|
West Oakland Development:
First Community Meeting Called
December 2, 2015
Dear Reader:
The community of West Oakland has for decades been neglected and subjected to noise and air pollution by the vast amount of transportation infrastructure that transcends though the community to serve transbay travelers. The BART tracks and station are no exception. At least partly due to this noise and air pollution, much of the 7th Street corridor in West Oakland is a picture perfect definition of underutilized land-use potential. The corridor has access to quality transportation, including an equivalent volume of hourly BART trains as Downtown San Francisco, but is opposite of Downtown San Francisco when it comes to land-use, as the area is surrounded by many vacant lots.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
The good news is that work is underway to transform the West Oakland Community - with public participation! Last year, the City of Oakland adopted the West Oakland Specific Plan (WOSP). Shortly thereafter, on December 4, 2014, the BART Board of Directors authorized BART’s General Manager to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement (ENA) with a development team to begin development at the BART Station. In addition to the parking lot surrounding the West Oakland BART Station being planned for development, a local developer in West Oakland either already owns or has first rights to several empty lots near the BART station that are planned for development.
|
|
|
Background on BART Station Development Agreement
When the BART Board of Directors voted on awarding the ENA at its December 4, 2014 meeting, the Board of Directors was presented with a split recommendation from the selection committee between two bidding parties. The recommended team was a team led by a Chinese firm, China Harbour Engineering Company, Ltd. A great deal of concern was expressed regarding this recommendation – in particular, concern about whether the China Harbour team would listen and be responsive to a community-based development process.
It was originally recommended that a two-year ENA be entered into with the selected project team. However, in light of the legitimate concerns expressed by West Oakland residents, I made sure to include in the motion that I authored a limit to the ENA for one year with the eligibility of an extension that would be dependent on the China Habour team demonstrating to the BART Board of Directors that sufficient public outreach took place.
The first meeting for this project development, the details for which follow, is the first step in the team meeting these conditions.
|
|
|
You're Invited: West Oakland Station Development Project Meeting
The China Harbour team has scheduled a first public meeting on the West Oakland BART Station development project. Details are below…
Date: Saturday, December 12
Time: 1:30PM to 3:30PM
Location: West Oakland Senior Center (1724 Adeline Street, Oakland, CA)
More information, including an agenda of the meeting, can be accessed via the project’s website (click on the "Community Event Page" link on the left). You can also follow the project on Facebook.
I look forward to seeing you there! And please do spread the word to others in the area that you think may have interest.
|
|
|
|
|
