Berkeley… Brower Center Threatened
Posted by Kath Delaney, Founder and Chief Executive Officer on February 21, 2007
Architects:Solomon E.T.C.-WRT
Berkeley…
After seven years of bringing leading environmental thinkers, green builders, endless hours of community planning and a lengthy public approval process, the David Brower Center/Oxford Plaza, is ready to break ground in April. http://www.browercenter.org/ and http://www.rcdev.org/.
STOP …
But wait … this is Berkeley so a few well-organized opponents of affordable housing are circulating misinformation and a Referendum Petition designed to stop the project. Tom Bates, the Mayor who has actively supported the project, and the Berkeley City Council voted on numerous occasions to support it.
The Brower Center/Oxford Plaza now has eight days to unleash the fighting spirit of David Brower, the grandfather of the contemporary environmental movement so his legacy will finally be secure in his hometown of Berkeley, California.
So please, Berkeley voters do not sign the petition! Let the organizers of the project and the City of Berkeley co-create a world class green building that can become home to leading environmental change agents and local housing for residents. Background on the David Brower Center/Oxford Plaza
The David Brower Center, scheduled to start building in April 2007 and open in 2008, will be a multi-tenant nonprofit center in downtown Berkeley, and the hub for the Bay Area’s environmental and progressive communities. Inside this LEED Platinum-rated building, activists, students, and visitors from around the world will meet, eat, exchange ideas, and work toward a just and sustainable society. With more than 50,000 square feet of space, the Brower Center will include conference facilities, 3 floors of office space, the 175 seat Richard and Rhoda Goldman theater, meeting rooms, an art gallery, and restaurant/café. The Center is designed with the latest in green building technology, and will both meet its tenants’ needs for affordable and collaborative workspace, and offer an educational resource and gathering place for the general public.
The Brower Center will be located in downtown Berkeley, facing the University of California, one block from the Berkeley BART station. The Center’s top three floors will house environmental nonprofit organizations such as Earth Island Institute, Build it Green, Center for Ecoliteracy, and International Rivers Network. Numerous nonprofits have expressed serious interest in renting offices; interest which exceeds available office space by three times.
The Brower Center shares the site with it’s nonprofit building partner Resources for Community Development, which is building Oxford Plaza—97 units of affordable family homes over new street-level retail stores. While only 6% of Berkeley’s housing stock is affordable, 100% of the Oxford Plaza units will be permanently affordable to low income residents. Oxford Plaza will be a thriving contribution to downtown, a source of empowerment for Berkeley’s low income families and individuals, and a model for sustainable and environmentally sensitive housing.
To learn more about the projects or to volunteer to stop the petition drive please contact:
David Brower Center, (510) 486-0286, www.browercenter.org
Oxford Plaza c/o Resources for Community Development, (510) 841-4410 x15, www.rcdev.org
