2020 Design Alternatives Analysis

In response to feedback from the community, in 2020 the project team revised the 2018 development plan by eliminating the tower, reducing the number of homes (by 127 overall, i.e. 21%), expanding the size of the public park by over 20% to 1.85 acres and increasing the number of preserved trees. This revised plan is detailed below and referred to as “Alternative 1.”

In response to a request from the Planning Department, the team also studied options for preserving additional historic buildings, which would result in reducing the number of new homes. (These site plans are described below and referred to as “Alternatives 2-5.”)

A thorough financial analysis was undertaken on all five new Alternatives, including the pricing of detailed architectural plans, the assembling of rent and operating expense data, and the application of debt and equity underwriting parameters. In April and May 2020, the development team shared the comprehensive analyses of the Alternatives with the community and City through a series of virtual meetings (“Community Presentation”). 

The analyses, completed in April before the market impacts of COVID were understood, found that none of the five Alternatives were financially feasible at that time. However, the development team was hopeful that Alternatives 1, 2 or 3 might eventually become financially feasible if certain key drivers (construction costs, in particular) shift materially in the future. Alternatives 4 and 5 were so far from financial feasibility that the development team does not believe they merit pursuing. Since COVID, office rents in the Rockridge area have declined by approximately 10%, operating costs have increased, and construction costs have increased by nearly 25%. As a result, none of the preservation options are financially feasible in the foreseeable future.

 

Alternative 1 Overview

Please scroll through the images below for an overview of the original 2018 development proposal and Alternative 1, developed in 2020. For a full analysis of Alternatives 1-5, please review the Community Presentation and the accompanying documents on the Project Documents page.

The original development plan included a 19-story tower and Building D at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Coronado Avenue.
Alternative 1 eliminates the tower, eliminates Building D, and reduces the height of Building C by two floors.
Alternative 1 (Updated Concept) eliminates the tower, eliminates Building D, reduces the height of Building C by two floors, increases the size of the public park by over 20% to 1.85 acres, maintains more mature trees, preserves a larger portion of the wall along Broadway, and includes 10% on-site affordable housing.
Comparison of Clifton Street elevations – all Alternatives eliminate the tower, increase the width of the promenade and step the building heights down to Broadway.
Comparison of Broadway elevations – all Alternatives expand the public park to the corner of Broadway and Coronado Avenue and step the building height and massing back from Broadway.
Alternative 1 introduces active uses on the ground level throughout the project including townhouses fronting the public park and Clifton Street, retail and commercial space along Broadway, and residential entries and amenity spaces lining the promenade. Active uses will make for a vibrant pedestrian experience in the public park and along the promenade.
The Alternatives preserve 50% more mature trees, many in the southwest quadrant of the park.
The new, lower profile of the residential buildings presented in Alternatives 1-5 will be much less visible from adjacent streets, as illustrated in the diagrams above.
Comparison of Alternatives 1-3.

For a full analysis of Alternatives 1-5, please review the Community Presentation and the accompanying documents on the Project Documents page. Many aspects of Alternative 1 made it into the current Proposed Project in some form.