Bassak says after 35 separate hearings, two CEQA lawsuits were filed to challenge the approvals.
BERKELEY, CA—The Residences at Berkeley Plaza located at 2211 Harold Way in downtown is an 18-story mixed-use development including approximately 302 apartment units, 10,000 square feet of retail or restaurant uses, 20,000 square feet for a cinema and 170 auto parking spaces. The project is owned and proposed by HSR Berkeley Investments LLC of Los Angeles, and Rhoades Planning Group served as the project manager. Projected to achieve a LEED Gold or equivalent rating, the mixed-use project located within steps of the downtown Berkeley BART station will bring new vitality to the core of downtown consistent with the city's long-planned vision for the area.
Opponents challenged Berkeley's Environmental Impact Report certification for the project. Law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and the city of Berkeley secured a complete merits victory in the two pending CEQA challenges and ultimately, the ruling came down in favor of HSR Berkeley Investments LLC and Rhoades Planning Group Inc., represented by Manatt.
The Manatt team includes San Francisco partners, Andrew Bassak and Kristina Lawson, who led the project's entitlement and litigation legal team that included associate Christopher Rheinheimer and staff attorney Robia Crisp.
“Following extensive environmental review conducted under CEQA's infill streamlining provisions and after 35 separate public hearings, the project was approved by the city of Berkeley in December 2015,” Bassak tells GlobeSt.com. “In January 2016, two local residents who were active in the administrative process filed separate CEQA lawsuits challenging the approvals.”
This matter is significant because the project is one of the first major projects in the state, if not the first, to be considered under the new CEQA infill development streamlining provisions. This case is also noteworthy because of the difficultly building anything of this size in the Bay Area, particularly in Berkeley, which is very restrictive and the extended process detailed in the filings is indicative of that.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
