Preliminary plans have been revealed for a potential mixed-use skyscraper at 5727 College Avenue across from the Rockridge BART Station in Oakland. The 31-story proposal looks to replace a Trader Joe’s grocery store and associated surface parking with a high-rise senior living facility. Align Real Estate is the project applicant, working with the property owner, Albertsons.
5727 College Avenue corner view, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
The applicant is invoking Assembly Bill 130 CEQA exemption, Senate Bill 35, SB 330, and the State Density Bonus Law to streamline the approval process and increase residential capacity. The proposal utilizes the height waiver to propose two towers rising from the shared podium. The tallest portion would rise 352 feet above College Avenue, while the shorter section would rise 294 feet above Miles Avenue. The whole complex might create 415 dwelling units with three different unit types. This includes 371 independent living apartments, 18 assisted living units, and 26 memory care units.
David Balducci, co-founder of Align Real Estate, said in a press release about the project, “This project is about helping seniors stay in the neighborhoods they call home… By placing senior housing near transit, services, and shops, we’re giving older adults the opportunity to age in place with dignity and independence, while also freeing up family homes for the next generation. In turn, this will reduce pressure on families and the healthcare system while strengthening the long-term vitality of the Rockridge corridor.”
The complex is expected to yield around 782,050 square feet, including 703,700 square feet of housing, 78,340 square feet of parking, and 5,950 square feet for ground-level retail. Plans call for around 75,980 square feet of amenities spread across the podium and towers. The fourth floor would become the community hub, including the main dining room, fitness center, library, swimming pool, and an expansive podium-top terrace.
5727 College Avenue view of the green terracotta framing over the sidewalk, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
5727 College Avenue seen from Oak Grove Avenue, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Solomon Cordwell Buenz is responsible for the design. The proposal features two glassy towers with irregular floor plates rising from a podium. The curved high-rise apartments reflecting the sky will contrast with the podium, which will be covered in more visually heavy materials like glazed green terracotta, natural wood, and stone panels.
The ground floor will feature a diversity of street-facing uses to improve the pedestrian experience. Overlooking College Avenue will be the main entrance for residents, a cafe, and a corner cafe. Miles Avenue will feature a landscaped pathway connecting to a secondary lobby and a community auditorium. Five units will include patios and private stoops along Oak Grove Avenue. Vehicular access to the podium garage will be provided along both Miles Avenue and Oak Grove Avenue.
5727 College Avenue evening view from across Miles Avenue, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
5727 College Avenue podium detail view, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
This is now the sixth proposal to replace a grocery store as part of a potentially transformative collaboration between Align Real Estate and Albertsons, the parent company of Safeway. However, this is the first project not to include a Safeway, and the only one that wouldn’t replace an active grocery store. Albertsons is the property owner at 5727 College Avenue, but does not operate the Trader Joe’s.
5727 College Avenue vertical cross-section, illustration by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
5727 College Avenue, image via Google Street View outlined approximately by YIMBY
The 1.5-acre site is just a few blocks away from a Safeway at the corner of College Avenue and Claremont Avenue. Demolition of the existing commercial structure would be required, though a timeline has not been provided.
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A little surprised the ground level isn’t proposed to be used as a new grocery store.
Wow, I can’t believe no one ever thought of that!
“As of this week, no closing date for the grocer has been provided, though a person with insight into the project’s development timeline said Trader Joe’s would likely remain open for several years, unless the grocer decides to shutter sooner. Because a nonprofit will be operating the planned retirement community, maintaining a commercial lease with Trader Joe’s would create “complexities,” the individual said.”
Lighten up, Francis.
Good. 31 storys.
This is the right mindset.
Great project. The loss of the TJs is unfortunate however and I’m hopeful that the design might be modified or that TJs could find a new home on the block.
Build it. Right next to transit. Surface parking lots have no business being next to transit. The Trader Joe’s can find another home and housing for an aging population is desperately needed. Please don’t let the NIMBYs downsize this or scuttle it because the site is currently a grocery store.
