Equitable Development Watch is an effort to provide concise information regarding recent and upcoming events related to economic development in Oakland. Items in this update include:

HOUSING NEWS:
Uptown Project Enters Environment Study Phase
Numerous Affordable Housing Projects Receive NOFA Funds
Inclusionary Zoning Discussion Pushed Back to May
City Sues to Recover Oak Knoll Affordable Housing Funds

REDEVELOPMENT NEWS:
Equitable Development SubCommittee Formed in CCE
Central City East PAC Expected to Meet Summer Deadline
West Oakland PAC Addressing Eminent Domain and Outreach
Broadway/ MacArthur/ San Pablo PAC Seeks to Continue
Last Second Efforts Save Coliseum Intercity Rail Station
Unclaimed Redevelopment Funds Survive State Budget Crisis- For Now

OTHER NEWS:
Major Revisions Proposed for Local Employment and Enterprise Programs
MetroPort Environmental Report Approved
High-Tech Incubator Program May Expand to Coliseum Area
Changes Within CEDA: Bobb Takes Over Operation
Special Local Workforce Development Meeting – March 28

HOUSING NEWS

UPTOWN PROJECT ENTERS ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY PHASE

In December, the City Council approved preliminary plans for the Uptown Project and now an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is underway. Community meetings to seek public input on what should be included in the EIR were held in West Oakland in early March and at the Oakland City Planning Commission on March 19. At the Planning Commission meeting it was determined that AB 436 would apply to the project. AB 436 permits focused EIRs in four target areas of downtown Oakland where housing is encouraged. Applying AB 436 allows the EIR to omit alternatives, cumulative impacts or growth inducing impacts of the project, all normally required parts of EIRs. The Uptown Project, to be developed by Uptown Partners, LLC (Forest City Residential West) calls for approximately 1,500 to 1,700 residential units, 40,000 to 50,000 square feet of commercial, retail and service uses, a 25,000 square foot park, and 1,700 to 2,000 parking spaces primarily in parking structures. According to city documents from December, twenty percent of rental units would be affordable to households earning 50 percent or less of the area median household income (AMI). Another five percent would be affordable to households earning 120 percent or less of AMI. Total project cost would be $201.7 million (not including a high-rise tower to be developed later). Estimates of City and Redevelopment Agency subsidies have sparked some controversy with values ranging from $25.1 million to $62.5 million. A variety of funding options have been considered including sale of Preservation Park and bonds based on city-owned garage income. Consultants have been hired by the city to help with relocation of local residents as the project moves forward.

NUMEROUS AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS RECEIVE NOFA FUNDS

On February 25, the City Council approved approximately $11 million in funding for seven affordable housing projects. The seven projects are expected to create 238 new and replacement housing units for households earning less than 80% of median income and preserve an additional 20 units for low-income seniors. Projects approved included Bancroft Senior Homes, La Case de las Flores, Coliseum Gardens, Native American Health Center, Oak Street Terrace, Mandela Gateway and Palm Court. An eighth project at Eastmont Court is still under review. These projects were selected out of 17 respondents to an earlier Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) which aggregates a number of funding sources.

INCLUSIONARY ZONING DISCUSSION PLANNED FOR MAY

The Community and Economic Development committee is expected to review a report on inclusionary zoning at its May 6 meeting. The adoption of inclusionary zoning was first proposed by the Affordable Housing Task Force in 2000, with a contract approved for a study in September 2001. That contract was never executed. In December 2002, a formal study was again delayed, but city staff were instructed to look at existing data from the Bay Area League of California Cities, the Bay Area Council and report back in March 2003. The report and discussion have now been moved to May. Inclusionary zoning is a tool supported by many affordable housing advocates in which a minimum amount of affordable units are required when new developments are built. Specific details of inclusionary requirements vary, but a typical program may require 10% of units be affordable in any development over 10 total units.

CITY SUES TO RECOVER OAK KNOLL AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUNDS

In February, the Oakland Tribune reported that the city had sued the Navy and other federal agencies to recover $2 million it had paid the Alameda County Homeless Collaborative in the late 1990s to give up claims to the former Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. Closed since 1996, the city had originally expected to receive the 183-acre site. Federal base reuse law requires reasonable accommodations for the homeless either on base or elsewhere. When local groups objected to homeless housing at Oak Knoll, the city paid the Homeless Collaborative to provide services at the former Alameda Naval Air Station. Plans led by an Oakland church for developing Oak Knoll fell through last year.

