But we will never solve the problem if we do not approve and build projects like this.. Allow 48 business hours for a response. Labor unions and residents opposed to development in their neighborhoods have tried to use the California Environmental Quality Act to kill projects through excessive delays, said Rafa Sonnenfeld, a paralegal at YIMBY Law, a San Francisco nonprofit focused on development. Feds probe West Oakland development for racial bias on pollution . The city had already assessed the environmental impact of developing the 5th Street site into housing. Designed by Baran Studio Architecture and listed for "$849,000" in June of 2016, despite its nearly identical sister home with a yellow door having sold for $1.025 million the month prior, the sale of the modern West Oakland infill home at 864 Wood Street closed escrow with a contract price of $1.125 million that . This chapter is about improving the physical, social, and economic development of Oakland. The project includes affordable units as mandated under city law, and 85 of those units will be designated for the "very low" income bracket. The projects developer, Scott Cooper, said the lot was zoned for residential use under the West Oakland Specific Planan initiative launched by the city in 2014 to bring housing, retail, and workspace to the neighborhood. Development agreement and a preliminary application for future changes to the building height and approved uses have been submitted. Cost: $2 billion to $3 billion Estimated completion: 2030 The 600-acre project would create 3,800 homes, 7 million square feet of. In California, redevelopment agencies . In 2008, West Oakland was hit hard again, with roughly 5,000 foreclosures that further displaced its population. The Plan will serve as a concise, consistent way to communicate the preferred development strategies for the Opportunity Sites and in this respect will serve as a marketing tool to attract developers to these key sites. Preliminary development permits have been filed to propel the Mandela Station project at West Oakland BART development located at 1451 7th Street in West Oakland. As the East Bay Times reports, the Oakland City Council still needs to give its okay, but the project comes with significant backing from those in the community who are eager to see this long neglected stretch of Seventh Street get revived. BART approves plan for new mixed-use development at West Oakland Station The BART Board of Directors at its meeting today approved a transit-oriented development project at the West Oakland Station that includes 762 housing units of which more than 30% have been designated as affordable. Golden West would add 222 apartments next to BART station, The Michaels Organization John J. ODonnell with Golden West project at 1396 Fifth St (The Michaels Organization, BDE Architecture, Getty). development projects pursuant to the Specific Plan, in order to provide this information to the public and decision-makers. We strongly believe that the city of Oakland is violating the law because its not legal for them to have even heard this CEQA appeal, Sonnenfeld said. But the vote to reject the appeal came with conditions that Michaels provide air filtration and work with the county to ensure soil, ground and water contamination be remediated tasks normally required of all developers in the county. Developers have assembled land and proposed many projects recent years, including: 500 Kirkham, a 1,032-unit project set from Panoramic Interests set to replace a vacant parking lot a block. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. Building market-rate housing is among the strategies cities can use to address a supply shortage, said Corey Smith, deputy director at the Housing Action Coalition, which advocates for all levels of housing. The goal is to encourage private reinvestment in new residential, commercial and industrial development projects that generate jobs and services that enhance the area by reducing chronic land use conflicts that historically have plagued this highly mixed use area. Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. See above for a complete list of active major projects in Oakland. project will be up for approvals in Brisbane later this year. The content of this chapter focuses on new and existing buildings and what they contribute to Oakland and the Pittsburgh region. But the project hit a wall on March 12 when a coalition of labor groups, East Bay Residents for Responsible Development, filed an appeal with the City Council, requesting an environmental review and saying hazardous materials such as benzene, lead, and diesel make the site unfit for housing unless removed. Please send news tips to: oaklandnorthstaff@gmail.com. Then it was appealed by East Bay Residents for Responsible Development, a labor coalition, which alleged the project needed another environmental study to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. West Oakland residents appear split on Golden West and larger development efforts. The Specific Plan will explore a range of issues such as land use, economic and market conditions, infrastructure deficiencies, transportation, public safety and security