders on two different downtown Oakland tower projects.

2305 Webster

https://sfyimby.com/2023/04/new-renderin...street-in-northgate-waverly-oakland.html







19 stories, 217 feet, 197 units, ground-floor retail. Design looks boring but inoffensive. Should add nice bulk to the north end of the skyline, assuming it's built. There have been proposals for this site for years and nothing has come to fruition so I wouldn't hold my breath.




1523 Harrison

https://sfyimby.com/2023/04/new-rendering-for-taller-1523-harrison-street-in-downtown-oakland.html


New render:




Old render:





Now 25 floors with 361 units; previously 20 floors with 269 units. No heights provided. This is right next door to oWoW's under construction 19-story mass timber project. Nice to see them going all in on this area, as it's a corner of downtown that has great potential but is somewhat underdeveloped. I like the new tower design; it's not stunning but it's not trying too hard to "break up the massing" and the blue accents look nice.

[38 Geary]

Nice proposals! Oakland definitely has a lot of potential and hopefully these towers continue to come to fruition.

[38 Geary]

I’ll also add that while these proposals may not be the tallest or aesthetically pleasing, they at least still exhibit an urban minded ethos with minimal parking added, transit orientation, and fairly good street level interaction.

[rbehs]

It's funny how the old render of 1523 Harrison has skid marks from a sideshow in the intersection.

[38 Geary]

Good idea.

The sites:
https://goo.gl/maps/V6fRZe2XBAvePNZA7
https://goo.gl/maps/enVbvHTievmJMRmw9

BART is gearing up to build housing at its Rockridge station
The transit agency held an open house this week to gather input on development at Oakland’s northernmost BART station.
by Natalie Orenstein
April 14, 2023

Hundreds of units of housing are rising around Oakland’s BART stations. Over the past several years, a tower has sprouted at MacArthur, the mid-rise Casa Arabella opened at Fruitvale, and ground was broken on the next piece of that station’s transit village. Apartments also opened (then closed) by the Coliseum, and plans are in the works for West Oakland and Lake Merritt.

So far, the city’s northernmost station, Rockridge, has remained quiet as construction roars on elsewhere. That’s beginning to change.

On Thursday evening, BART held an open house on the station plaza, sharing plans to make Rockridge the next site in its system-wide “transit-oriented development,” a movement in housing policy that emphasizes creating dense, walkable neighborhoods near mass transit like train stations and bus routes.

The event drew a steady stream of commuters coming down the BART escalators and Rockridge residents who showed up with their bikes, dogs, and kids. They reviewed posters with information on the development process and placed sticky notes with their hopes and concerns on them.

“I use this station many times per week, to get to school,” said Rafa Bustos, 17, a Rockridge resident who came by after seeing a flier advertising the open house. Building housing there will “improve the neighborhood and walkability,” he said. “Anything that emphasizes transit would be good, to reduce traffic.”

The Bay Area housing crisis and climate concerns have emboldened BART to build apartments at its stations, with the idea that placing residences right at transit sites reduces reliance on cars and allows for a level of housing density often not found in surrounding neighborhoods. The agency is also facing a fiscal crisis, with ridership nowhere close to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Leasing land to developers brings in revenue for BART.

But BART is limited in where it can build at the Rockridge station. Most of the parking lot is owned by Caltrans, the state transportation department, and the placement of the freeway prevents building over most of it. So the agency is looking at developing two relatively small parcels on the west side of College Avenue.



“It’s not a lot of land,” said BART Board Director Rebecca Saltzman, who represents the station and came to Thursday’s event to talk with visitors.

Currently, the parcels in question are used for parking, containing 140 of the 886 total spaces at the station. According to BART, about a third of the parking lot typically sits empty these days, both because of the decrease in ridership and because a majority of Rockridge riders arrive at the station by methods other than driving.

“Housing right next to a BART station is very logical,” said City Councilmember Dan Kalb, whose district includes Rockridge. At the open house, he told The Oaklandside that he supports building enough housing to make the project “worthwhile,” but that he wants to ensure that the buildings are aesthetically pleasing and that at least one-third of the apartments are below-market-rate.

Across all of its developments, BART has a goal of ensuring that 35% of its units qualify as affordable housing, and a requirement of at least 20% affordability at each individual project. Recent projects have been surpassing those marks, achieving around 50% affordability, Saltzman said.

...

The city is in the process of making these changes to its zoning code, including rules that would allow more housing units and taller buildings across Oakland, and relaxing restrictions for affordable housing projects. The proposal would increase the maximum allowable building height at the two parcels slated for Rockridge BART development from 35 feet to 175 feet. (The surrounding areas would not change so significantly.)

“It had a very low height for a BART station,” said city planner Laura Kaminski. “We’re wanting to fix that, and allow for as much housing, and affordable housing, as possible.”

Saltzman said the agency hopes to start searching for a developer by the end of the year. Once the developer is selected, they’ll propose a project for the site, taking input from community members, she said.

