Possible Design Improvements for 160 14th Street

Watch the City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 Agenda Item #22 to see if the council cares what Oakland looks like.

The Lakeside Apartment Neighborhood Association (LANA) in District Three thanks Vice Mayor Nadel for her efforts on behalf of our neighborhood and to hold a developer to his word that he is willing to compromise on design.

Vague promises are made that are not worth the paper on which they are written. It is refreshing to meet a public official who says what she means and means what she says. The current design is better suited for 1309 Madison Street across from the Alco parking garage than next to an A1++ rated mission revival building, the 95-year old Madison Street Temple. If the "institutional" look of the proposed design at 160 14th Street is approved, it will become apparent why affordable housing design gets bad press.

Because we can do better at the prominent corner of Madison and 14th Streetsacross from the Citys Main Library, a day care facility, and bordering the Lakeside Apartment historic districtwe support the appeal filed by the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California. The 8-story institutional design proposed for 160 14th Street will clash and tower over its historic neighbors: the three-story 1905-1906 Noah Candler Kendall House at 1410 Jackson Street and the four-story 1908-1909 Madison Street Temple. The Lakeside Apartment historic district is characterized by medium to large wood-frame or brick two- to six-story apartment buildings built between 1907-28. Not only is our district an area of primary historic importance in Oakland, already it is an affordable, diverse, low-crime, mixed-income, and walkable residential neighborhood with successful small businesses.

Years ago Joseph Riley of South Carolina proved that good design can lift the stigma from low-income housing so that it is "so attractive it blends&into downtown Charlestons quality streets." Residents of our downtown Oakland neighborhood deserve a compatible, high-quality "inspired living space&" (2003, Washington Post Writers Group, "Could Affordable Housing be Well-DesignedAnd Green?") In Oakland, the Frank G. Mar Community Housing development at 13th and Harrison is a legacy building and an example of sensitive design adjacent to the historic Hotel Oakland. This notable modern architecture is successful and distinctive with its gable roofs and variety of height AND it is respectful of its tenants and of its neighbors. "The architects have successfully integrated this large complex into the urban fabric by breaking up its massing so that the midrise block of apartments for the elderly faces a block-size former grand hotel of 1910 of the same height and the lowrise family units face buildings of comparable size&" (www.designadvisor.org/gallery/frank.html)

The proposed design at 160 14th Street is an affront to the Citys own S-17 Design Guidelines that use the fine examples of urban design from our Lakeside Apartment neighborhood, including setbacks and landscaping. A PDF walking tour is available from the LANA website to highlight the architectural characteristics of the Lakeside Apartment historic district. We respectfully appeal to the City Council to send this insensitive design back to the drawing board.

Lakeside Apartment Neighborhood Association www.oaklandlana.org