and other relevant factors, to identify development challenges for the selected properties (Opportunity Sites) within the Specific Plan area; it will then devise a comprehensive implementation strategy to assist the City of Oakland (City) and Oakland Redevelopment Agency (ORA) (now Redevelopment Successor Agency) in refining its economic development planning for the area. One development in particular Golden West, a proposed eight-story apartment complex, would add 222 market-rate units and 16 low-income units on what is currently an empty 1-acrelotacross from the BART station at 1396 Fifth St. In its appeal, East Bay Residents for Responsible Development claimed that an earlier environmental impact report on the site, which was released in 2014 as part of the West Oakland Specific Plan, was inadequate and that a second one should be done. (Case File #PLN19096). The Michaels Organization, a New Jersey-based developer that creates housing across all markets, from affordable units to luxury apartments, has been trying to develop the site for more than a decade. But market-rate housing isnt what the city needs, and building that would create a ripple effect,said Dominique Mouton, writer and creator of The Lower Bottoms, a fictional podcast about the tensions in a gentrifying West Oakland neighborhood. The facility will create 522 market-rate homes with over 14,000 square feet of ground-level retail and parking for 125 vehicles. OakDOT is delivering safety improvements at five schools as part of the 2021-2023 Capital Improvement Program. George Avalos is a business reporter for the Bay Area News Group who covers the economy, jobs, consumer prices, commercial real estate, airlines and airports and PG&E for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. The projects have ignited a debate over development and displacement in West Oakland. They want more density and they want more neighbors. The WOAQ platform helps West Oaklanders visualize neighborhood air quality data collected by WOEIP's volunteer residents, and use that data to explore the environmental issues that directly impact their health and well-being every day. The project is a point of controversysome residents see its 206 market rate and 16 low-income units as pertinent to addressing the Bay Areas housing crisis. +. The development, planned for the site of a . The project has already been delayed for over a year. Your feedback will help us improve our website. Look at the honey trap theyre building right on top of our existing poverty. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. Project Narrative A) Site Context -Rich history: T.O.D & social activism West Oakland has once been a place of diversity under the impact of T.O.D. Others said the project, which included 206 market-rate and 16 low-income units, could help gentrify a black neighborhood. Thats not an anti-displacement strategy. A mixed-use development with 1,032 residential units, including 85 affordable units, and nearly 35,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and commercial space. 1396 5th Street will create 222 new apartments. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. The project is planned in three phases, and is located one block east of the West Oakland BART Station. January 2019. Theres no funding source for this and other projects around West Oakland BART, so this project wont be built for a while. It also helps your family, friends and Oakland neighbors have access to reliable, independent reporting. Ronnie Turner, Turner Development Resource Group, rtdevelops@comcast.net, (510) 395-2766, 1451 7th St The mixed-use development will include nearly 40,000 square feet for the new Oakland Park City Hall, about 15,000 square feet of first-floor retail space, a parking garage with 334 covered. The three-quarter-acre lot in the Lower Bottoms neighborhood . Comments post automatically without review from our staff, but we reserve the right to delete material that is libelous, a personal attack, or spam. But the approval came after a rejected appeal from a labor group that should never have been considered under state environmental laws, company officials and housing advocates say. This applies to projects initiated prior to September 5, 2018, and to Planned Unit Developments (PUDs). The apartments in the project would all be market-rate units, states the proposal filed by real estate development firm The Martin Group. At Fifes request, the council agreed to take more time to review the project. It was Oaklands planning staff that ultimately stopped councilmembers from formally voting to require additional environmental review, the Business Times reported. If the site is found to be contaminated, it will be remediated before construction begins, Cooper added. The East Bay Residents group has denied those accusations, saying it was concerned for the safety of West Oakland residents, including its workers who live there. (In Alameda County, very low income is defined as $47,950 for a single person and $68,500 for a family of four). The proposed T1 building is to raise 30 floors up to be 320 feet tall, among the tallest buildings in the City of Oakland. Current Major Development