Related California partners on Jack London Project

Related California has partnered with nonprofit developer East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation to build a three-building residential complex in the Jack London district in Oakland, according to documents filed with the city. Plans call for up to 300 units, all at affordable rates.

The project is at 430 Broadway. The buildings will total 214,300 square feet with 203,570 square feet for housing and 10,730 square feet for retail. One building will be six stories high and have 94 units, all of them at affordable rates. The project application hopes to use SB 35, the Affordable Housing Streamlined Approval Process legislation passed in 2017, to gain approvals.

The site of the planned development now has government buildings that would be demolished. Construction is expected to begin by 2024. The two developers announced plans for a project in the Jack London district a little over a year ago, and at the time plans called for 600 units.

“If you’ve been around downtown Oakland, you’ve seen the amazing high-rise development that’s happened in the last four years or so,” Ener Chui from EBALDC said at the time. “There was a period between 2018 and 2020 where the downtown area added close to 5,000 new apartments. During that three-year window, less than 4 percent of the total influx of new housing was below market rate.”

Related California is the “the largest mixed-income developer” in California according to their website. They have built nearly 20,000 housing units in the Golden State, and have over 11,000 units in pre-development throughout the state at the moment. Related has amassed a portfolio that exceeds $60 billion.

Related California has a number of large project both in and out of the Bay Area. Related Santa Clara is underway in Silicon Valley and is a 240-acre mixed-use development will bring more than nine million square feet of residential, commercial, and retail adjacent to Levi Stadium; home of the San Francisco 49ers. They are also planning a 42 acre redevelopment in Santa Ana to bring 4,000 homes, a hotel, and commercial space

The California division is under the umbrella of New York-based Related Companies, which is owned by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. They were the developer for the Hudson Yard project in New York, which at the time was the largest private real estate development in the nation. The project created 17 million square feet of commercial, residential and retail development over a total of 28 acres with 5,000 new residences and 100 new shops.

The Jack London District is located in downtown Oakland along Lake Merritt and is considered a retail hub and a popular tourist destination. The area had a long history of industrial and warehouse use, however shifted toward retail and residential development in the late 1990s.

Related and EBALDC aren’t the only developers looking to bring new multifamily buildings to the Jack London district. Locally-based developer Riaz Capital is proposing a six-story 205-unit apartment building at 220 Alice Street. They are also converting a hotel on 233 Broadway into a 102-unit residential building.

Elsewhere in the East Bay, Related is moving forward with a 380-unit residential project in San Ramon’s Bishop Ranch area. The project will cover an entire city block and have 15 percent of all units be affordable. EBALDC is also working on a 360-unit affordable housing project near Lake Merritt in Oakland.