THE BAY AREA | Projects: Under Construction, Approved, and Proposed

[CaliforniaSoul]

Some renderings of the proposed 18-story tower in Downtown Berkeley that will rise on what is currently a Bank of America branch. This tower will include a hotel, condos and ground floor retail. Looks pretty good to me and I'm glad they're not relying on prominent parking podiums like some of the towers proposed in Oakland.









More renderings here.

[blacktrojan3921]

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/15/8782235...housing-crisis

Thought this article would interest you Bay folks :o

[peanut gallery]

^^Looks like they've refined the design of that one and have now added some color. Not sure how I feel about it overall at this point. I agree with you, CS, about the podium though. I definitely like it at street level.

^Thanks for the article. Nothing really new in there, but it does grasp the basic battle that ensues on just about every proposal. And it's not just in the Mission or SF, but throughout the region. This is NIMBY central.

[timbad]

demolition of the Kmart building has just taken place at Hayward Park Caltrain (San Mateo), so looks like this is underway

Station Park Green development ... will contain 599 residential units, nearly 2 acres of parks and open space, 15,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square space of retail space.

[peanut gallery]

This project in Oakland is moving closer to final approval:



The SF Business Times reported that it was approved by the planning commission and now just needs the Oakland City Council to approve the land sale to the developer. That should come later this month.

More details from the article:

Strada Investment Group proposed a 262-unit residential building with 4,850 square feet of retail space at 1100 Clay St. The building would be 14 stories, up to 150 feet tall and include at least 150 parking spaces.

The developer seeks to enliven Oakland's downtown area, which is predominantly office and civic buildings, and create more nighttime activity similar to the Uptown and Jack London Square districts. The project calls for a 12,000-square-foot commercial plaza with benches, lighting and art installations. A 4,000-square-foot commercial space, likely made up of shipping containers with food vendors, could also be constructed under the plan.

Architecture firm Arquitectonica is designing the residential building, its first project in Oakland. SiteLab Urban Studio is working on the public plaza.

[peanut gallery]

Interesting adaptive reuse proposed for San Jose, from the Silicon Valley Business Journal:

Back in the dotcom boom, 1 N. First St. in downtown San Jose was positively bursting with office tenants. Ever since the early-2000s crash, though, it’s been a different story.

“No one can generate any interest in the office space,” said Kirk Kozlowski of Saratoga Capital, an owner of the the 82,000-square-foot building.

So Kozlowski is seeking to transform the commercial building on one of downtown’s best corners into apartments — something he has done successfully over the years in three well-received projects downtown. On tap this time: 72 residential units in five stories with about 7,500 square feet of retail on the ground floor.

The proposed conversion from commercial to primarily residential comes as more office interest percolates downtown, but primarily in newer, Class A buildings — not older assets such as 1 N. First, whose primary tenants are the venerable Lincoln Law School and Meriwest Credit Union. Meanwhile, developers who took a risk a few years ago on apartment projects downtown are being rewarded handsomely. As I’ve reported, Essex Property Trust is seeing strong leasing activity at its One South Market high-rise.

[DIESELPOLO]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

This project in Oakland is moving closer to final approval:



The SF Business Times reported that it was approved by the planning commission and now just needs the Oakland City Council to approve the land sale to the developer. That should come later this month.

More details from the article:

Build this yesterday

[peanut gallery]

Well, it looks like this may have been killed, at least for the time being:



The SF Business Times reports:

Oakland has reopened a public land site near Lake Merritt to bids from new developers, potentially killing one of the city's largest – and most controversial – housing proposals, according to a July 14 document provided to the Business Times.

The city is soliciting new project proposals for the next 60 days on the site at East 12th Street. The move comes after three years of exclusive negotiations with developer UrbanCore and its financial partner United Dominion Realty (NYSE:UDR), which proposed an all-market rate tower with 298 units on the site.

By opening the bids to more developers, the city may shield itself from potential legal action that it faced for selling the land to UrbanCore. Last week, the East Bay Express revealed that Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker wrote in a February legal memo that the sale to UrbanCore would be illegal under the Surplus Lands Act, because the city didn't offer the land to affordable housing developers prior to entering into exclusive negotiations with UrbanCore. Last Tuesday, City Council delayed a final vote on the project and didn't reschedule a new vote.

----------------

The new bidding process is a victory for project opponents, who said the sale was illegal and that the city was immorally selecting an all-market rate project over affordable housing on a public site amid the Bay Area's sharply rising housing costs.

[timbad]

another parcel next to Redwood City Caltrain to be developed. somewhat non-sensical argument in the article that the 'remedy' for underutilized parking capacity is to build more parking capacity, across the street from a major transit stop. but otherwise some encouraging numbers:

The project at 815 Hamilton St. consists of 7,141 square feet of retail use on the ground floor, 60,322 square feet of office use on the upper four floors and two levels of underground parking consisting of 88 parking stalls. ...

Six other projects nearby are being constructed that will be completed this year or early next year including the Box headquarters on Middlefield Road; 133 apartments on Fuller Street; 18 townhomes on Brewster Avenue; 471 apartments on Middlefield Road; 196 apartments on Main Street; and 305 apartments on Monroe Street.

The projects comprise 1,810 units of housing and 313,000 square feet of offices.

[ElDuderino]

33-Story Oakland Tower Development Slated For Approval
August 5, 2015



While designs for a 56-story tower to rise on the Uptown site were envisioned in 2006, designs which would have produced Oakland’s tallest building, those plans were abandoned in the subsequent downturn. But if approved by Oakland’s Planning Commission this evening, a 33-story residential tower, as rendered above, could rise up to 339-feet in height at 1900 Broadway.

