Plans have been published for a potential new housing project on top of the Amoeba Music record store at 2455 Telegraph Avenue in Southside, Berkeley. The proposal would add seven floors of housing above the existing store, retaining the site’s nearly 50-year-old landmarked murals. Amoeba co-owners Dave Prinz and Marc Weinstein are jointly responsible for the development.
Rhoades Planning Group is serving as the planning consultant for the owners. Elisabeth Jewel of AJE Partners will be the project representative, with preservation led by Architectural Resources Group. ARG is expected to “help with the stabilization, preservation, and endowment of what we consider to be one of Berkeley’s most important extant and publicly accessible cultural resources,” according to the development team.
2455 Telegraph Avenue close-up of the preserved People’s Park mural and rainbow, rendering by Studio KDA
The property features the People’s Park Mural, designed by Osha Neumann and painted in 1976, memorializing the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s. Amoeba has been operating from the Telegraph Avenue location since the 1990s. In the press release, Amoeba owner Dave Prinz commented that, “this partnership is intended to benefit students, music lovers, art lovers, free speech advocates, and all who celebrate the uniqueness of Berkeley. We are pleased to be able to announce a proposal that will preserve Amoeba Music and the People’s Park Mural for future generations of students, tourists, and Berkeley residents.” The press release added that their plan will be “using funds from the development to create an endowment, the sole purpose of which will be preserving the Mural for generations to come.”
The eight-story structure is expected to rise 90 feet tall, containing approximately 70 student-oriented units. Several units are expected to be deed-restricted as affordable for very low-income households, earning around half of the area’s median income. The exact number of affordable units has yet to be determined.
Studio KDA is responsible for the design. The rendering provided by the developers shows the single-story structure’s facade will be retained, with a residential lobby added along Haste Street. The second floor will be setback and wrapped with a darker hue, with a slight cantilever creating a visual separation between the storefront and upper floors. The new construction will feature some art deco flair, including a scalloped extension overlooking Telegraph Avenue, and decorative panels stacked between windows, all to complement the structure’s verticality.
2455 Telegraph Avenue, image via Google Street View
Amoeba Music occupies a roughly 1.7-acre lot at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street, next door to the active construction of People’s Park by UC Berkeley. The estimated cost and timeline for construction have yet to be established.
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Replace everything above with that Art Deco-looking bump out, and you’ve got a timeless structure. Simplify the facade, keep it mostly one plane throughout, and this sucker is ready to sit for a century.
I don’t know why contemporary architecture has to overcomplicate design. The bump out above the rainbow is gorgeous. Use that same system everywhere. Less is more in this case.
Totally agree. Let’s have more innovative design like this that protects and preserves historic elements.