Rendering, dated October 2013, of the planned UC Berkeley Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation building, as it will look from Ridge Road in Berkeley. Image. Berkeley Engineering UPDATE, APRIL 23, 2014: Several trees were cut down early today, Wednesday April 23, on the site of the proposed new building. Reports suggest crews were working on […]
Daniella Thompson
Posted inHousing & Development, Schools, Video
Video: ‘Temporary’ 1945 UC Berkeley housing demolished
Bulldozers have been at work for the past few weeks bringing down the UC Berkeley Smyth-Fernwald housing complex built at the top of Dwight Way as “temporary” housing for married students after World War II. Tom Miller shot the video above, and said that, given that the university has no current plans for the newly […]
Posted inCity
Julia Morgan: Architect to Town and Gown
The pool at the Berkeley City Club, designed by architect Julia Morgan. Photo: Daniella Thompson, 2012 By Daniella Thompson At UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, women currently make up 57% of the undergraduates studying for an architecture major, and about half of the architecture graduate students. In the spring of 1894, when Julia Morgan (1872-1957) […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Fire
House fire on Berkeley’s Benvenue Avenue, no injuries
The home that caught fire around midnight on Tuesday night is on Benvenue Avenue in the Elmwood neighborhood. Photo: David Trachtenberg A home caught fire on Benvenue Avenue just north of Ashby in the early hours of Wednesday. Eyewitnesses say the house in question was 2924 Benvenue and report seeing a significant blaze. A neighbor who […]
Posted inHousing & Development
Two Berkeley brown shingles for sale. Price: $1 each
The two homes that are for sale are on the site of the proposed Acheson Commons project in downtown Berkeley. Photo: Tracey Taylor Two brown-shingle homes located in the heart of downtown Berkeley have been put up for sale. The asking price? Just $1.00 apiece. The houses are on the site of the proposed Acheson […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley settles contentious library lawsuit
The city of Berkeley has reached an agreement with Concerned Library Users over a lawsuit the group filed to stop the demolition and rebuilding of the South and West branches of the Berkeley Public Library. In a closed session on Tuesday evening, the city council voted to settle the lawsuit by creating a $100,000 fund […]
Posted inCity
Rally planned to draw attention to library lawsuit
Benjamin Bartlett has helped BHS students organize against CLU lawsuit Dozens of church leaders, community activists, students, and library supporters plan to stage a rally outside city hall on Tuesday to call attention to a lawsuit they believe could stop construction of new libraries in the southern and western parts of Berkeley. The group, which […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley buildings honored for preservation efforts
The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) has once again honored those who have invested time, money and effort into renovating homes or buildings with historical preservation in mind. This year’s Preservation Awards highlight thirteen Berkeley properties — eleven homes, one commercial building and one institutional project — all of which, in the words of BAHA […]
Posted inHousing & Development
Mitch Kapor’s Berkeley home: The debate continues
This last few days, Berkeleyside’s inbox has been filling up with copies of letters from north Berkeley neighbors — addressed to council members and/or the city mayor — opposed to the construction of a new home at 2707 Rose St., the application for which, made by Mitch Kapor, has been approved by Berkeley’s planning board, […]
Posted inHousing & Development
Neighbors v. neighbors in Mitch Kapor home case
One group of neighbors is pitted against another in an ongoing discussion about a proposal by software mogul Mitch Kapor to build a new home at 2707 Rose Street. The plan has been rubber-stamped by the city. But an appeal looms on April 27. On March 15 we published a letter from a group of […]
Posted inHousing & Development, Schools
Bid goodbye to this house
A City of Berkeley Landmark building belonging the university is scheduled to be demolished on Monday. The Cheney House (above), which was built in 1885, is located at 2241 College Avenue within the campus boundaries. According to Archeological Research Facility News, the building is notable for both its distinctive Eastlake Stick Style architecture and historical associations: It […]
Posted inCity
Modern moves afoot on Rose Street
Rose Street residents in north Berkeley will be interested to hear the outcome of a zoning hearing taking place on Thursday this week which will determine whether a home in their vicinity will get the OK to be demolished and replaced with a considerably larger one. Lotus founder, philanthropist and angel investor Mitchell Kapor is […]