Plenty of vacant CVS and Walgreens shells to take over these days, at bargain deals.
Unfortunately, RR residents would oppose this even if they kept TJ’s and the buildings were smaller. They are already up in arms about a midrise senior living complex planned for Claremont Ave, and they have delayed the CCA Campus redevelopment by many years. This is already hundreds of homes for thousands of people. Rockridge has other smaller food markets and safeway, and not far from whole foods and another safeway. The residents could build their own TJ’s privately if they diverted a few years of PTA funding and private school donations, honestly.
Hopefully, the housing reforms will streamline reactionary local input out of the process. Time’s up – we’re building density near BART now. The rest of the flatlands are done with wealthy districts’ moral posturing and blatantly opposing any solution to our housing crisis. It’s time they do their part and not expect us to shoulder all the displacement and dysfunction.
Who cares what they think. The housing crisis needs to be solved, every transit station should be surrounded by buildings like this!!!!!
We love this for Oakland. Wish they could find a way to retain the ground floor grocery store though.
Haha, @MK, remember when the Rockridge residents were bothered by an 8-story proposal from Ellis Partners?
Bet they come back with something smaller and everyone will breathe easy. This is nice to see. Oakland deserves some nice developments like this. Good for Align and good for the long-term health of the neighborhood and City.
I could totally see a similiar situation to the outer sunset where a massive building is proposed and they slowly downscale it. But RR residents will oppose no matter what plan is proposed. TJ’s is just one understandable excuse in a neighborhood where residents have had no shortage of selfish and racist excuses ever since it was heavily segregated (and funcitonally still is, especially economically).
But I really hope they do build this one, 31 stories would be excellent. I know my aging father would consider moving there for walkability and BART access if it happened.
This “trial balloon” proposal will extract the bulk of criticism from residents and others. Then it will ultimately get whittled down to a 5 over 3, wood and concrete 8-story development that the NIMBY’s will applaud and the developers will feel “safe” investing in. Another lost opportunity.
Yawn…so much potential very little realization.
*that the NIMBY’s will complain about how ugly it is without acknowledging they were the reason the larger, nicer looking option was not developed.
Senior housing is one thing, but assisted living and memory care in a high rise on that site? I envision an evacuation nightmareduring an emergency. What are they thinking? Oh wait, they’re not! Also, disappointed as another poster mentioned, no grocery store on the ground level. Poorly thought out plan IMHO.
Since when is 31 stories a “skyscraper”? Surprised by the editors choice of language here. Seems alarmist.
There should not be surface parking lots close to BART, period, as others have said. Terrible use of land. I’m loving this initiative by Align Real Estate + Albertsons.
The gap between SF and Oakland is widening. Oakland needs to make a power move. It will never happen, but if I’m Oakland, I’m putting a ten year moratorium on all permit fees and fast-tracking development to try and generate some growth. Fill in the parking lots, generate some energy downtown, and attract some companies. Oakland can’t just become a bedroom community for SF.
Love your suggestions but we elected an eighty year old mayor who seems to be MIA. Oakland hasn’t had anyone with a vision since Jerry Brown. How I miss Jerry.
Sadly I agree. Drove through DTO yesterday and it is truly depressing. Aside from the overabundance of graffiti and vacant buildings it is lacking energy. If OSA campus wasn’t in Uptown, the city would be a ghost town. And we’re about to re-elect that 80+ year old MIA mayor. What a shame! A beautiful city with unique potential that never lives up to it.
I still can’t believe they didn’t find a way to make A’s stadium at JLS happen. Oakland needed that…badly, for so many reasons. It would have given JLS a huge boost obviously, but that would have extended into Old Oakland and downtown. It’s a city pride thing, too.
What are you talking about, the current mayor has had quite a few major accomplishments since getting elected. And I see news articles and social media posts of her at evens almost daily. Construction and building permits have been streamlined and she has stepped up trash removal. Most of the major issues facing oakland are imapcted by larger state and national trends that the mayor of a medium sized city has limited ability to fix, plus Oakland mayors don’t have much power under the city charter anyway.
