Friday, July 1, 2005
Builder offers huge Fruitvale condo plan
San Francisco Business Times - by Ryan Tate
Developer Pacific Thomas Capital is planning nearly 900 condominiums on an industrial tract near the Fruitvale BART station in what is believed to be East Oakland's most ambitious residential development to date.
The project would replace four blocks of low-slung self-storage buildings in Fruitvale, a fast-growing neighborhood trying to move from a hardscrabble past to a prosperous future. It would add to momentum from the BART station's mixed-use development, shepherded by community groups over the prior decade before opening recently to national critical acclaim.
The addition of hundreds of homeowners near International Boulevard, where office and retail space has become tough to come by, also promises to bolster property taxes in a city redevelopment zone.
Still, the development will have to navigate city and neighborhood sensitivities. It requires the conversion of industrial land to residential, a touchy topic in Oakland. It also brings the high-priced condominium market, and a potential flood of new residents, into what remains a relatively poor, predominately Latino part of Oakland.
"Even though it is an edge neighborhood, it is bursting with growth," said Jay Musante, an analyst with the city's redevelopment agency.
Known as Fruitvale Gateway, the project is still in the formative stages. The developer has held preliminary talks with city planners, who circulated a report to the Planning Commission. The exact design of the buildings, size of the units and pricing remains unknown, and Pacific Thomas declined to discuss the project pending an environmental study.
But the company has worked out a preliminary outline of the project for the city, which includes a cluster of five- and six-story buildings and a possible 11-story tower with retail on the ground floor, all squeezed between railroad tracks on one side and BART tracks and Interstate 880, both elevated, on the other side. One version of the project would hold 881 condos and the other, without the tower, 662 condos.
Each would also have 30,000 to 40,000 square foot of commercial space.
City planners pointed to several environmental problems to be overcome, including how to shield the new residents from freeway noise and environmental cleanup of the industrial sites. But staff has also noted that existing storage buildings employ just a handful of workers across four blocks, which could help defuse any controversy over conversion of industrial land.
The approval and construction process could be lengthy. Although the company has told the city it would like to start construction next year, it also plans a phased construction that could stretch for a decade. And since the company already owns the land in question, it is better positioned for a lengthy entitlement process.
The firm, which has offices in Walnut Creek, Honolulu and Los Angeles, must still submit an application to the city for the rezoning.
City planners have yet to see a project of this size in East Oakland.
"It's huge," said Margot Lederer Prado, an analyst in the planning department.
The transit village, by comparison, included just 47 apartments. Signature Properties opened 168 townhomes in East Oakland in 2002, followed by close to 200 condos along the harbor, south of Interstate 880. Pulte Homes is planning 450 condominiums at 98th Ave. and San Leandro.
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