San Francisco Schtuff

By Farrah:

For several years, thanks in large part to the efforts of former Oakland mayor Jerry Brown, once decaying blocks of Jack London square, downtown and uptown Oakland have been abuzz with the construction of mid-rise condo developments. Last summer, the City of Oakland’s Planning Commission began considering and holding public meetings to discuss a proposal to build Emerald Views, a One Rincon Hill-style, 42-story glass residential tower that would be the tallest condo developments and the tallest building in the Bay Area outside of San Francisco.

Although Emerald Views stands to be a significant change to Oakland’s skyline and the surrounding communities, more significant than the building itself right now are the scandals surrounding it.

On the main stage of the Emerald Views scandal arena is a battle to save a historic park. The proposed site for Emerald Views is a 32,000-square foot garden that is the last remnant left from condo development of the estate of August Schilling, a spice magnate who lived there in the 1890s. Although the garden is closed to the public, those who oppose destroying the garden such as John Klein, say that it had the potential to be reclaimed as a public park. Some supporters of the development like Eric from the Transbay Blog say that this “secret garden” is closed to the public and that it is better to use the land for some purpose than not to use it at all. The developer, I’m sure leaving out driveways and definitely leaving out the fact that the construction would dig up the entire park, says that the tower would be very slender with a footprint of only 12,200 square feet so some of the park would be preserved. Turns out that the City of Oakland made a major error that gave supporters of the project a huge advantage, it recently admitted that it missed an opportunity to accept an offer by the most recent owner to take possession of the garden. A city official stated that they didn’t realize at the time that it would be a high rise, wait – what?

In a side show, cute kids, all from an East Oakland boxing gym, were apparently bussed in to speak at the planning commission meetings on behalf of the development. How are these kids connected to a downtown Oakland high-rise? Folks are whispering that the developer might have stuck a deal with the gym owners to rebuild it if the condos are approved.

Also in the mix, of course, are the preservationists, pro-development folks, affordable housing activists, and people who just hope the building will bring a Starbucks to their hood.

A Wasted Opportunity [East Bay Express]
Friends in High Places [East Bay Express]
Fight Over The Secret Garden [Transbay Blog]
emerald_views photo [Flickr via user leporello87]