Construction work has begun on a new, 43,000-square-foot, mixed-use building at 2441 Haste St. and Telegraph Avenue, the site of the former Sequoia Apartments that burned down in a catastrophic fire in November 2011. The new structure will include 42 apartments on four stories, and see the return of two popular Berkeley restaurants: Raleigh’s Bar & Grill […]
2441 Haste Street
Posted inBusiness, City, Community
Telegraph Ave. scrubbed, cleaned in beautification effort
The deployment of neon-clad “ambassadors” to paint over graffiti, power-wash streets, and sweep sidewalks along Telegraph Avenue is the latest in a series of attempts to revitalize a business district which has seen better days. The “Big Splash” effort by Kentucky-based firm Block by Block began March 14, kicking off a year-long, $240,000 ambassador pilot […]
Posted inHousing & Development
‘Explosive’ downtown Berkeley housing boom under way
More than 1,400 units are in the works for downtown. Image: Downtown Berkeley Association More than 1,400 housing units are currently in development in downtown Berkeley, with demolition on one of the first in the pipeline scheduled to begin this week. There are eight projects, including a hotel, planned in the downtown core, with two […]
Posted inBusiness, Fires, Housing & Development
New building proposed for Sequoia site on Telegraph Ave.
The owners of the property at 2441 Haste St. at Telegraph, scene of a devastating fire in Nov. 2011 that destroyed the five-story Sequoia Apartments, have submitted a proposal to the city of Berkeley to build a new 42-unit, 43,000 sq ft apartment building. The project would also include retail spaces intended for two restaurants that […]
Posted inBusiness, Fires
Popular restaurants closed by fires face further delays
It looks like a number of Berkeley restaurants won’t be recovering as quickly as hoped from a recent set of fires. The Daily Californian is reporting that the proposal to erect temporary tents to replace Café Intermezzo and Raleigh’s Bar & Grill, which were destroyed Nov. 18 when the Sequoia Building burned down, hasn’t gone […]
Posted inFires
Telegraph site owner plans for temporary resurrection
The owners of the old Sequoia Building site on the corner of Telegraph and Haste last week submitted plans to the city of Berkeley to enable them to reopen Raleigh’s and Café Intermezzo, two restaurant businesses that were gutted by the fire that destroyed the 1916 building on November 18th, 2011. If approved, the plans […]
Posted inBusiness, Crime & Safety, Fires
As Sequoia rubble removed, plans made for new structure
Two businesses on the site of the demolished Sequoia Building at Haste and Telegraph may re-open, and plans are under way to build a new structure on the site. City officials are hosting a meeting today to discuss the future of the site with its owners, who are known to have retained an architect for […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Fires
Telegraph named a disaster zone to help the fire-affected
Telegraph Avenue has been declared a disaster zone in order to provide federal aid to businesses, homeowners and tenants affected by the November 18th fire at The Sequoia Building. The declaration, which was signed today at state level, is seen as a welcome move by Al Geyer, head of the Telegraph Avenue Merchants Association, who says several businesses […]
Posted inFires
Sequoia fire aftermath: Cause, rights, future
The elevator system in the Sequoia Building at 2441 Haste Street where a fire broke out on the night of November 18th, ultimately destroying the 39-unit building, had not been inspected in over a year and its permit had expired, according to an article in the Berkeley Voice. Fire investigators determined last week that the […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Fires
Demolition of Sequoia Building halted after wall collapse
The demolition of the Sequoia Building at 2441 Haste Street was temporarily halted after part of an exterior wall on Haste Street accidentally collapsed on Wednesday, causing a violation of the demolition permit. The result is that the building will now be taken down to a lower height than originally planned. Kenneth Ent, the owner of the […]
Posted inFires
A Berkeley building is turned into a heap of rubble, debris
By Wednesday evening, the Sequoia Building at 2441 Haste Street was effectively no more, or at the very least no more than a gigantic heap of debris and rubble. A demolition crew, who started tearing the fire-ravaged structure down on Tuesday morning, had succeeded in taking the building down to two stories in many areas. […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Fires
Sequoia fire accidental, started in elevator machinery
Investigators for the Berkeley Fire Department say the five-alarm fire that broke out on November 18th at 2441 Haste Street originated in and around the elevator machinery in the basement of the five-story building, and that the fire was accidental in nature. The BFD issued a statement Wednesday afternoon to say the onsite investigation phase of […]