UC to Expand Housing Complex
on San Pablo Avenue
By Christin Ayers, September 17, 2002 08:26 AM
ALBANY -- UC Berkeley officials announced plans tonight to nearly triple the number of new housing units ? from 200 to nearly 600 ? in next summer?s scheduled expansion of University Village, the student and faculty housing complex on San Pablo Avenue.
During last night?s meeting of the Albany City Council, the university?s Assistant Vice Chancellor of Physical and Environmental Planning, Thomas Lollini said the housing units were needed to meet demand and required a revision of the original plans for the 26-acre project submitted last December.
Critics of the university?s plans said they were concerned over congestion and economic issues. ?The way the housing process has evolved, everything, including Phase One has been more expensive,? said Councilman Jon Ely, referring to the recent renovations of family housing at University Village.
For Ely, the construction of the so-called San Pablo Mixed-Use Project means more traffic, more people and potentially less money for the City of Albany.
?If the number of subsidized housing units are increased, we?ll lose money,? he said. ?We need to be assured that there will be a balance of housing, retail and community.?
University officials believe the project, with its proposed day-care center, recreation facilities and community center, can only enrich the city of Albany and provide increased opportunities for retail development.
?There has been a University presence in Albany since 1928,? said Jeffrey Bond, a Senior Planner of Real Estate and Housing with the university?s Physical and Environmental Planning office.
?We are committed to working with the community on all projects. I?m sure there will be some traffic impacts and utility infrastructure problems, but overall, we?re hoping to do what the community wants.?
This will include replacing existing recreational facilities that will be torn down to accommodate the project and restructuring the Village and Codornices Creeks, both of which run through the 26-acre plot.
Albany citizenswill have the opportunity to critique the University?s plans at a public hearingNovember 19th when planning officials will consider suggestions and proposals to improve the project.
Despite his apprehension over the project?s possible effects on the local economy, , Ely acknowledged that Berkeley officials have allowed Albany residents unprecedented access to information about it.
?This process is much more open and collaborative now than it has been in the past,? said Ely. ?We appreciate the openness that the University has had with us.?