“This will move more quickly than any of the past projects, if we stick with the timeline,” she said.

https://oaklandside.org/2023/04/14/bart-gearing-up-to-build-housing-at-oakland-rockridge-station/

[38 Geary]

Good idea to plan for a new cancer center.

"In 2018, there were 18.1 million new cases and 9.5 million cancer-related deaths worldwide.
By 2040, the number of new cancer cases per year is expected to rise to 29.5 million and the number of cancer-related deaths to 16.4 million."
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics

Renderings Revealed For Medical Center At 3023 Summit Street In Pill Hill, Oakland



BY: YIMBY TEAM 5:00 AM ON APRIL 26, 2023

New plans are all set to be reviewed for a new medical project proposed for development at 3023 Summit Street in Pill Hill, Oakland. The project proposal includes the development of a new seven-story medical building. The proposed facility is named Stanford Medical Sutter Health Cancer Center (SMSHCC). The project involves the demolition of two structures on the site.

Sutter Health has formalized a collaborative joint venture with Stanford Health Care for a state of-the-art cancer facility. Lamphier-Gregory is a planning firm and the project applicant.

The project site is a campus spanning an area of 20 acres. The project will construct a seven-level freestanding outpatient medical building. The building will span a total built-up area of 170,047 square feet. The project also proposes the reconfiguration of the adjacent outdoor space and parking lot located on the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (ABSMC) Campus in Oakland. The center will be a core location for cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Sutter Health has applied for a Final Development Plan (FDP) for Phase II of the Master Plan, which only includes the medical office building and Peralta Pavilion outdoor plaza. The building footprint is 30,506 square-feet. The construction of this facility involves the demolition of two Summit office buildings totaling 13,882 square feet and the adjacent surface parking lot. Included in the project scope is the redesign of the Peralta Pavilion outdoor plaza and parking area of 8,600 feet. This new plaza space would be centrally located and designed for patients, staff and the public and would be the primary path of pedestrian circulation between the new Patient Care Pavilion, Providence Pavilion, Peralta Pavilion, the new garage and Samuel Merritt University. The plaza would also accommodate small group gatherings, lunch time rest areas and opportunities for casual meetings.

The ABSMC campus is located in central Oakland, south of I-580. The campus sits between Telegraph Avenue and Webster Street, and between 30th Street and 34th Street. The campus currently contains approximately 1.4 million square feet of medical-related building space, including the 345-bed acute care hospital within the existing Merritt Pavilion. The project site is approximately 32,158 square feet of the ABSMC campus and bounded by Summit Street to the east, Peralta Pavilion (Samuel Merritt University) to the West, the South Pavilion and 30th Street to the south, and generally by the ABSMC parking garage to the north. The site contains two Summit office buildings totaling 13,882 square feet and a surface parking lot. To the rear of the of the Summit office buildings is the plaza for the Peralta Pavilion.

In 2010, the Oakland Planning Commission had approved the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Summit Campus (ABSMC) Seismic Upgrade and Master Plan Project. Phase 1 of the Master Plan included the demolition of six buildings to provide for construction of an eleven-leveled, approximately 230,000 square foot Patient Care Pavilion (hospital) and a seven-leveled parking garage able to accommodate 1,067 parking spaces. On-site circulation improvements were made to provide access to these new facilities. Future phases for the Summit Campus Master Plan included the following:

- A new one-story, 32,000-square-foot fitness center would be located at the top of the Phase 1 parking structure for use by ABSMC employees and Samuel Merritt University employees and students
- A new potentially eight-story, 175,000-square-foot medical office building (MOB) would be constructed on the west side of Summit Street (the project currently under consideration)
- A new four-story, 72,500-square-foot building for use by Samuel Merritt University would be constructed on the site of the temporary surface parking lot developed in Phase 1, near Hawthorne Avenue/Elm Street
- A 1-block section of Summit Street from 30th Street to Hawthorne Avenue would potentially be closed to through traffic to create a new, internal pedestrian plaza space for the campus

https://sfyimby.com/2023/04/renderings-r...er-at-3023-summit-street-in-oakland.html

[38 Geary]

New plan ditches controversial marina and adds 600 apartments to Brooklyn Basin
The massive development on Oakland’s waterfront would pack in even more housing under a proposal the City Council will consider next week.
by Natalie Orenstein
April 27, 2023

Brooklyn Basin, the neighborhood-sized development on the Oakland Estuary, could add even more housing under a revised plan the city is considering.

Developers Zarsion and Signature Development Group want to add 600 apartments on top of the 3,100 already approved for the site, where the first residences opened in 2020. The expansion plan has earned the support of city staff and several councilmembers, in part because of an agreement by the developers to give a land trust $9 million to create affordable housing in nearby neighborhoods.

The 60-acre Brooklyn Basin project has been in the works for some 23 years, receiving initial approval in 2006.

So far, there are 823 apartments up and running, spread among several buildings and including 341 units of affordable housing, according to the city. There are nearly 900 more apartments under construction and another 800 awaiting permits.

