Oakland: Infrastructure and Urban Planning

[Cal_Escapee]

After years of failed proposals for Oakland’s former Army Base, a deal is likely in 2011.
The director of Oakland’s port, Omar Benjamin, said last week that “we will close a deal this year” for the redevelopment of the former Army Base. He called the more than $1 billion effort to expand the port with a new trade, logistics and office center “a vital project for our future.”
The head of Oakland’s economic development agency, Walter Cohen, said, “I’m pushing very hard” to finalize a development deal this year.
Already the city of Oakland and the port have worked for more than two years on the Army Base, planning what should be built there and discussing financial and other arrangements with developers.
The city’s potential development partner is a joint venture involving Oakland builder Phil Tagami and AMB Property Corp. of San Francisco, whose plan for a logistics and office center could eventually double the port’s capacity to handle almost 4 million containers each year.
Tagami and AMB are also in talks with the port, although not exclusively. The port said that along with the Tagami-AMB proposal, it may consider other investors or developers who have ideas about how to expand the port’s capacity . . . .

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...deal-2011.html

Note that AMB is now the largest publicly owned owner and developer of warehouse space in the world, having just agreed to acquire Chicago's Prologis. If they sign on for the project, they surely have the resources to carry it off unlike some of the people with whom Oakland was formerly attempting to partner.

[Animo]

Oakland Celebrates Groundbreaking of MacArthur Transit Village, Phase 1

OAKLAND, CA, May 23, 2011---Oakland will celebrate the groundbreaking of the first phase of the MacArthur Transit Village today at 544 West MacArthur Boulevard. The program begins at 1:45 pm, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony and refreshments.

MacArthur Transit Village is a planned, mixed-use Transit-Oriented Development located adjacent to the MacArthur BART Station in North Oakland. The Transit Village is the result of more than 15 years of effort by community members, the City of Oakland, BART and the development team of BRIDGE Housing and McGrath Properties, which worked faithfully and consistently to achieve community support as well as financial commitments for the project. The vision is to redevelop and revitalize this underutilized site to create a community of over 600 housing units with enhanced access to the BART station and connecting public transit lines.

“The MacArthur BART Transit Village is the culmination of many years of community effort in North Oakland to take a blighted parking lot and turn it into a vibrant, transit-oriented community,” said Councilmember Jane Brunner, who has been a strong supporter of the MacArthur Transit Village project for over a decade.

Phase 1 includes demolition of two adjacent motel properties, along with construction of the 478-space BART parking garage and site infrastructure. Construction of affordable apartments will follow in 2012, along with development of the remaining parcels phased from 2014 through 2021. Ultimately, MacArthur Transit Village will provide 624 new housing units on a 7.76 acre site, including 516 market-rate and 108 affordable homes. In addition, 42,500 square feet of local commercial and retail space will be constructed, along with 5,000 square feet of space for community use.

"Our goals for this project include creating a vibrant transit-oriented community that provides high-density, mixed-use housing near one of the most important public transportation hubs in Alameda County," said BART Board Member Lynette Sweet. "By creating these types of transit-oriented communities and by investing in a fleet of the future replacement of BART's oldest-in-the-nation train cars, we will set the stage for a more sustainable, liveable future."

The U.S. Green Building Council selected MacArthur Transit Village to be part of its new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighborhood Development Pilot Program, which recognizes projects that protect and enhance the overall health, natural environment and quality of life in our communities. MacArthur Transit Village received a LEED Gold rating under the first phase of the program and the project will be submitted for the second phase in 2011.

The master plan architect is McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners. The parking structure architects are Lowney Architecture and International Parking Design, Inc. Preconstruction services are being provided by Howard S. Wright Construction.

Confirmed groundbreaking speakers include: Hon. Jane Brunner, Councilmember, District 1, City of Oakland; Lynette Sweet, BART Director, District 7; Walter Miles, Chairman, MacArthur BART Citizen's Planning Committee; and Richard Holliday, Chairman, BRIDGE Housing Corporation.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

wow great project. That parking garage looks pretty attractive. This is what Oakland needs.

[bay_area]

This new building, which is already under construction, will be an addition to the Summit Medical Center campus.


http://www.costar.com/webimages/Altabates2.jpg

DPR Construction broke ground last week on the 230,000-square-foot Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Patient Care Pavilion for Sutter Health in Oakland, CA.

