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Alameda County News & Developments

54K views 66 replies 17 participants last post by  pesto 
#1 ·
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th largest county in the state. The county includes the cities of Oakland and Berkeley, and Oakland is its seat.
 
#29 ·
UC Berkeley’s ‘Global Campus’ to Gather Nations in Richmond

Instead of trying to establish a presence in far-flung countries, the University of California, Berkeley, wants to bring nations closer to it—in Richmond.

The university plans to build an international complex for higher education, research and technology not far from its main campus. The Berkeley Global Campus—a 5.5 million-square-foot project on 134 acres that the university owns in Richmond—would host academic programs from around the world and provide a living laboratory exploring innovative solutions to myriad human and environmental problems.

The project’s vision “is unabashedly bold,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said during a presentation to the Academic Senate late October. “It will be a new form of international hub where an exclusive group of some of the world’s leading universities and high-tech companies will work side by side with us in a campus setting.”

At the same time, the project figures to further ignite real estate development and investment in Richmond just as the city is experiencing an industrial resurgence. The project’s effect could prove similar to the transformation of San Francisco’s Mission Bay following UC San Francisco’s expansion into that neighborhood.

The Berkeley Global Campus “is a very important project to the city,” Richmond City Manager Bill Lindsay said. “It will put Richmond on the global map.”

The project would rise out of Richmond’s southern shoreline, which was the site of the biggest economic engine in city history—the shipyards of World War II—but is now an underutilized industrial waterfront.

Until recently, the area had been eyed for a second research campus of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a joint venture with UC Berkeley. But that plan hit a major snag in 2013 when the lab lost out on federal funding.

However, the setback turned into this latest quest now headed by the university but still involving the lab.

The new effort “will be designed and launched in collaboration with a set of partner global universities—universities that will help us build new facilities and support new programs,” Dirks said.

[...]
 
#30 ·
Massive Lennar development near Tesla plant and BART station wins Fremont City Council's approval

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/...-lennar-development-near-tesla-plant-and.html

Massive Lennar development near Tesla plant and BART station wins Fremont City Council's approval

It's all systems go for Lennar in Fremont after the city council approved plans for a massive project next to the under-construction Warm Springs BART station.
In a 4-1 vote on Tuesday, Fremont gave the developer the green light to move forward with more than 2,200 housing units and 1.4 million square feet of commercial space on the 111-acre site just north of the Tesla Motors Inc. plant. The project will be among the largest master-planned developments in Silicon Valley and is the biggest thing going near any of the new BART stations as the system expands into Santa Clara County.
Officials called the development transformational and the lynchpin of a plan to turn the area into a mixed-use "innovation district," an 879-acre area designed to house a mix of businesses, homes and services.
The outcome is a remarkable change of destiny for what could have been a rail yard. Union Pacific snapped up the land after the shuttering of the old NUMMI plant a couple of years ago. City officials, however, eyed the site for development into a mixed-use jobs and housing hub, and developed a new land-use plan that promoted research and development, manufacturing, shops and housing in an urban context. Union Pacific ended up putting the site up for sale in 2013, and Lennar went into contract. (The Miami-based homebuilder has still not closed on the land.)

...
 
#32 ·
massive move of tech toward South Bay.
What on earth does that mean? What movement are you referring to? From a more northern perspective, we see new tech opening, enlarging its space, and thriving in our section of the Bay every day (and I can't think of an example that has left the area for the South Bay). Oakland specifically may have been a laggard but there's much argument that it's about to begin participating in a way it hasn't as San Francisco rental rates go through the roof and/or space becomes hard to get.

On the other hand, there's always been a desire on the part of a segment of the South Bay work force to live in cheaper areas which is why, for example, the ACE trains exist. Housing in the Warm Springs/Fremont/ even Hayward areas may be an intermediate option--not as cheap as the CV but certainly cheaper than Santa Clara/San Mateo.
 
#38 ·
Be it noted that San Francisco is unlikely ever to lead in office construction because of limited space, the fact that it's actually a rather small city at just over 800K people and, soon, because of Prop. M which intentionally limits office construction in an effort to let housing for the workforce "catch up". The ordinance allows the yearly quota of square footage to be "banked" and the recession years created quite a bank account indeed but it is now nearly exhausted.

As for the "geographic center of tech job creation" moving south, I just don't see it that way. From a San Francisco perspective, tech has come to dominate the city economy in a way it never did before, even during the late 1990s. All you have to do is read the local newspapers and see the intensity of the backlash against tech and "techies" (now being called "bros") to realize how culturally overwhelming has become the tech industry in the city . . . and this didn't used to be the case.

I don't know if there are more tech jobs being created in San Jose and its environs--very probably there are. But San Francisco never used to be a tech DOMINATED city and it is becoming one. This does not bespeak any sort of southern movement (which would mean away from SF) of tech, in the broader sense, in my view.
 
#40 ·
I would have thought that SF was dominated by hospitality, government and service jobs. But maybe my numbers are old.

Maybe you are referring to retail, lending or PR companies that use the internet for sales and advertising? Those are not tech by the usual measures but often find their way into the numbers.
 
#45 ·
Well, if you will recall before you got your kazoo and "SF Pride" hat on and turned this into a discussion about SF, there is an 879 acre development proposed in Fremont (south Alameda County). This is expected to have millions of sq. ft. of office, housing and amenities and shorten the lengthy commutes from eastern Alameda County to tech employment (both by moving office away from the congested PA/MV area and by providing housing closer to the Peninsula.

The development is also adjacent to a BART station, along the route that connects Oakland and SJ. This will make it convenient for Oakland and other North Bay Area residents to get to jobs in the South Bay, or for people within the South Bay to get to jobs more conveniently.
 
