Earlier this month, the City of Oakland announced its award of more than $35 million from state climate action programs to be invested in the development of new affordable housing and transportation infrastructure. The funds are focused on a new project being developed by the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation at 285 12th Street in Oakland’s city center.
The site has been under approval for new development since 2016, but saw little progress until the most recent plans were updated in 2024. City staff and developers are hopeful that the injection of new funding will help move the project forward.
285 12th Street pedestrian view, rendering by David Baker Architects
Under the current design, the building will yield around 77,500 square feet of floor area, including 49,050 square feet for housing, 5,300 square feet for parking, and 3,440 square feet for retail. The residential portions of the building will total 65 units, with unit types varying from 15 studios, 16 one-bedrooms, 17 two-bedrooms, and 17 three-bedrooms. The development’s studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units will be restricted to households earning between 30-60% of Area Median Income, and 13 units will be reserved for people exiting homelessness.
David Baker Architects is responsible for the most recent building designs. The plans show an 84-foot-tall podium structure with a two-story concrete base capped with five floors of wood framing. The building’s massing will be carved into three volumes. Facade materials include white fiber cement panels, wood siding, and vertical board-formed concrete.
285 12th Street facade design narrative, rendering by David Baker Architects
The property is located at the corner of 12th Street and Harrison Street, in Oakland’s Downtown and Chinatown neighborhoods. The area has great access to businesses, parks, and transportation within walking distance of the site. Furthermore, a portion of the awarded funds will be used to improve transportation infrastructure in the surrounding area, further benefiting residents. The garage will provide 15 vehicle stalls and 70 bicycle storage spaces to diversify transportation options.
An exact timeline for the project is still not clear, but the newly awarded money has garnered significant excitement from both politicians and community members.
285 12th Street, image via Google Street View
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Perfect location, so glad this lot will be filled. Just wish it was many times higher.
That site is the biggest egret and night-heron rookery in the whole city.
Long overdue for developing this surface vacant lot.
I hope they keep the existing mature street trees. Can anyone confirm?
Great question. I’m not here to be the Lorax, but these particular trees occupy a unique ecological niche and nobody has been able to get those birds to nest somewhere else. I always assumed that when this parcel gets built out it would have to be set back to spare the trees.
Totally fkd up. Knock it off. Oakland is ALREADY stuffed to the gills with these hideous development projects which do not do anything at all that is actually *affordable*…so no…go to places like Concord, Livermore, Pleasanton, etc etc etc….where there is actually room for this cr*p. We are done with having Oakland pimped out to the highest bidder.
Sure, let’s keep vacant parking lots so people who live in their cars have a “home.” Building in the ‘burbs just leads to more traffic, more cars, more pollution.
Really, because every time I go to Oakland I see tons of blighted property right along major transit lines. Or take a look at the 120 acre parcel by the Coliseum, right on a BART stop with a spur directly to the airport. You could build a community of 30,000 people where there’s now an empty stadium and huge parking lots.