REDEVELOPMENT NEWS

EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE FORMED IN CCE

The Central City East Project Area Committee (CCE-PAC) formed an Equitable Development Subcommittee earlier this year, the only PAC in Oakland to have such an equity-focused subcommittee. In meetings with city officials and other organizations, the subcommittee has drafted equitable development strategies which it will present to the full PAC this month. Ideas under consideration include criteria for approving projects, general principals and commitment to a one-year process to further develop equitable guidelines in relation to specific projects.

CENTRAL CITY EAST PAC EXPECTED TO MEET SUMMER DEADLINE

The Central City East Project Area Committee has been busy as it tries to meet the proposed timetable of plan adoption by July. Community outreach meetings have been conducted in each of the four project subareas, an implementation plan is under discussion and the PAC is meeting twice this month. The next meeting on Monday, March 24, is expected to include discussion of equitable development strategies with presentations from the Equitable Development subcommittee and Angela Blackwell from PolicyLink. The Central City East PAC meets in the Patten College Activity Room (2442 Coolidge Ave), typically starting at 7PM. Contact Theresa Navarro at the Community and Economic Development Agency, (510) 238-6250, for agenda and other public information.

WEST OAKLAND PAC ADDRESSING EMINENT DOMAIN AND OUTREACH

The West Oakland Project Area Committee(WOPAC) continues to work to define the use of eminent domain. A special subcommittee dedicated to the topic meets tonight, March 24, at 6:30 PM at the West Oakland Library. A Townhall meeting is planned for Saturday, March 29 at the Prescott School from 11AM to 2PM. The next full PAC meeting is Wednesday, April 19, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the West Oakland Senior Center – 1724 Adeline St. For further information, please contact David Ralston at the Community and Economic Development Agency, (510) 238-2970.

BROADWAY/ MACARTHUR/ SAN PABLO PAC SEEKS TO CONTINUE

The Broadway/MacArthur/San Pablo redevelopment area was adopted in July 2000, the first redevelopment area in Oakland to have an official Project Area Committee (PAC). Once a plan is adopted, PACs provide local input into the first three years of implementation. In January, PAC members requested an additional extension for three years. According to CEDA staff, State Law allows for extension by one-year increments. A resolution asking for a one-year extension is currently being planned. At its March meeting, the PAC addressed recent developments, its redevelopment area budget, housing guidelines and programs, as well as efforts to improve community input. The PAC now meets the first Thursday every other month at Beebe Memorial Church (Multi Purpose Room), 3900 Telegraph, from 6:30 to 8:30. Contact Kathy Kleinbaum at the Community and Economic Development Agency, (510) 637-0247, for more information.

LAST SECOND EFFORTS SAVE COLISEUM INTERCITY RAIL STATION

On February 18, the City Council authorized the City Manager to award a construction contract of no more than $3,650,000 for the Coliseum Intercity Rail Station. Failure to award a construction contract by February 28 would have resulted in the loss of over $4 million in grants from the State of California Transportation Commission. Delays, which included track redesigns and requirements for storm water filtration systems, threatened the late February deadline and led to a $1.47 million budget gap in the project, whose expected costs had risen from $5.13 million to $6.61 million. On March 11, the City Council approved additional expenditures of Redevelopment funds to make up the budget gap. The Intecity Rail Project will create a platform linking the Coliseum BART station with the Amtrak Capitol Corridor, providing the only direct link between the two in the city. Bids for the project opened on February 10, resulting in an expedited review process within the City Manager's office and ultimate selection of Zcon Builders.

UNCLAIMED REDEVELOPMENT FUNDS SURVIVE STATE BUDGET CRISIS – FOR NOW

As 2002 was ending, Governor Davis proposed mid-year budget corrections which would have called for redevelopment affordable housing funds still uncommitted as of December 1, 2002, to be returned to the state. This could have resulted in returning approximately $500 million statewide. In early February, city documents suggested this could result in a loss of as much as $22 million for Oakland (including some of the NOFA funds mentioned above). Later in the month, the State Legislature rejected the proposal. The idea, however, could become part of the fiscal year 2003-2004 budget. In mid-March, the Sacramento Bee reported that Assembly committee members were still opposed to the idea as well as an LAO proposal that would see the redevelopment funds returned to the state and then replaced with money from the $2.1 billion housing bond passed in November last year.

