Three more Oakland highrises planned

Scurry to set plans before Mayor Brown leaves town

San Francisco Business Times – March 3, 2006 by Ryan Tate

Heeding Mayor Jerry Brown’s call to exploit the final months of his pro-development tenure, developers have filed preliminary applications for three more Oakland highrise projects — two of them taller than any residential building now standing in the city.

The tide of applications signals that developers believe the city’s highrise housing boom has legs. While there are now at least 15 such projects in the development pipeline, only one is under construction, and there has been uncertainty over whether the others will ever get built. Construction costs have spiraled up sharply over the past two years and there are plenty of signs the residential real estate market is cooling nationally.

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The tallest proposed new downtown condominium tower would rise 372 feet at 250 12th St., at the edge of Chinatown. The building would hold 205 condominiums on 30 floors, according to preliminary plans submitted to the city. An architectural “wing” inflates the height of the building; the top roofline is at 319 feet. The developers are Golden Harvest Co. out of San Leandro and architect Yui Hay Lee.

Another tower, rising 19 stories, would also sit at the edge of Chinatown. Developer KH Associates is planning 356 residential units and a hefty 36,000 square feet of retail at what is now a surface parking lot at 226 13th St.

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Former San Francisco Planning Director Gerald Green is helping a development team that wants to put a 318 foot, 32-story condominium tower near the heart of the Lake Merritt district and just a few blocks from Forest City’s Uptown residential development. On 19th Street near Harrison Street, the development needs an environmental impact report because the existing building is an historic structure, according to city planning staff.

A few blocks up Broadway, near the Oakland Auto Center car dealership site, developer Ted Dang expects to soon enter into a contract with a national homebuilder for several hundred units of housing on what is now a parking lot. Dang had put the lot under contract to Olson Co., but said recently he does not expect that deal to close.

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200 Second Street – Jack London Square

428 Alice on Sale Today!

93 Units – scheduled completion date is summer 2006.

Marketed as condos, but really “condlofts” with unfinished exposed concrete higher ceilings (8-9 feet) and bedrooms on the same floor as opposed to a loft bedroom, 1Br’s start in the mid 400’s. 2BR’s are in the $600k’s, 3BR’s in the mid 700’s.

Each unit has a parking space and 3BR’s have 2 spots.

Kitchens have GE Profile Stainless Appliances + Granite countertops

Fitness center on 3rd floor is approx 800 sf. No Doorman, 2 elevators, TV Video Access to front door. $15k deposit and then go to contract…

Howard S Wright – Construction Company for 428 Alice

Great site tracking the progress of 428 Alice and another site with great pictures of the construction and neighborhood “Fourth Street Lofts Weblog“.

200 Second Street – Jack London Square

A new mid-rise luxury residential condominium is located in Oakland’s dynamic Jack London Square district and preselling in early 2006. The building will feature 74 condos and live/work lofts in 4 different and unique floor plans. There will be about 30 studios or Jr 1BR’s with sleeping alcoves, 1 BR’s with dens, 2 BR’s with dens and five large 3 BR’s. There will be a corner retail space, four work+live units, and a landscaped entry courtyard as well.

Designed by the award winning David Baker and Partners (Clocktower Lofts, 18th and Arkansas, and Emeryville Warehouse Lofts), this building is sure to add to the already growing portfolio of amazing and modern developments in Jack London Square including Pulte’s 426 Alice Street, The Sierra Building, Brick House Lofts, Portico Lofts, and Signature Properties’ 300 Harrison St.

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Fourth Street Lofts Blog

http://fourthstreetlofts.com/blog/

An interesting and oft-updated blog of the developments on and around 4th street – an up-and-coming street in the Jack London Square / Oakland Warehouse District. Great pictures of neighboring projects such as 428 Alice by Pulte Homes.

Oakland 10K

10K Housing Initiative

A major initiative launched by Mayor Jerry Brown when he took office in 1999, the 10K Downtown Housing Initiative is realizing its goal of attracting 10,000 new residents to downtown Oakland by encouraging the development of 6,000 market-rate housing units. A near perfect climate, California’s best mass transit system, a central Bay Area location and a growing downtown workforce all contribute to make downtown Oakland a great place to live.

As of November 2005, the 10K Downtown Housing Initiative has resulted in the start and completion of 61 residential projects with 7,053 units. Seventeen projects (1,663 units) have been completed, fourteen projects (1,479 units) are in construction, twenty projects (2,570 units) have received planning approvals, and ten projects (1,341 units) are in the planning process. The Initiative has literally altered Oakland’s skyline with the construction of The Essex on Lake Merritt, the first high-rise residential construction in downtown Oakland in 20 years. To date, the number of units necessary to house 10,000 new residents has been surpassed.

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Jack London – Pulte’s 428 Alice

Pulte is making a big splash in the Jack London Square/Oakland Warehouse district with 93 luxury condos…

“428 Alice is a mid-rise condominium building with an expected completion date of late summer/fall 2006. Pulte Homes offers approximately 93 one, two, and three bedroom units ranging from 800+ to 1,666 square feet. In addition to a quality home built by Pulte Homes, 428 Alice is in a premier location. Jack London Square is known for its culture, dining, shops, entertainment, and access to employment in the Bay Area’s most well known cities.”

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http://markchoey.files.wordpress.com/2005/12/artist%20rendering%20428.jpg
artist rendering 428.jpg

  

Jack London Square – 288 Third St

In the Oakland Warehouse District near Jack London Square, Signature Properties’ 288 Third St is nearing completion and will go on sale in a month. This is one of three new loft buildings going up within blocks of each other and nearby the acclaimed 200+ unit Sierra Condos.

http://www.sigprop.com/nbds/288third/

1,2, and 3 BR’s starting from the high 400’s.

Developers are bullish on residential towers

12 are in planning or under construction

San Francisco Business Times – November 18, 2005 by Ryan Tate

Housing developers have a barely controlled mania for building skyscrapers in Oakland, despite showing no interest in such projects as recently as last year.

At least a dozen highrise condominium and apartment projects are in the works, and they have spread far from Lake Merritt, where the towers have traditionally clustered. They are now poised to pop up all along Broadway, starting in the Auto Row area well north of downtown, then dotting the street and its flanks along 30 blocks, through the city center, to Broadway’s southern terminus. At the Jack London Square waterfront, a proposed highrise is set to rise 20 stories or more.

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