Projects List (as of 11.8.2022), View Interactive Online Map of Major Projects, 500 Kirkham Street Mixed-Use Development Project, Brooklyn Basin (formerly "Oak to Ninth Mixed Use Development"), Lake Merritt BART Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Project, MacArthur BART Transit Village Project (MacArthur Station), Oakland Waterfront Ballpark District at Howard Terminal, West Oakland BART Development (Mandela Station), Archive of Select Major Development Projects, Completed Environmental Review (CEQA/EIR) Documents, Current Environmental Review (CEQA/EIR) Documents (2011- present), Apply for Major Multi-Family Residential/Mixed-Use Development or Large Commercial Project Approvals. Bay Area real estate investors Keith Kim and Jabari Herbert are principal executives in West Oakland Development Group. Some residents were concerned about the potential health impacts of exposure to hazardous materials on the site, especially coupled with the already elevated levels of diesel particulate matter in West Oakland. John Dalrymple, a spokesperson for East Bay Residents, said he was not aware of any such contact. Parking will also be included for bicycles. Apr 26, 2021 Jacob Bourne, Bisnow San Francisco Bay Area. Stay up to date! 1451 7th Street will replace the 440-car parking lots with three new buildings and 1.7 acres of open space with plazas and paseos. But its good to see that its future form is something that the community can rally around and get their stamp on it.". Plans include 49 studios, 132 one-bedroom, and 41 two-bedroom units. The Oakland City Council on Tuesday voted to allow a 222-unit housing project near West Oakland's BART Station to move forward after a 10-month delay that prompted a state investigation.. Children watch as a house is bulldozed in West Oakland, June 12, 1968. also brings West Oakland to the center of the Bay Area as a new development model, where people are reconnected by the most fundamental elements of life: food. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. That price is more the norm today. Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. How to realize the economic potential of Oakland and equitably create jobs for Pittsburghers; The 12th Street Project is now complete. Fearn may have been referring to the 35 people who appeared at the meeting to give public comment on the project, none of whom had any objections, only support. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. Woodwork, glassware, metal pieces, leather: Annual GIFTY market returns for holiday shopping, Five years after Ghost Ship: How local organizations are fighting artist displacement, Oakland council delays decision on 222-unit West Oakland development near BART - Oakland North, PHOTOS: Joyful sights and sounds abound at Oaklands Black Joy Parade, Every system failed to us! Flooded out Coliseum Connections residents frustrated with work pace, Oakland ransomware attack prompts emergency but few answers from city officials. Oriented Development (TOD) at the West Oakland BART station; 1-2 West Oakland Specific Plan Augmenting West Oakland's job-generating . Eminent domain is the constitutionally sanctioned power of government to purchase private property for public usewith or without the owners' consent. OAKLAND A mix of live-work units, along with spaces for industrial and retail operations, would be featured in a project proposed for West Oakland. Related Articles Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. The streetscape project on Thomas L. Berkley Way (20th Street) from Broadway to Harrison Street will close a last mile gap between the 19th Street BART station and Lake Merritt through the construction of improvements focused on enhancements and amenities for pedestrians and bicyclists. Living Downstream. This page will focus on West Oakland. . We amplify community voices, share the power of real information, and investigate systems, not just symptoms. Oakland North is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for, and about, the people of Oakland, California. The elevated, double - Census data shows the average per-capita income is $47,783, meaning the typical Oakland renter would have to spend 71% of their monthly income on rent, making them financially unstable. California home-price drops bigger than U.S. declines The purpose of the West Oakland Specific Plan is to develop comprehensive, multi-faceted strategies for facilitating the development of selected vacant and/or underutilized commercial and industrial properties within the West Oakland community (see map for Key Sites). Regardless, city staff will take the next few months to analyze whether or not the county Environmental Health Department has found enough evidence needed to move forward with a more extensive environmental review. West Oakland megaproject on BART land moves forward Enlarge Mandela Station will feature 762 residential units, 75,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail and 300,000 square feet of. Kim was one of the principal owners of an apartment building at 2551 San Pablo Ave. in Oakland that was gutted in a fatal fire that killed four people and displaced as many as 100 very low-income tenants in March 2017. Your support is powering our newsroom! But once the freeways went in, and the elevated BART track was built right along Seventh, nothing would ever be the same. Semantha Norris and Ayla Burnett on December 13, 2021. 