OTHER NEWS

MAJOR REVISIONS PROPOSED FOR LOCAL EMPLOYMENT AND ENTERPRISE PROGRAMS

On March 25, Oakland's Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee is expected to discuss significant changes to the Local and Small Local Business Enterprise Program (S/LBE) and the Local Employment Program (LEP), both major programs for providing opportunities for Oakland residents and businesses. According to staff analysis, the recommendations will simplify procedures and generate greater economic activity and opportunity. Some of these recommendations include: redefining categories- at times increasing the maximum size allowed for small businesses (SLBE), eliminating size and Oakland headquarters requirements for local businesses (LBE); allowing non-profits to be certified; using more self-certification; recalculating discounts and preference points to provide incentives- for example, by adding 1% discount per 10% of subcontracting done at a local level (rather than a base 50% requirement); using the city website to enable subcontractor bidding; allowing credits for non-City projects; two-year suspension of requirements for affordable housing and traffic signal installation; and a variety of other measures. The CED Committee meets Tuesday at 10:30 in City Hall Hearing Room One. Draft recommendations have been compiled by the Contract Compliance and Employment Services Division of the City Manager's Offices.

METROPORT ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT APPROVED

On February 18, the Port certified the Environmental Impact Report and approved issuance of a development permit for the MetroPort project. In 2000, the Port agreed to the sale of approximately 23 acres on the corner of I-880 and Hegenberger to Simeon Commercial Properties to develop the Metroport, a 1.3 million square foot office complex with a top-class 300 room hotel. The project is to be on the planned BART-Airport link and an important catalyst to new economic activity in the region. In November 2002, Simeon asked to scale back and be given more time for construction of office space while still planning to build the hotel. The Purchase and Sale Agreement between the Port and Simeon anticipates close of escrow on the sale of this property from the Port to Simeon on April 18, 2003.

HIGH-TECH INCUBATOR PROGRAM MAY EXPAND TO COLISEUM AREA

On February 18, the City Council authorizes the set aside of up to $1,610,000 in Coliseum Redevelopment funds to act as a matching grant for the non-profit ACET (Advancing California's Emerging Technologies) Corporation, conditioned upon successful negotiations, location in the Coliseum area and City Council approval. The local funds are needed to match $6,440,000 from the US Department of Commerce to help ACET develop a 40,000 square foot, high-technology business incubator featuring wet-lab, office and manufacturing space. ACET currently occupies 6,900 square feet that house 11 start-up companies at the former Alameda Naval Air Station. The ACET program is credited with creating over 450 new professional/technical jobs and 450 support jobs in the past 4 years. According to city estimates, the proposed project could result in 6,000 jobs and $750 million in income, grants and investment over five years.

CHANGES WITHIN CEDA: BOBB TAKES OVER OPERATION

In January, City Manager Robert Bobb announced that 110 city jobs would be cut as part of the City's effort to meet budget shortfalls. Bill Claggett, director of the Community and Economic Development Agency, was included in the list, effective February 28. The Oakland Tribune reported that city officials were not satisfied with the pace of development within Oakland. Robert Bobb has taken over as head of CEDA.

SPECIAL LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT MEETING – MARCH 28

The City Port Liaison Committee is hosting a Forum on Construction Industry Workforce Development on Friday, March 28. To be held in City Hall Hearing Room 1at 9:00AM, the forum will focus on issues related to “ensuring… maximum utilization of local workers” in airport expansion and other local projects. The Forum will include two panels, one led by administration officials and another by community-based organizations. Of special importance will be discussion of project labor agreements (PLAs), sometimes controversial arrangements that attempt to meet equity goals and guarantee labor stability. The Port is very interesting in expanding PLAs for upcoming projects that are expected to cost over $1 billion dollars. For more information, please contact Daniel Markels at the Port's Government Affairs department for more information at 627-1430, or dmarkels@portoakland.com.

Editor: Jeff Abramson
Urban Strategies Council
672 Thirteenth Street
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 893-2404 * Fax (510) 893-6657

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