Media
September 2018

Former crime-ridden West Oakland liquor store to become community center

From KRON4 News
OAKLAND (KRON) – A former liquor store, once the hub for drugs and crime, will soon be a destination for young people learning how to make it in the music business. It is part of a major neighborhood makeover. San Pablo Avenue between 34th and 35th streets is ground zero for SPARC, the San Pablo Area Revitalization Collaborative in West Oakland. The Oakland landmark California Hotel is SPARC’s revitalization centerpiece. “The California hotel was built and opened in 1930,” Associate Director of Neighborhood Collaborations at East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation Romi Hall... View article
Media
September 2018

BART to build 519 new homes at Lake Merritt

From Curbed
Last week, the BART Board of Directors voted to advance a plan to develop hundreds of new homes near the Lake Merritt BART station, a proposal that’s been in the works for years and continues the agency’s foray into transit-adjacent housing on potentially choice plots of land it owns throughout the Bay Area. Technically, the motion at the board’s September 13 meeting (which passed unanimously) only authorizes negotiations with potential developers, a process that could take up to two years. A press statement from BART provides some additional details:... View article
Media
September 2018

BART trading parking for housing, offices at Oakland’s Lake Merritt Station

From San Francisco Chronicle
With nary a word of opposition, BART has green-lighted a high-rise housing, office and retail development at its Lake Merritt Station that will probably completely transform the area around Oakland’s Laney College. “I’m on cloud nine,” BART Board President Robert Raburn said after the board voted 8-0 to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corp. and Strada Investment Group. The goal is a transit-oriented development that includes a plaza and a pair of apartment and office high-rises — one 27 stories and the other 21 stories.... View article
Media
September 2018

BART Board Approves Stronger Surveillance Oversight, Lake Merritt Housing

From CBS SF Bay Area
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – BART’s Board of Directors approved a new ordinance governing oversight of surveillance technology as well as a new transit-oriented residential and commercial real estate development near the Lake Merritt Station during a busy meeting Thursday morning in Oakland. The new surveillance rules, which were proposed as a policy, but passed through a unanimous vote as an ordinance, will require annual reports on the use of each specific surveillance technology the district uses.... View article
Media
September 2018

BART seeks to construct massive new mixed-use complex at Lake Merritt station

From Hoodline
BART is seeking to build a massive new housing, office and retail complex around its Lake Merritt station in Oakland. This week, the transit agency’s Board of Directors approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with two developers to construct four new buildings on BART-owned lots above the station. As proposed, the buildings would include 519 units of housing — 44 percent of them designated as affordable — and 517,000 square feet of office and retail space. 20 percent of the office and retail space would be offered at below-market-rate prices for “community-serving organizations and... View article
Media
September 2018

Bart Board Approves Surveillance Ordinance, Development At Lake Merritt

From SF Gate
OAKLAND (BCN) BART’s Board of Directors approved a new ordinance governing oversight of surveillance technology as well as a new transit-oriented residential and commercial real estate development near the Lake Merritt Station during a busy meeting this morning in Oakland. The new surveillance rules, which were proposed as a policy, but passed through a unanimous vote as an ordinance, will require annual reports on the use of each specific surveillance technology the district uses.... View article
Media
August 2018

EBALDC’s Summer 2018 Newsletter: Impact Report, Prosperity Place Hero, Casa Arabella & More!

From EBALDC
EBALDC’s Impact Report is here! Fun Facts EBALDC is one of the largest nonprofit providers of commercial real estate in Northern California. See our current vacancies. The Social Determinants of Health guide every facet of our work in the form of our Healthy Neighborhoods Approach. Learn more here. An Anonymous Donor of the San Francisco Foundation donated $1M to our Housing Acquisition Fund (HAF). Learn about HAF’s impact and more. Now Leasing! The Historic California Hotel Cafe/Eatery & Event Space A new music, arts and cultural campus, anchored by the Historic California Hotel, is under development, on the San Pablo Corridor. This campus will... View article
Media
July 2018

Toward Zero Parking: Challenging Conventional Wisdom for Multifamily

From Urban Land Magazine
The rising popularity of human-powered transportation, walking and bicycling, and widespread availability of ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber plus car-sharing services like Zipcar and Getaround, and the introduction of same-day delivery services have all reduced the need for individuals to own—and park—cars. At the same time, costs of construction are at historic highs in dense urban areas, creating a challenge for developers to meet housing demand. Individual unit sizes are shrinking in response, allowing greater density. However, with smaller units, the number of parking spaces goes up, too, if traditional... View article
Media
May 2018

CIT Provides $107M to JV for Oakland Mixed-Use Project

From Commercial Observer
CIT Group provided a $107 million construction loan to a joint venture between a Brookfield Property Partners-sponsored private real estate fund and The Martin Group to fund the development of a planned mixed-use residential project in downtown Oakland, Calif., the bank announced yesterday. The senior secured construction loan funds Station on 12th, a planned, seven-story mixed-use and residential project at 301 12th Street that features 333 market-rate apartment units and 23,570 square feet of ground-level retail space. Additional financing details were not disclosed.... View article
Media
May 2018

After 40 years without a full-scale grocery store, neighborhoods in West Oakland will welcome Community Foods Market

From Berkeleyside
For more than 40 years, the McClymonds, Hoover-Foster and Clawson neighborhoods in West Oakland haven’t had a full-service supermarket. That’s about to change. Community Foods Market, formerly known as People’s Community Market, broke ground on April 16, at 3105 San Pablo Ave. (at 32nd Street). The project was spearheaded by Brahm Ahmadi, who co-founded People’s Grocery in 2002, a community food project that hoped to create a brick-and-mortar grocery store in the underserved community. West Oakland is a food desert, with residents spending around 70% of their grocery dollars annually — an estimated... View article
Media
April 2018

Community Foods Market finally breaks ground in West Oakland

From San Francisco Chronicle
Construction on West Oakland’s long-anticipated People’s Community Market is finally underway, following years of starts and stops. Just as notable, there’s a new name: Community Foods Market. Brahm Ahmadi has been working to bring the project to fruition for well over a decade. In 2016, working with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, Ahmadi was able to close escrow on the West Oakland property, located at Myrtle Street and San Pablo Avenue. Last weekend, the groundbreaking finally happened. Now, Ahmadi says things should move swiftly — the plan is to open in... View article