1150 & 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway (Former Raiders Training Facility), 19th Street BART to Lake Merritt Urban Greenway (1003211), 2019 3-Year Paving Plan Development Process, 2019 Traffic Safety Improvements Near Garfield Elementary School, 2021 Major Streets Rehabilitation & Resurfacing, 2021-2023 Safe Routes to School Capital Projects, 27th Street, Bay Place, and Lakeside Family Streets, 42nd Avenue & High Street I-880 Access Improvements, 5-Year Impact Fee Review and Update Reports, 500 Kirkham Street Mixed-Use Development Project. OAKLAND Elaine Brown is back. Preliminary development permits have been filed to propel the Mandela Station project at West Oakland BART development located at 1451 7th Street in West Oakland. Project. Housing | 500 Kirkham is Panoramic's proposed new workforce housing development, adjacent to the West Oakland BART station, in Oakland, CA. The existing site features a long and thin warehouse with loading docks that totals 19,500 square feet, information posted in the LoopNet commercial property database shows. PUBLISHED: February 25, 2022 at 10:35 a.m. | UPDATED: February 25, 2022 at 6:20 p.m. OAKLAND The Port of Oakland's board on Thursday approved a controversial proposal to build an open-air . This project addresses the majority of local streets mileage in the Oakland Hills prioritized in the 2019 3-Year Paving Plan. The project is a Planned Unit Development (PUD) and Final Development Plan (FDP), located approximately one block east of the West Oakland BART Station. If they dont go back and do the right remediations, those things become airborne and theyre cancer-producing., Cooper, the vice president of development with Michaels, said the group offered to drop the appeal if the developer agreed to use only union workers. In the case of West Oakland, it was the construction of the 880 and Cypress freeways the latter of which collapsed in the 1989 earthquake and has been replaced with Mandela Parkway BART, and the huge U.S. Housing capacity was increased by 35% above base zoning, thanks to the State Affordable Housing Bonus. Two buildings totaling 118,847 SF on 16.84 acres of land available for sale via public auction. Online Access: 500 Kirkham - Project Application, Approvals and Related Documents. City Ventures has started construction on a 171-unit for-sale townhouse project in West Oakland. Since then, Michaels has been working on its current plan: the Golden West project, named after the Golden West Brewing Co., Oaklandslongest-runningbrewery, which shuttered in West Oakland in 1959. Development Area T4: 100-ft tall mid-rise commercial office building with 300,000 sq ft of office and approximately 23,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail. The coalition and the council expressed concern about benzene, lead, diesel and toxic substances that could harm workers and nearby residents. Councilmember Carroll Fife, who represents District 3, was more apprehensive. An amenity building proposed for the project would total roughly 5,500 square feet. Oakland North welcomes comments from our readers, but we ask users to keep all discussion civil and on-topic. A huge new residential development encompassing an entire city block in West Oakland was unanimously approved by Oakland's Planning Commission on Thursday, with plenty of community support. A new multi-year paving plan to guide investments for Oakland's streets, adopted December 21, 2021. Cooper said paying union wages for mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire sprinkler tradespeople would add $55,000 to per-unit costs for a project that is barely financially feasible.. This project will improve access for traffic to and from the I-880 freeway ramps, the City of Oakland, and the City of Alameda. The majority of those units will be in a 32-story high-rise that will become a highly visible new piece of the Oakland skyline, and construction may begin as soon as next spring. In an interview, Oakland resident Emily Wheeler spoke against the project, saying it will displace residents. I agree with Tiffany Anderson, the bike path and community garden in Richmond is awesome and is beneficial to the existing community. Now West Oakland is looking to apply this same formula and experience the rebirth that other areas of the city have experienced from a comprehensive development strategy. The same tactic was allegedly used by a labor group that appealed a project linked to a Los Angeles corruption scandal. He is a graduate of San Jose State University with a BA degree in broadcasting and journalism. Cooper acknowledged that the site contains potentially hazardous material and said it will be mitigated before development. The complex would provide apartments to lower-income seniors, along with retail space. The Oaklandside relies on reader support to remain free for everyone in our community. Oakland North assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content.