Meeting Scheduled Today For SMU Building At 525 12th Street, Downtown Oakland

Campus expansion is on track for Samuel Merritt University at 525 12th Street in Downtown Oakland. The project proposal includes the development of a ten-story building to serve as the new mail campus for SMU. The proposal also includes a tree removal application to remove ten protected trees.

Strada Investment Group is the project applicant. North Carolina-based Perkins + Will is responsible for the design concepts. Oakland-based firm Einwiller Kuehl is the landscape architect.

525 12th Street frontal view from across 12th Street, rendering by Perkins&Will

The project site is a vacant 0.86-acre lot in the city center. The new campus building will span an area of 237,629 square feet. The new building will feature spaces for classrooms, specialty laboratories, workspaces, and collaboration rooms. Onsite amenities include a terrace, campus store, study rooms, a counseling center, and a tenth-floor terrace. The top two levels will consist of a library and maker space. Administration rooms will be connected for various needs for SMU, including the College of Nursing Department of Technology, the president’s office, and a board room on the top level.

525 12th Street aerial view from above 11th Street, rendering by Perkins&Will

The building facade is designed in glass system, accented with wood composite panels, cast-in-place concrete, and metal panels.

Oakland Planning Commission has scheduled a meeting today. The estimated construction timeline has not been announced yet.

Lobby entrance from 11th Street into 525 12th Street, rendering by Perkins&Will

The campus site is located between the 1111 Broadway office building’s public open plaza and the residential building at 1150 Clay Street. The 12th Street BART Station and BRT line is two blocks away on Broadway.

525 12th Street Plaza, rendering by Einwiller Kuehl

Samuel Merritt University is an Oakland-based private university founded in 1909 and currently has 1,600 enrolled students. It is presently headquartered at 3100 Telegraph Avenue, with other footprints in Fresno, Sacramento, and San Mateo.

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