Related, Nonprofit Win Approval for Affordable Block in Oakland

Related California and East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation have employed an Oakland overlay zone for affordable housing to win approval for a 192-unit complex in Jack London Square.

The Irvine-based builder and locally based nonprofit developer used S-13 zoning to approve the five-story affordable apartments around a central plaza at 430 Broadway, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The joint venture had sought permits last fall to build the three-building, block-size project on land owned by Alameda County, south of Interstate 880 between 5th Street, 4th Street, Broadway and Franklin Street. The two-phase project will replace former county probation offices.

It also may be first of its kind to use S-13 to streamline approvals and shorten development, according to the Business Times.

The S-13 zone allows 100 percent affordable housing projects to bypass environmental and discretionary review, while allowing an additional bonus height, if they meet certain objectives.

While it can help developers get projects approved a year sooner than state streamlining laws like Senate Bill 35 and Assembly Bill 2011, it’s three years faster than a traditional planning application.

The three buildings are part of a larger plan to remake Jack London Square with hundreds of affordable homes around a plaza containing a playground, public art and seating.

The developers plan to spend the next two years raising money to build the project, likely from Measure U Affordable Housing Infrastructure Bond funds, local funding and state financing in tax credits and bonds, according to the Business Times.

A cost and timeline for the development were not disclosed.

A later phase, also by Related and East Bay Asian Local Development, would add two affordable apartment buildings and a market-rate complex at 401 Broadway. A rendering suggests two seven- or eight-story buildings and a 20-story tower overlooking I-880.

Related California, founded in 1989, is a unit of New York-based Related Companies. The California subsidiary has developed 20,700 apartments, and owns and manages more than 13,000 affordable and workforce housing units across the Golden State, according to its website.

East Bay Asian Local Development, founded in 1975 by a group of Asian Pacific Islander college students and young professionals, owns and manages more than 35 residential and commercial developments, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew