OAKLAND — A big chunk of land on the Oak Knoll property in the Oakland hill areas could become a site for more than 100 houses, preliminary plans on file with city officials show.
Shea Homes, a big homebuilder, seeks a rezoning of a 7.9-acre site that’s within the footprint of the proposed Oak Knoll mixed-use development site that totals 183 acres, according to the Oakland planning documents.
The acreage that Shea Homes is eyeing currently includes the location of Seneca Center, a site that houses the Seneca Family of Agencies, a group of nonprofit organizations.
The development site that Shea aims to rezone is at 8750 Mountain Blvd. in Oakland.
Details of the proposal were scant and concepts to shed light on the look of the townhomes were not immediately available.
“Shea Homes is proposing to rezone the Seneca property in the Oak Knoll master-planned community to construct approximately 110 new residential townhomes,” the preliminary application stated.
Preliminary applications are often filed with government planners to obtain feedback from city staffers or community leaders about the concept of a development proposal and what changes might be desirable.
It also wasn’t immediately clear whether Shea Homes would build around the Seneca Center. The 7.9 acres would likely provide plenty of space for 110 townhomes on the sites next to the center.
For roughly a quarter-century, the Oak Knoll site has been on a development odyssey that began in 1996 when the old naval hospital closed.
SunCal is the master developer of the Oak Knoll development.
The project has been forced to dodge plenty of obstacles along the way, including the 2008 meltdown of former Wall Street titan Lehman Brothers. Lehman’s collapse wiped out funds that were expected to be used to launch the development of the property.
SunCal has been pushing ahead with various tasks ahead of the wide-scale development of new homes. These tasks included the relocation and rescue of the former Oak Knoll naval officers club.
Because of the twists and turns involved in the Lehman implosion, SunCal has bought the property twice, once in 2005 and another time in 2014.
SunCal began grading the site and installing infrastructure improvements in 2018. Further delays occurred due to the widespread business lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The Oak Knoll redevelopment is expected to include 918 residences, 80,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, a village center, a new community center, 84 acres of public parks and open space, a trail network, a creek restoration and a memorial regarding the shuttered naval medical center.
“SunCal plans to create a thriving residential community with charming neighborhoods, a restored creek and native landscaping, open spaces and public parks,” SunCal states in a post on the project’s website. “In a nod to its patriotic past, Oak Knoll will also feature a memorial that honors the hospital’s proud history.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com