Let’s see…hmm, she’s “accomplished” losing the best Police Chief we’ve had in years, securing ZERO major new economic development projects, and losing ground on issues like homelessness, graffitti and illegal dumping. However, I would agree she is very good at showing up at events and social media posts. Sigh, when will Oakland elect a Lurie, or Mahan; a mayor who is energetic, development-oriented and laser-focused on attracting major employers to our city.
To author: I don’t think the 5,950 is ground-floor retail. If you look at the SB 330 worksheet, it outright says zero square feet of retail proposed. I think you may be looking at the planset with “restaurant” and “library/cafe” and taking those for retail when they’re actually resident-only amenities.
Why is that that everyone thinks that only the wealthy are NIMBYs? The Bay Area is beginning to look like Hong Kong – and it is not pretty with all of the highrises and air pollution. I am what I consider “comfortable” but am vehemently opposing a three story low income housing project in my rural area of the San Joaquin Valley. It just does not fit in. Put your highrises in SF next to the myriad of public transportation available. This project will destroy Rockridge, a quaint and lovely place.
Doesn’t really matter, wealthy or not, you’re still carrying water for the wealthy
Apparently there’s NIMBYS everywhere in California, even in the Central Valley.
Have you been to Hong Kong? What a weird comparison. We are nowhere near there. They have satellite “viillages” with residential buildings taller than most of SF downtown.
It looks nothing like Hong Kong and is a fraction of the density. Be serious.
Oakland’s tallest building is 400 feet, and it also has plenty of public transportation. And SF is not even close to being the only city in the Bay Area that needs more highrises because of how expensive its housing is
I’m getting out my pitchfork to oppose this because closing this store will make my neighborhood Trader Joe’s even more crowded!!
But seriously: love the density but eliminating an affordable grocery store right next to BART is a step backward for a very walkable neighborhood. I wonder if the “complexities” retaining a grocery store would create have to do with the fact that it might displace some of the 3 levels of garage parking it looks like they’re proposing.
I love it and this is a great business move. Align is smart in knowing there is a market for the aging Rockridge/Oakland Hills population. One that wants to stay in their neighborhood but doesn’t need a 3000 SF single family home. Not to mention the fact that this facility is likely to be very expensive to operate and those costs will inherently result in high rents, something only wealthy seniors in this area could afford.
Bummed to see a trader joes get removed just like most people, but its silly to say there isn’t another affordable grocery store nearby, there is a massive safeway a few blocks away. And Berkely Bowl, another huge Safeway, and 2 Whole foods are biking distance/ a long walk away. Plus two Bart stops away there is yet another Whole foods! For peopel hwo drive (most people in this neighborhood) there is another Trader Joes 5 minutes away as well as a Luckys grocery store less than 10 mintues away. This part of the East by might be the most grocery store rich part of any city in the country! It is not a tragedy to lose this one.
Also for the TJ lovers out there, Trader Joes has the highest average income for its customers of any grocery chain in the country, it certainly affordable but its not frequently a place that low income shoppers visit. So the framing that this will hit low income residents doesn’t really land.
I lived right next to Rockridge for many years and it’s one of the most hyper nimby places in the bay area. They were up in arms about that little condo tower suggestion for the end of college ave, near the wendy’s, replacing the empty art college. There was a proposal to put condos there but they wouldn’t even allow that.
Rockridge was gradually downzoning over decades. First they outlawed 4 story buildings, then 3 story buildings. By 1990 only 2 story buildings were allowed.
This thing in the middle of Rockridge will be vehemently opposed by everyone there. They don’t want it. Rockridge is absolutley perfect right now in their opinion.
anyone notice in the top rendering that half of Market Hall and the south half of the bart parking lot has been photoshopped out?
anyway, mediocre effort by a mediocre architect. do better.