The pavilion being built on a 1.5-acre site at 350 Hawthorne St. in the middle of an urban hospital campus will house 238 medical/surgical and acute rehabilitation beds. The $244 million project, which includes an 11-story patient care tower and a rooftop central utility plant, is scheduled to be finished in early 2014.

http://www.costar.com/News/Article/I...1-Nov-6/124064

[bay_area]

This project is currently making its way through the planning process and is actually promising:

Swig Co. wants to add 1.3 million square feet of new office space
to the Kaiser Center in Oakland, seeking permission to knock
down two buildings and replace them with a pair of towers that
would shoot up 42 and 34 stories.

http://www.swigco.com/documents/0328...rsSFBTSwig.pdf

Too bad I cant find any renderings, but these towers would be the 2 new tallest buildings in the city.

[bay_area]

Found a pic of 1640 Broadway:


http://www.loopnet.com/Attachments/3...E8_631_421.jpg

At 36 stories, its taller than any current building in Oakland.

Not dead, but probably in a vegetative state right now. CEDA says that it was given an extension which means that perhaps developers are waiting for the economy to improve.

[JoshuaSantos]

I love the design, one of the nicest looking parking garages I've ever seen.

Originally Posted by Animo

Oakland Celebrates Groundbreaking of MacArthur Transit Village, Phase 1

OAKLAND, CA, May 23, 2011---Oakland will celebrate the groundbreaking of the first phase of the MacArthur Transit Village today at 544 West MacArthur Boulevard. The program begins at 1:45 pm, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony and refreshments.

MacArthur Transit Village is a planned, mixed-use Transit-Oriented Development located adjacent to the MacArthur BART Station in North Oakland. The Transit Village is the result of more than 15 years of effort by community members, the City of Oakland, BART and the development team of BRIDGE Housing and McGrath Properties, which worked faithfully and consistently to achieve community support as well as financial commitments for the project. The vision is to redevelop and revitalize this underutilized site to create a community of over 600 housing units with enhanced access to the BART station and connecting public transit lines.

“The MacArthur BART Transit Village is the culmination of many years of community effort in North Oakland to take a blighted parking lot and turn it into a vibrant, transit-oriented community,” said Councilmember Jane Brunner, who has been a strong supporter of the MacArthur Transit Village project for over a decade.

Phase 1 includes demolition of two adjacent motel properties, along with construction of the 478-space BART parking garage and site infrastructure. Construction of affordable apartments will follow in 2012, along with development of the remaining parcels phased from 2014 through 2021. Ultimately, MacArthur Transit Village will provide 624 new housing units on a 7.76 acre site, including 516 market-rate and 108 affordable homes. In addition, 42,500 square feet of local commercial and retail space will be constructed, along with 5,000 square feet of space for community use.

"Our goals for this project include creating a vibrant transit-oriented community that provides high-density, mixed-use housing near one of the most important public transportation hubs in Alameda County," said BART Board Member Lynette Sweet. "By creating these types of transit-oriented communities and by investing in a fleet of the future replacement of BART's oldest-in-the-nation train cars, we will set the stage for a more sustainable, liveable future."

The U.S. Green Building Council selected MacArthur Transit Village to be part of its new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighborhood Development Pilot Program, which recognizes projects that protect and enhance the overall health, natural environment and quality of life in our communities. MacArthur Transit Village received a LEED Gold rating under the first phase of the program and the project will be submitted for the second phase in 2011.

The master plan architect is McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners. The parking structure architects are Lowney Architecture and International Parking Design, Inc. Preconstruction services are being provided by Howard S. Wright Construction.

Confirmed groundbreaking speakers include: Hon. Jane Brunner, Councilmember, District 1, City of Oakland; Lynette Sweet, BART Director, District 7; Walter Miles, Chairman, MacArthur BART Citizen's Planning Committee; and Richard Holliday, Chairman, BRIDGE Housing Corporation.

[bayviews]

Originally Posted by Animo

Good news!

The Fruitvale BART transit village has been a plus for that area.

Hopefully, this will do the same for McArthur BART.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Oakland breaks ground on "Champions" monument

Monday, June 20, 2011
(06-20) 21:42 PDT Oakland, Calif. (AP) --

Downtown Oakland will soon be home to a massive new monument to peace, perseverance and human rights.

