http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-Mayor-Quan-unveiling-her-own-5292079.php
Oakland Mayor Quan unveiling her own 10,000-resident plan
Updated 7:38 am, Thursday, March 6, 2014
Housing Development Projects on the drawing board in Oakland
Housing Development Projects on the drawing board in Oakland
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Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said Wednesday that she wants to attract 10,000 new residents to the city and build some 7,500 housing units to capitalize on the region's hot housing market.
Quan, previewing her Thursday evening State of the City speech, said she will announce her 10K Two plan, a proposal similar to former Mayor Jerry Brown's successful and popular 10K blueprint that brought 10,000 residents to Uptown and downtown Oakland.
The 10,000 residents who arrived under Brown's plan are often credited with fueling the city's restaurant and bar boom. Now Quan said it is her turn to attract another 10,000 residents.
"Jerry's 10K was mostly focused in (Uptown and downtown)," Quan said. "We're all over the city. The funding will also be along the transit corridors."
Quan, who is facing a tough re-election battle this year, said the city has to act quickly to encourage investment and approve construction projects while young families and singles are still fleeing San Francisco and other expensive areas for the comparatively low rents of Oakland.
More on Oakland
Luring developers
Her plan, much like Brown's at the time, is to convince developers - and voters - that the city is functional, efficient and open for business. But her aggressive pursuit of new investment and development concerns community members who worry that city leaders might sell out poor longtime residents.
Quan said 15 projects across the city could bring 7,500 new housing units to Oakland.
Some of the projects are still just drawings and may never be built, while others are becoming reality - such as the Brooklyn Basin project, which will break ground next week and could eventually bring 5,100 residents to the area along the Oakland Estuary.
Even if not every unit gets built, Quan said the point is that the city is more ready than ever to help developers build in Oakland.
The city is also working on five large neighborhood plans to encourage development and revitalize areas of the city, including West Oakland and the neighborhood around Lake Merritt BART Station, she said.
"The fact that we are finishing up five specific area plans means it is easier and faster for developers to come in and build projects," Quan said.
For example, the neighborhood plans would allow developers to pay the city a fee instead of completing arduous parking studies, which can take as long as a year, said Rachel Flynn, Oakland's planning director.
"The question is always: What does the public sector do to help the private sector succeed?" Flynn said. "We have to strike while the iron is hot. We cannot miss this market. So we're doing everything we can to make sure that if they are ready, we are ready."
Developers said they are happy to see Quan taking the issue seriously. They've already seen a change in the tenor at City Hall, said Greg McConnell of the Oakland Jobs and Housing Coalition, a nonprofit that represents developers and business leaders.
Smoothing the way
In the past, "the city has just not had the efficiencies in the building and permitting department to get these things done," McConnell said. "The city has signaled to us that they are going to be taking extraordinary steps to ensure that the bottlenecks that existed in those areas are gone."
Jim Falaschi, president of Transbay Holdings Co., which developed Jack London Square when Brown was mayor, said he was happy to see Quan's plan.
"The last time we went around with 10K, it was a real benefit to the city and the tax base," Falaschi said. "I think it is a way for the city to signal to the rest of the development community that they're open for business."
But that concerns many longtime Oakland residents who said they are worried that city officials might be so eager to attract new, wealthy residents that the community will lose its diverse, gritty character and become a playground for the rich and young, a complaint often voiced about San Francisco.
Gentrification fears
"Are we thinking about money or the culture of Oakland?" asked Karina Najera, executive director of the East Bay Spanish Speaking Citizens' Foundation, a Fruitvale District nonprofit that supports low-income workers. "We need to get human. The council needs to think about the people that are already living here."
Fruitvale residents are already feeling the squeeze of high rents and housing prices, Najera said. Oakland saw rents and home costs rise faster than many other cities in the country last year.
Most landlords can now comfortably demand a high credit score and annual wages three times the rent and still find plenty of tenants, Najera said.
"It is getting harder and harder every day for regular Oaklanders to be able to rent," Najera said, adding that many longtime residents are moving to Richmond, Stockton and other areas, often far-flung.
But Quan said that while gentrification could be an issue with her plan, most of the projects would not replace long-term residents.
"I think the secret is to add more housing and diverse housing," Quan said. Instead of changing the culture, "I think what we are doing is adding more people."
Lynette Gibson McElhaney, a councilwoman who represents West Oakland, said gentrification is always a concern, but she doesn't think new housing would necessarily drive out longtime residents. It is high property values that do that, she said.
"You're building for a regional draw and you're competing for regional dollars, so it changes the character of the community," McElhaney said. "I am not saying it changes for good or for bad, but it is different."
No one, she said, wants to "lose the gumbo that is the unique swirl of Oakland."
Will Kane is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: wkane@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WillKane
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