The Planning Board and the public will have a chance to review and comment on three key elements of Site A at the board’s Monday, Feb. 22 meeting: Block 8, Block 11 and the parks.

Block 8 Plans
Block 8, which contains 128 apartments for low-income families and seniors, would stand on the north side of Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway (today’s West Atlantic Avenue). The senior building’s main entrance to senior housing would be immediately across the street from the A-7B Corsair II jet at today’s East Gate. 

Eden Housing, Inc. — a nonprofit that builds and maintains housing to meet the needs of lower-income families, seniors and persons with disabilities — will build and maintain the structures on Block 8. Eden is proposing to build a senior community building and a family community building. The senior building would contain 59 one- and two-bedroom units, while the family building would include 69 apartments including one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

Both buildings will stand four stories tall with three residential floors over a podium parking structure.  The architects have designed the building in a U-Shape with three stories of residential units surrounding an open courtyard above the parking structure.

“This design affords each building a safe and private open space environment oriented to maximize sunlight and protect each courtyard from prevailing winds,” the staff report states.  A 56-foot pedestrian park — approximately 11,800 square feet in size would run between the two buildings. The senior building includes an additional 6,100-square-foot courtyard on the second floor, while the family housing building would have an approximately 8,100-square-foot courtyard also on the second floor.

A bus stop is planned within 150 feet of the senior community’s main entrance and will provide access to Oakland’s 12th Street BART station, and other AC Transit lines that serve the East Bay and San Francisco. Transit passes will be provided free-of-charge to all residents. 

A variety of on-site amenities including indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, fitness centers, computer laboratories, a 1,000-square -foot community room for the senior building residents, as well as a 1,350-square-foot community room for those residing in the family building. 

Block 11 Plans
Block 11 fronts onto Waterfront Park and Seaplane Lagoon. The designers state that Block 11 would “provide a transition between the urban fabric of Alameda Point and the natural environment of the Seaplane Lagoon and San Francisco Bay.”   The block also fronts onto Alameda Point’s Historic District. The architects trust that the proposed design would offer “an architectural transition between the Historic District and the non-historic portions of Alameda Point.”

The architects designed the street in front of Block 11 “to serve as an extension of the adjacent Waterfront Park and provide a strong pedestrian-oriented, bicycle friendly, street between the building and the park.” 

They designed Block 11 so that it shares “architectural elements, materials and colors that reflect and respect, without replicating, the Art Moderne architectural style of the most important contributing buildings in the Historic District.  

If built as approved, Block 11 would include such amenities as 4,500 square feet of community and recreational facilities, a large landscape podium above the retail parking levels with a lap pool and a roof-top garden with views to the bay and San Francisco.

The structure would also have secure storage for some 240 bicycles, with contiguous space for bicycle maintenance and repair, 226 on-site parking spaces plus 10 tandem spaces for resident parking as well as 60 parking spaces available for retail uses. Block 11 also includes 221 of the 800 new residential units approved for Site A. 

In its report, city staff state that they “would like to ensure that the Planning Board and public carefully examine and comment on the current design for Block 11.”  

Point Parks Plan
The Planning Board and the public will also have the opportunity to review the 13-acre public park plan for Alameda Point. These 13 acres comprise the Waterfront, Urban and Neighborhood park districts.  According to the staff report:

• The Waterfront Park District emphasizes spaces for passive recreation and access to the water and would include waterfront promenades, water viewing areas, seating areas and gathering spaces.  
• The Urban Park District emphasizes public spaces adjacent to and within an urban commercial fabric and would include outdoor cafés, restaurants, seating areas and similar public spaces in and around retail areas.
• The Neighborhood Park District emphasizes active recreational uses adjacent to primarily residential areas, such as children’s play areas and “tot lots,” basketball courts, and other neighborhood and community serving open space and recreational facilities.    

The architects designed the 2.63-acre Waterfront Park with an overlook, a promenade, terraces and a taxiway. The overlook includes a pavilion for a café with outdoor seating and restrooms, as well as an elevated area above the promenade at the water’s edge. The promenade and terraces consist of spaces leading down to the water’s edge with a variety of places for enjoying and experiencing the waterfront. The taxiway pays homage to and respects the historic former Naval Air Station with a timeline engraved into the walkway.  

The Planning Board meets next Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 2263 Santa Clara Ave.