City officials on Monday broke on the "Remember Them: Champions For Humanity" project in a courtyard along 19th Street between Telegraph and San Pablo Avenues.

The installation will include a set of four bronze sculptures standing more than 20 feet high and depicting 25 famous faces, including those of Malcolm X, Mahatma Gandhi and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Oakland Tribune reports three of the four major sculptures are expected to be completed by the end of September.

Phase two will include the installation of the largest sculpture and a special wall that will allow people with vision problems to experience the monument.

Oakland sculptor Mario Chiodo is donating his time to the project.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1PwiwRDDy

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...n214206D66.DTL

[Animo]

CityWise: Budget crisis reaching boiling point, zoo project moving forward

By Sean Maher
Oakland Tribune © Copyright 2011, Bay Area News Group
Posted: 06/23/2011 07:28:07 PM PDT
Updated: 06/23/2011 08:36:27 PM PDT

OAKLAND -- What was already the biggest budget crisis in Oakland history, in terms of a projected $58 million deficit, heated up this week as the City Council put off public discussion of any fiscal details with just over a week left to reach an agreement before the next fiscal year.

Mayor Jean Quan released three budget scenarios in April, detailing what she called a "worst-case" plan that closes the deficit entirely by service cuts, as well as what she hoped the city could do to reduce those cuts with a new parcel tax and contributions from city employee unions. She came under fire from some councilmembers, including Ignacio De La Fuente (Glenview-Fruitvale), who said the multiple options didn't show decisive leadership or provide the council the line-item budget detail they've used in the past to make their decisions.

As of Wednesday, with the council split into two teams both working on detailed budgets, no line-item details had been made public by anybody....

Zoo project progresses

Despite all the budget pressures, the council took some pleasure Tuesday night in unanimously supporting a multimillion-dollar expansion of the Oakland Zoo into Knowland Park.

The plan is funded by a variety of sources, including private donations and local bond measures, but asks for no additional money from the city.
The East Bay Zoological Society, which runs the Oakland Zoo and maintains the 500-acre Knowland Park, asked the council to approve its new master plan, which includes expansion into 54 acres of the park.

Scores of supporters and opponents made their case to the council at Tuesday's meeting.

Opponents had appealed the planning commission's approval of the project, which brought it to the council -- where all eight members voted to deny the appeal.

Reid, whose district is home to the zoo, said the plan's proponents did as he requested and got community input.

He asked backers to continue to engage the community.
For details, go to www.knowlandpark.com and www.oaklandzoo.org.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

From SSP

Originally Posted by San Frangelino

This is from http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...s-seek-ok.html

325 7th Street Condominiums

From http://www.yhla.net/portfolio/7thstreet/7thstreet.html





Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[JoshuaSantos]

That would be awesome!

Originally Posted by ElDudarinodotcom

From SSP



325 7th Street Condominiums

From http://www.yhla.net/portfolio/7thstreet/7thstreet.html





Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Animo]

Plans to rebuild the Safeway store on College and Claremont on the Oakland-Berkeley border have been on the drawing board for more than two years. In fact, the store has put a number of different proposals in front of the city of Oakland and local residents. And, while the latest design, by Lowney Architecture, has met with broad approval, the scale of the project and its impact on local traffic are still stumbling blocks to development.

Local residents and small business owners, from both sides of the border, came out in force to a July 20 hearing of the Oakland Planning Commission’s Draft Environmental Impact Report on the redevelopment of the store, which is at 6310 College Avenue. The turn-out was so large, the crowd had to move from the Planning Commission chambers to those of the City Council. The meeting was continued until August 3rd.

Current plans call for the Rockridge store to more than double its square footage, and they show eight new retail shops, a restaurant and an elevated walkway, among other amenities.

It’s not the first time locally that residents have opposed the Pleasanton-based supermarket chain. Residents in north Berkeley put the kibosh on a full-scale renovation to the Gourmet Ghetto Safeway last year. And plans for a revamp in Albany also met resistance.

As the Chronicle reports today, Safeway’s mission to reshape neighborhoods throughout the Bay Area with new “lifestyle” stores — which might include smoothie kiosks, outdoor seating, natural light, new floors, rooftop gardens and wider aisles — has not gone as smoothly as they no doubt hoped.

People who live near the Rockridge store — such as Fourth Street developer Denny Abrams whose home is on 63rd Street, and who spoke at the EIR hearing — are concerned that the small businesses on College, opposite the store, may suffer. One of them, Berkeley’s Chimes Pharmacy, opted for a buy-out last month.