The new Township Commons on a converted shipping pier is part of 30 acres of public parks planned for the area. The park has “wildly exceeded the utilization we anticipated,” Signature’s Eric Harrison told the City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee this week.

Signature is petitioning the council to increase density at Brooklyn Basin, allowing for 600 additional apartments, bringing the total to 3,700. Harrison said this is the number of extra units that fit within the already approved building size.

The proposed expansion would also relocate an apartment tower from a previous plan, reduce the number of parking spaces required at the site, and create a public boat launch for kayaks and paddleboards, which could eventually be used for a water taxi as well.

A large marina included in the original expansion plan has been scrapped. Planning commissioners and community members had complained that the development would block waterfront views and public access to the estuary.

If the 600-unit boost is approved, the developers have agreed to pay $9 million to the Oakland Community Land Trust, for the preservation or acquisition of affordable housing in Chinatown, Eastlake, and San Antonio, which are all across I-880 from Brooklyn Basin. This is on top of the “impact fees,” they’re required to pay the city, which can also be used for affordable housing projects.

Zarsion and Signature have agreed to a goal of hiring 20% local workers for the expansion, and to give $350,000 to the West Oakland Jobs Resource Center for employment training in surrounding areas.

“We’ve been at this game for 20 years,” said David Kakishiba, executive director of EBAYC, one of the key organizations that negotiated the community benefit deal with the developers. “It’s been a journey of both tension as well as real partnership,” he said at the committee meeting.

Overall, Brooklyn Basin will have 450 units of affordable housing, about 14.5% of the total residences. Most of those apartments, developed by MidPen Housing, have already opened.

“It’s a lot better than living on the streets,” said John Via, who moved into the subsidized Foon Lok West building when it opened last year. He was homeless for 15 years before that, living in tents in Oakland and Berkeley where there were “rats the size of chihuahuas,” until LifeLong Medical set him up with an apartment at Brooklyn Basin.

“I’m a lot healthier than I was and I’m back in school,” said Via, who spoke with The Oaklandside on Thursday while relaxing at Township Commons across from his apartment. “When it’s not raining, I get to come outside and see the water and smell the breeze.”

...

https://oaklandside.org/2023/04/27/brooklyn-basin-oakland-estuary-600-apartments/

[38 Geary]

Iconic Oakland office tower gets boost from key real estate lease
Workspace company signs rental deal that includes option to expand in highrise



By GEORGE AVALOS | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 3, 2023 at 9:50 a.m.

OAKLAND — A big workspace and creative office company has leased multiple floors in downtown Oakland’s iconic Tribune Tower building in a deal that’s poised to bolster the local economy and real estate market.

Regus, the largest provider of flexible workspaces for tenants, has leased three floors in the Tribune Tower at 13th Street and Franklin Street in Oakland, according to Lee & Associates, a commercial real estate firm. The building is owned by Highbridge Equity Partners, Alameda County property records show.

The rental deal, which provides a major boost to downtown Oakland’s office market, was arranged by brokers Cody Kollmann and Jeff Moeller of Lee & Associates San Francisco and by Joe McGlynn of Lee & Associates Oakland. Kollmann represented Regus in the deal while Moeller and McGlynn represented Highbridge.

Regus, which is one of the brand names of Switzerland-based IWG, a provider of workspaces worldwide, signed a lease to occupy 17,600 square feet on floors six, seven and nine of the Tribune Tower at 409 13th Street.

“IWG and Regus are looking for core markets that can offer spaces to occupiers that seek creative solutions to their workspaces,” said Kollmann, a founding principal executive with Lee & Associates San Francisco. “They are looking for good opportunities to lease space throughout the Bay Area.”

...

Occupants could begin moving into the spaces starting this summer now that Regus has launched interior improvements in the workspaces. The company signed a 10-year lease in the Tribune Tower.

“Regus really wanted to be in downtown Oakland and near a BART station,” Abrams said.

The building also has ground-floor amenities such as the popular Tribune restaurant and Modern Coffee beverage cafe.

The coronavirus unleashed seismic shifts in how companies viewed their space occupancy needs. Regus aims to tap into Corporate America’s quest for more flexible office space arrangements.

“Occupancy in leasing velocity is slow for big spaces,” Kollmann said. “As the market for big spaces is in a lull, creative co-working providers like Regus are thinking long-term and doubling down.”

Highbridge, Regus and Lee & Associates all believe the deal has the potential to attract a variety of new companies to the building and the area.

“This transaction can represent an uptick for the downtown Oakland office market,” Kollmann said.

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2023/05/03...er-real-estate-build-tech-economy-covid/

[unpermitted_variance]

Quick drive-by updates on Downtown Oakland's three tower projects:


1950 Broadway's crane is coming down:




I'm pretty happy with how this project turned out. Good looking glass and great presence on the skyline from many angles.




Mass timber framing going up at 1510 Webster:





2359 Harrison at floor 7 out of 16:

[38 Geary]

^ Thanks for the update! Glad to see Oakland is still going strong. Hopefully we start seeing some other projects break ground soon. Haven't heard any new news for awhile now.