Berkeley’s “Little Secret”: New Housing Construction Downtown
An August post on Curbed SF highlighted the fact that the sassy San Francisco real-estate site rarely writes anything about Berkeley.
Why not? “Well people, ’cause Berkeley builds squat, that’s why,” was the curt explanation provided, thus making it clear that “only the new would do” for the San Francisco-centric editors.
Do an archive search for “Berkeley” on Curbed, and you will find dozens of results, however — but they all fall into two neat categories: eating and tree-hugging. Well. Nothing new there then.
But there is new residential construction slated for Berkeley, as I reported back in July. The Charles Hotel/conference complex, to be located downtown, on Center Street, will include about 50 residential units.
And now, as Curbed acknowledges, there is the advent of Arpeggio (pictured above), a mixed-use development to comprise 143 condos, as well as new rehearsal space for the Berkeley Repertory Theater. (Arpeggio: “the playing of the notes of a chord in quick succession instead of simultaneously” — don’t you love the names they choose for new-builds?).
Arpeggio will rise up nine stories, an anomaly in a city which to date has placed height restrictions on new developments, and will also be sited on Center Street.
A report in San Francisco Business Times suggests this is just the tip of the iceberg. Berkeley is apparently pushing for more mixed-used development near public transportation to encourage people to get out of their cars:
“The Arpeggio project will fit right in for the future vision of our downtown,” said Debra Sanderson, the city’s land use planning manager. “It’s sort of a little secret that (there’s) been all this housing construction in Berkeley. We’ve had more projects approved in the last five years than we had approved in the previous 50.”
It looks like Curbed SF may have to strain its neck to look eastwards more often in future — CurbedBerkeley anyone?
[Photo credit of Arpeggio: Curbed SF.]
Bruce Kaplan said:
Led by the dictatorial mayor of Berkeley, Tom Bates, the City is in the process of ruining the small city feel, and building inappropriate developments that are completely wrong for the Berkeley. Nine and 13 story buildings are going to change the whole feel of Berkeley, all of this so the University and its corporate partner BP can house grad students doing research for the oil industry.
Oh, by the way, the CIty is systematically removing parking to, so that patrons who use cars to get to Rep (as well as the Freight and Salvage music venue, which is renovating the Stadium Garage on Addison) will have no where to park.
Beware. Berkeley has its charms, but its government is completely dysfunctional! Vote Tom Bates out!
September 10, 2008 7:49 PM
Tracey Taylor said:
Bruce: You are obviously very knowledgeable about Berkeley (readers — if you click on Bruce’s name you will find yourself at “Berkeleyans for Better Transportation Options”) so I will bow to that superior understanding of what makes the city tick.
However I do not fully agree with you that higher rise buildings in downtown Berkeley (as opposed to other areas) are necessarily a bad thing. At the moment Downtown is lacking soul — even a pulse — and some (good-looking, well-designed) 9-story buildings with residents attached might just go some way to changing that.
September 10, 2008 8:18 PM
David said:
Heh. Bruce=typical Berkeley hippie. Cry about housing costs and then try to nix any increase in housing supply which would actually moderate the cost. Then throw in a gratuitous jab at the University, the ONLY thing that keeps Berkeley from being 1/2 El Cerrito and 1/2 North/West Oakland, with an even more gratuitous jab at the science & engineering grad students who are the ONLY students that keep the university awash in money. Sorry, buddy, it ain’t Berkeley’s department of ethnic studies that contributes to society.
September 11, 2008 10:11 AM
Ricardo Webster said:
I liked reading this post.
October 1, 2008 1:09 AM