And the sheer scale of the potential new store alarms some residents, both in terms of the competition it represents and the amount of extra cars and delivery trucks it may engender. Berkeley councilmember Laurie Capitelli told the Chronicle that size doesn’t always mean greater variety. “It could mean we get 60-foot aisles of soda pop, stacked four shelves high,” he said.

Meanwhile, Safeway spokeswoman Susan Houghton pointed out that more than 600 people have signed a petition in support of the new store. And she said: “There’s a lot of new competition out there, but we’ve been here a long time, and we look forward to being here a long time in the future.”

The Safeway on College website has details on the proposed new store.

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/08/...ridge-safeway/

[ElDudarinodotcom]

This article mentions 1100 Broadway. It would be nice if they could get this one going. It's a good looking building for Oakland.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2..._broadway.html

MTC halts move to buy S.F. building

Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, under fire from the city of Oakland and East Bay lawmakers, voted Wednesday to rescind its July decision to purchase a building at 390 Main St. in San Francisco and remake it into a regional government headquarters.

The commission, the Bay Area's transportation planning and financing agency, voted 12-2 on July 27 to buy the almost 500,000-square-foot building for $105.7 million and spend up to $74 million on improvements. The commission, which has outgrown the headquarters building it shares with the Association of Bay Area Governments in Oakland, planned to relocate across the bay and move in with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

But Oakland officials, who want the regional agencies to relocate in a yet-to-be-built 20-story glass tower in downtown Oakland, complained that the commission violated state open meeting laws by allowing members of ABAG to attend their closed session meeting to ask questions. The commission disagreed with that accusation but decided to hold a new meeting Wednesday to rescind the vote and reconsider the issue.

But after listening to almost three hours of criticism, questions and pleas to stay in Oakland, the commission decided unanimously to put off a decision on buying 390 Main St.

San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener said the vote was not a decision to reject the San Francisco site but to take the needed time to answer questions ranging from whether it's appropriate to use bridge toll revenue to buy real estate, some of which will be leased commercially, to whether the location is seismically safe and close enough to public transportation.

"It should not be interpreted that ... we made a grievous error," he said. "We simply want to get the answers to some questions and avoid a lawsuit by Oakland, which has been pretty aggressive."

Oakland officials, in addition to challenging the legality of the commission's July vote, argued that the proposed building at 1100 Broadway would sit atop a BART station while the San Francisco building would be about a half mile away from one. They also argued that the Oakland building would be cheaper to build and operate if compared fairly.

Commissioners said the three dozen speakers raised many questions that deserved further research. A six-member committee will take up to 60 days to do that research and bring the issue back to the full commission for a decision.

"I'm disappointed in the political heat this has generated," said San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, the commission chairwoman. "But it has raised some important issues we need to address."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1VOcId9xW

[desertpunk]

SF Gate

Oakland assembles team for last-ditch stadium plan

Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross, Chronicle Columnist
Wednesday, February 8, 2012



Cash-strapped Oakland is on the verge of putting up $3 million for the designers of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis - site of Sunday's Super Bowl - to work their magic and come up with a new stadium and sports complex out at the Coliseum.

After a lengthy competition among six groups, city staffers have selected Indy stadium designer HKS Inc., JRDV Architects of Oakland and mall and condo builders Forest City Enterprises to create a plan for the 750 acres that make up the Coliseum site and the neighboring new-tech development area west of Interstate 880.

The $3 million would come from money that the city's recently disbanded Redevelopment Agency doesn't have to return to the state. "The strength of the team we are going to bring forward to the (City) Council is an indicator of how real this project is," said Assistant City Administrator Fred Blackwell. Blackwell hopes to have the exploratory deal before the council by the end of the month.

The fast track also underscores how tenuous Oakland's pro sports future is - what with the A's trying to move to San Jose, the Warriors thinking of jumping the bay to San Francisco and the Raiders making noises about moving to Los Angeles, again. "It's like (Tom) Brady in the last play of the Super Bowl - it's a Hail Mary," said Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, who sits on the Coliseum's joint powers board.

But then, he says it's worth a shot because the $200 million that the National Football League just committed to the 49ers' planned Santa Clara stadium "can be spent in Oakland just as well as Santa Clara."

[...]
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1loeOx354