New renderings have been released as developers filed preliminary applications for an affordable senior housing development at 2125 Telegraph Avenue, located in the northern portion of Downtown Oakland. The eight-story building will rise beside the 1910-built former home to Oakland’s YMCA. Mercy Housing is responsible for the development.
2125 Telegraph Avenue vertical elevation, illustration by Gensler
The building will produce 93 residential units. All will be sold at a price affordable for households earning 30-50% of the Area Median Income (AMI), a category for people with very low incomes. The 85-foot building will yield 51,340 square feet. 39,150 square feet is designated for residential use and 810 square feet of ground-level offices.
2125 Telegraph Avenue corner facade closeup, rendering by Gensler
Gensler is responsible for the design. The new building’s red brick and white stone-colored composite fiber cement facade is a contemporary reimagination to its next-door neighbor. Across the white-painted massing, black-painted aluminum fins frame both the window and the white stucco portion to create a subtle cornice. The ground level, in contrast, is wrapped with a curtainwall system.
2125 Telegraph Avenue floorplan, rendering by Gensler
The building will offer a community room at the ground level, a courtyard, conference room, wellness office, mailroom, and a landscaped rooftop terrace. PGAdesign is responsible for landscape architecture. The project will prominently feature trees around the sidewalk and rooftop, including vine maples, African sumac, Tupelo trees, red maple, and skylark olive.
2125 Telegraph Avenue evening perspective, rendering by Gensler
The address is two blocks from the 19th Street Oakland BART Station, ten minutes from Lake Merritt or Frank H. Ogawa Plaza by foot. The development process has been streamlined thanks to Senate Bill 35, drafted by State Senator Scott Wiener and passed in 2017. The building is also nearby the topped-out Moxy Hotel development at 2225 Telegraph and 2100 Telegraph Avenue, where developers are debating two development proposals, each over a million-square-foot.
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This project is needed and I’m glad to see another downtown parking lot bite it. Yet, Gensler disappoints again! They need to stay in their interiors lane.