2211 Harold Way is set to stand nearly 200 feet tall and include about 300 units. Image: MVEI Architecture and Planning Residents came out en masse Thursday night to testify before Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board about possible impacts related to a large mixed-use project planned downtown on Harold Way. The Residences at Berkeley Plaza, at Harold and Kittredge Street, would […]
Downtown initiative 2014
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: No on Measure R isn’t nearly enough
I am thrilled that we voted 3 to 1 to defeat Measure R, and that the building of new housing in downtown Berkeley will continue. Let’s build on this momentum, and get serious about addressing the massive housing shortage in our community that is hitting working families hard. Downtown is great, but we have to […]
Posted inHousing & Development
New hotel project is a go again after defeat of Measure R
With the defeat of Measure R, the plan for a downtown Berkeley hotel at Shattuck and Center is back on track. Image: JRDV Urban International Now that Measure R, the initiative that aimed to impose stricter standards on tall buildings, has been defeated, the project to build a hotel downtown is back on track. Developer […]
Posted inBusiness, City, Community, Housing & Development
Berkeley temporarily blocks sale of main Post Office
Downtown Berkeley’s post office is the subject of restraining order. Photo: Darius Wekwerth Downtown Berkeley’s post office is the subject of restraining order. Photo: Darius Wekwerth The city of Berkeley has gotten a temporary restraining order blocking the sale of the city’s main post office on Allston Way. U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled […]
Posted inBusiness, City, Housing & Development
Exclusive: Local developer Hudson McDonald in contract to buy downtown Berkeley Post Office
A Berkeley developer plans to turn the city’s main Post Office into a retail operation while retaining postal services. Photo: Darius Wekwerth A Berkeley developer plans to turn the city’s main Post Office into a retail operation while retaining postal services. Photo: Darius Wekwerth After weeks of silence, Berkeley developer Hudson McDonald has acknowledged that it […]
Posted inCity
A record $3.6 million spent in Berkeley campaigns
During Sunday Streets, the Yes on Measure R and the No on Measure R campaigns crossed paths. The race over the future of Berkeley’s downtown has drawn record donations from developers. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel During Sunday Streets, the Yes on Measure R and the No on Measure R campaigns crossed paths. The race over the […]
Posted inHousing & Development
High-rise developer in Berkeley to use 100% union labor
2211 Harold Way is set to be a union shop, but the project will not proceed if Measure R passes, a project rep says. Image: MVEI Architecture 2211 Harold Way is set to be a union shop, but the project will not proceed if Measure R passes, a project rep says. Image: MVEI Architecture The developer behind […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Democracy, transparency and Measure R
Last March after Berkeley’s Downtown Area Plan received a prestigious national American Planning Association award, I wrote the following for the “Cal Planner” newsletter: “In the end, support was overwhelming as eight of nine Council members adopted a new Downtown Area Plan … but what a long, strange trip it has been. The 2012 ‘DAP’ […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Measure R delivers on the green promise for downtown
The Green Downtown Initiative is the latest chapter in the land use battle between big developers and the rest of us. In 2010, Berkeley voters approved a different Measure R, which asked voters to adopt a “Green Vision” for the downtown, ostensibly to meet the City’s climate action goals. The measure promised voters that in […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley city attorney: Main post office may have sold
The main Post Office on Allston Way. Photo by Darius Wekwerth The Berkeley city attorney has informed the City Council he believes someone has purchased the downtown U.S. post office at 2000 Allston Way, and that it is time for Berkeley to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service to stop the sale. A letter to that […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Measure R will kill emerging downtown renaissance
Berkeley has an international reputation as a free-thinking, expressive, welcoming and experimental city. The current battle over the city’s downtown and November’s Measure R contradicts this image of ourselves, and in the worst possible way. While promoted as a “soak-the-evil-developers” proposal, in reality Measure R is a thinly disguised attempt to freeze Berkeley in the […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley ballot snafu, more money in for 2014 election
Alameda County officials are mailing out postcards to alert voters that the date of the election printed on many mail-in ballots is wrong. It reads Nov. 5, 2014, when it should read Nov. 4, 2014. Photo: KQED The Alameda County Registrar of Voters has sent out 27,000 postcards to Berkeley voters informing them that the […]
