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R2 Building pulls plug on 39-story apartment tower in Downtown Oakland
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R2 Builders eyes modular apartments near Oakland’s Jack London Square
Plans for 53-unit building come after firm scrapped a 425-unit tower Downtown
R2 Building wants to construct a 53-unit apartment complex near Oakland’s Jack London Square after calling it quits on a 425-unit tower in Downtown.
The Oakland-based modular building developer has filed plans for an eight-story complex at 100 2nd Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported. It would replace a vacant lot and a small storage building.
The application comes days after R2 pulled the plug on a 39-story tower at 2044 Franklin Street, after failing to obtain financing. The developer has listed the approved building site for an undisclosed price.
Preliminary plans for the apartments near Jack London Square call for 53 units. The developer will employ density bonus incentives for a larger building than local zoning rules allow in exchange for three affordable units set aside for very low-income households.
A “vehicular lift system” would enable parking for 22 cars.
It’s not clear whether R2 is in escrow to buy the property, which is owned by a trust controlled by Gary Vanier of Walnut Creek.
The modular builder, which succeeded the defunct RAD Urban, has had a rough go in developing larger projects.
Its listed building site at Franklin and 21st Street has had numerous plans and approvals going back to 2016. That’s when RAD Urban proposed a 40-story tower at 2044 Franklin Street, plus a 28-story highrise at 1433 Webster Street, both using modular construction.
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They were once slated to become Oakland’s first modular high-rise buildings, according to the Business Times. RAD sold the 1433 Webster site in 2019. Neither project got off the ground.
Many developers have built mid-rise modular developments, but high-rise modular construction in the U.S. is rare.
R2, as RAD Urban, began by developing low- and mid-rise modular projects. Its modest eight-story proposal for 2nd Street may mean it has gone back to Go.
“I have total confidence that this is the way forward,” Randy Miller, former head of RAD Urban and CEO of R2 Builders, told the New York Times regarding modular construction in 2021. “But it’s really hard to get it right.”
— Dana Bartholomew