Extra

 

I have concerns regarding the proposed developments at 2801 Adeline, 2821 Shattuck, and 2900 Shattuck. NX Ventures have taken advantage of the federal Opportunity Zones program and, with Arris Studio Architects, will change the purpose of the buildings and probably the character of the neighborhood. 

Arris invited the neighborhood to a meeting held Monday evening at 6:00 pm at Gio’s Pizza & Bocce, 2420 Shattuck. Due to prior commitments, I could not attend, so here are my concerns: 

To address-specific concerns 

 

• 2801 Adeline (Walgreen’s site to be converted to a 7-story mixed-use building with a 215-room hotel, 84 market-rate residential units, 32,000 square feet of retail space over underground parking)
•  
  • Berkeley needs 1/3 - 1/2 of the residential units for low- and middle-income residents.
  • What about rent control?
  • What about provisions for disabled and/or retired residents?
  • The underground parking must be sufficient for hotel guests and residents and retail customers.

• 2821 Shattuck (Buggy Bank site to be converted to 50story mixed-use building with 67 market-rate residential units over +/- 8,500 square feet of retail space)
•  
  • Berkeley needs 1/3 - 1/2 of the residential units to be for low- and middle-income residents.
  • What about rent control?
  • What about provisions for disabled and/or retired residents?
  • Need underground parking sufficient for residents and retail customers.

• 2900 Shattuck (True Value site to be converted into a 6-story mixed-use building with 90 residential units at least half (45) of which will be “affordable”; units above 7,500 square feet of retail space with surface parking)
•  
  • This site needs underground parking sufficient for residents and retail customers. [Note that if underground parking is not possible — perhaps because of BART — then I submit that the intended development does not fit the location!]
  • What about rent control?
  • What about provisions for disabled and/or retired residents?

Area-specific concerns: Are there plans for neighborhood necessities? (Note the word necessities. These are not merely niceties.) 

• Has the developer made plans for green space — trees, grass, etc.? These are environmental, psychological, and civic necessities.

• Has the developer made plans for working with Berkeley government entities for the management of increased vehicular traffic on Shattuck, Adeline, and the east-west neighborhood streets? This is a necessity for pedestrians, bicyclists, and scooter users.

• Has the developer worked with the city, country, and EBMUD to deal with increased needs for water and sewage?

• All 3 addresses need sufficient underground parking because surface parking is already scarce. Many neighboring residents don’t have driveways and surface parking is often used by customers of existing retail establishments.

By the way, I did a cursory search about “opportunity zones”. Since this is part of a Federal program, I’m not sure whether citizens’ concerns will be taken into consideration by NX Ventures and Arris Studio Architects, the businesses involved. And I’m not sure that the powers-that-be in Berkeley — the Council, ZAB, and so on — have any influence. Still, I write t in hopes that readers attended the January 27th meeting to hear both the NX Ventures and Arris ideas and, more important — the residents’ concerns! Then, please publicize them.