As designed by Brick for developer Seth Hamalian, the proposed 1900 Broadway project includes the renovation and conversion of the adjacent historic Tapscott Building, atop of which a setback fifth floor, pool, deck and outdoor space would be added.



A 20-foot courtyard would separate the Tapscott Building from the new tower, and the parking would be in a six-level structure, “tucked to the rear of the site, hidden from view from passersby.”



In total, the development would yield 345 residential units, with parking for 333 cars and 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail. Oakland’s Planning Department is recommending the project be approved as proposed, an approval which could be appealed to the City Council within 10 days of the vote.

Source: http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2...-approval.html

[fflint]

^That is so awesome! I've often noted how odd it is our region's super-heated housing market didn't lead to highrise housing in downtown Oakland--now, hopefully, it will!

[ElDuderino]

Yeah, I really hope this goes through smoothly. I love that they are preserving the old corner building, and that indoor/outdoor dining area shown in the last image would be awesome. This is right by the BART station so it is a perfect location for residential.

[viewguysf]

Let's hope Oakland can pull this one off--their track record for getting developments built hasn't been very good. Numerous towers have been proposed over the years that went nowhere.

[ElDuderino]

Refined Designs And Timing For 206-Unit Oakland Tower
August 7, 2015



Three blocks away from the 345-unit development at 1900 Broadway which was approved by Oakland’s Planning Commission on Wednesday, Gerding Edlen is pushing forward with plans for a 250-foot tower with 206 apartments to rise at 1700 Webster Street.

As designed by Perkins+Will, the 206 units would be spread across the top 18 floors of the 24-level tower, with a 3,300-square-foot roof deck above a penthouse floor with a 15-foot canopy.

A four story podium would conceal parking for 206 cars and 70 bikes and provide a platform for a sixth-floor roof deck.



The ground floor of the building would front both Webster and 17th Streets, with the building’s lobby off 17th Street and 6,000 square feet of retail space primarily fronting onto 17th, but also wrapping around the corner to provide a retail frontage along Webster as well.

Qualifying for a CEQA exemption as an infill project and consistent with Oakland’s Central Business District General Plan and all zoning, the tower could be fully approved within the next couple of months and the development team is planning to break ground by the end of the year, with occupancy slated for the second half of 2017.

Source: http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2...and-tower.html

[yakumoto]

An area that doesn't get updates every day... MILPITAS!! (specifically the great mall/BART area)

While I applaud Milpitas for being ahead of the curve in BART station area planning, encouraging high density uses around the station and connecting it to the street grid (unlike the Berryessa station where it resembles a fucking maze), there were still glaring failures which I couldn't ignore.

First, some of the new housing going in:







Mixed use lol:





So you're going to build a billion dollar BART extension, and zone the surrounding area for thousands of high density units, that's all it takes to create transit oriented development right? I mean, its not like we're missing what is probably the most CHEAP, BASIC, yet FUNDAMENTAL piece of this puzzle right?



I suppose they were expecting people to drive the 1/4 mile to the station, or improvise, as they have been doing:



Maybe they can just take the bus?



At least I can catch it at the next stop...



And the near completed Milpitas BART Station:



Within spitting distance of the Great Mall:

[ElDuderino]

Now You Know (The) Jack
August 12, 2015



The Environmental Impact Report for 330 apartments to rise over 3,000 square feet of new retail space and parking for 365 cars at 4th and Madison Streets near Jack London Square have been submitted to Oakland’s Planning Department for review. And the development has been dubbed, “The Jack.”

The proposed project includes two buildings rising up to 85-feet in height across the 1.5-block site which is comprised of two parcels: one whole block (“Block A”) bounded by 5th and 4th Streets and Jackson and Madison Streets, and one half-block (“Block B”) bounded by 3rd and 4th Streets to the north and south, Madison Street to the east, and an apartment building (followed by Jackson Street) to the west.



The existing buildings on the Block A parcel, 430 Jackson and 425 Madison, are currently occupied by Cost Plus World Market corporate employees and the Block B parcel (431 Madison) is a paved parking area for the staff. Cost Plus was acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond in 2012 and its operations at the 4th and Madison site are expected to be completely phased out within the next one to three years.

If approved by the city, construction for the 4th and Madison project could commence as soon as Cost Plus has left the building and would last approximately 26 months, with the smaller Block B building ready for occupancy by month 19 of the schedule.

Source: http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2...-the-jack.html

[fflint]

I like everything about the Jack except all that car parking. Imagine how many more housing units they could fit within that same envelope--75 more homes? 150 more?

[tech12]

It's nice to see some big projects in Oakland. This and the two highrise proposals downtown all look pretty good. And that dead tower proposal on the other side of Lake Merritt might come back later as affordable housing too (i hope)...not bad. Nice to see some towers proposed for Berkeley as well. This is what we need all over the Bay Area if we hope to come anywhere close to meeting the housing demand.

[Busy Bee]

I'd love to rent a Box in the Jack.

[fflint]

Originally Posted by tech12

It's nice to see some big projects in Oakland. This and the two highrise proposals downtown all look pretty good. And that dead tower proposal on the other side of Lake Merritt might come back later as affordable housing too (i hope)...not bad. Nice to see some towers proposed for Berkeley as well. This is what we need all over the Bay Area if we hope to come anywhere close to meeting the housing demand.

Agreed. And don't forget the new highrise residential buildings in downtown San Jose. But with Oakland specifically, it's been odd how quiet the city has been during this crazy boom. Perhaps Jerry Brown's 10K initiative satisfied demand for a lot longer than we realized it would?