#58 · (Edited)
San Leandro Wrap Up:

http://sanleandronext.com/downtown-tech-campus-approved-by-city-council/

On Monday, April 7, 2014 the City Council unanimously approved plans for the Downtown Tech Campus, a transformational project for Downtown San Leandro and the entire city. The Tech Campus will be the first major office development under San Leandro’s Downtown Transit Oriented Development Strategy and the first technology oriented project in downtown. Westlake Development Partners’ multi-phased campus proposal will include three six-story office buildings totaling 340,000-500,000 square feet. Construction will start this year on the first 132,000 square foot building. OSIsoft is slated to be the primary tenant for Phase 1 – ensuring that this rapidly expanding, international software company remains headquartered in San Leandro for decades to come.

...
http://sanleandronext.com/what-to-watch-for-in-2016/

Jan 2016:
...

Major Development Projects Milestones
Marea Alta: Work continues on the Marea Alta Apartments. Phase I includes 115 affordable/workforce family housing units along with a childcare center and underground BART parking. Construction is scheduled to wrap up in May.

The first building at the San Leandro Tech Campus will be completed this summer and will open this fall. OSIsoft will be the primary tenant for Phase I. Work on the 850-space parking garage, which provides parking for up to 500,000 square foot of office space, is scheduled to begin in the Spring.


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https://www.bisnow.com/san-francisc...t-proposed-near-san-leandro-tech-campus-76599

July 17, 2017

A budding office development in San Leandro could become part of a larger mixed-use transit-oriented community. Westlake Urban, which is building the 775K SF San Leandro Tech Campus next to BART, proposed a seven-story building with 197 market-rate apartments and ground-floor commercial space, the East Bay Times reports. The developer would build these units on a 3.13-acre site at Parrot and Thornton streets close to its massive under-construction office campus. The project, designed by TCA Architects, includes 42 studios, 114 one-bedroom and 41 two-bedroom units inside the 220K SF building. Amenities would include a roof deck, bike storage, two courtyards, meeting areas and a pet spa.

...
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/07/14/197-apartments-proposed-near-san-leandro-bart-station/

July 14, 2017

SAN LEANDRO — The developer that transformed a long-vacant strip of land by the San Leandro BART station into a budding campus for Bay Area technology companies is now seeking to build apartments on the same site.

...

Under current plans, the 220,638-square-foot residential building includes 42 studio, 114 one-bedroom and 41 two-bedroom apartments for rent, along with an 821-square-foot leasing office, a 436-square-foot meeting area, 182-square-foot pet spa and 13,024 square feet of commercial space. The apartments would range in size from 500 to 1,337 square feet.

Other amenities include an 842-square-foot roof deck, a 1,173-square-foot storage space for up to 100 bikes, and two courtyards totaling 4,182 square feet.


...
 
#59 ·
Construction on Telegraph Avenue lot, vacant for 30 years, is step closer

https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/0...-a-step-closer-to-reality-on-telegraph-avenue

An empty lot at the corner of Haste and Telegraph Avenue, which has been a rat-infested eye-sore in the commercial district for almost three decades, is now a step closer to housing an eye-catching “Moorish-castle” building that could re-define the area.

Since the building is about three blocks from UC Berkeley, the expectation is that these “group living accommodations” will basically function as dorm rooms. Open space will consist of a large roof deck above the sixth floor, and the fourth and fifth floors will also provide access to outdoor terraces at the corner of Haste and Telegraph.

Image: Jarvis Architects

Very Cool! :)
 
#65 ·
City approves huge apartment project near San Leandro BART station

A site near the San Leandro BART station once used to store construction equipment will be transformed into an apartment complex with 687 units — one of the city’s largest.

The redevelopment site at 915 Antonio St. is just south of San Leandro Creek and about 1,000 feet from the San Leandro BART station.

One building will be six stories tall while the second will be five stories. A total of 892 parking spaces will be provided.

The buildings will have a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

Each apartment will have a full kitchen, plus a washer and dryer. About 30 percent of the units will include private balconies.

The project is expected to generate 2,010 jobs during construction and $2.9 million annually in tax revenue for the city, according to San Leandro officials.

Along with the San Leandro project, Maximus Real Estate Partners is behind a proposed 330-unit apartment complex at 1979 Mission St., San Francisco. Dubbed the “Monster in the Mission” by opponents, the project is near the 16th Street BART station and has been in the works more than six years.
Source: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/0...rtment-project-near-san-leandro-bart-station/
 
#66 ·
It was announced this month that Evans Hall on the campus of U of Cal at Berkeley will be demolished soon due to seismic concerns and the high cost of retrofitting the 10-story building. The building will not be replaced by a new one, and its site will reportedly be incorporated into the larger open space around Monumental Glade. Two new buildings on the campus housing the programs and faculty currently housed in Evans Hall will be developed in the mid-2020s: The Education Replacement Building and The Gateway.

Evans Hall is not a well-liked building, obstructing what should be a stunning view to the Golden Gate Bridge, and it doesn't match well with the other neoclassical buildings surrounding Memorial Glade.

Source: The Daily Californian.
 
#67 ·
This is largely b/s Almost all buildings on the Berkeley campus are of very questionable status seismically.

The main problem is that the university staff has developed a cult of hatred toward the building, motivated mostly by the fact that it is a newer science building and doesn't look like the rest of the campus (collegiate classical).

But, it will certainly be no great loss. The fact that nothing will be built to replace it (which will create better views) probably carries as much weight as anything in the decision to demolish.
 
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