Modular Units Make Their Debut At Oakland Housing Project
Modular units are being installed at Coliseum Connections in Oakland. The $53M project, developed by a JV of UrbanCore and Oakland Economic Development Corp., will create 110 mixed-income units on a 1.3-acre Bay Area Rapid Transit-owned parking lot ground-leased to the JV.
The modular units were built by Guerdon Enterprises out of Boise, Idaho. Completion of the modular unit placement is expected on June 29. The project is expected to be completed in January when occupancy also is expected to begin.
Coliseum Connections is one of a handful of modular projects in the works or being planned in Oakland. Panoramic Interests plans to build over 1,000 units in West Oakland next to BART, and RAD Urban is planning two high-rises from steel modular units.
The project at Snell Street and 71st Avenue will have 55 market-rate units with rents ranging from $1,900 to $2,400 for households earning 80% to 120% of the area median income; the other 55 units will be affordable with rents from $1,100 to $1,600 for households earning 50% to 60% of the area median income.
A five-story building will have 66 one- and two-bedroom flats and 44 two-story townhomes will be grouped in three separate buildings. There will be 86 residential parking spaces, including two car-share spaces in a partially below-grade structure. Townhouse units will be set back 10 feet from 70th and 71st avenues and have entry stoops connected to the sidewalk.
The project, designed by Pyatok Architects and Prefab Logistics, will include a community café space for residents and the public, a community room and open space. The project is designed with the five-story building facing the BART line sheltering the lower scale two-story townhomes.
Financing came from a mix of public and private sources with Oakland and BART as primary sponsors of the project. UrbanCore secured a $29M construction loan with Chase Bank, $12M from the city of Oakland, $1.25M in subordinate debt from Commonwealth Multi-Family Housing Corp., $10M from the state’s AHSC program, $9.7M in tax credits from the Royal Bank of Canada and $2.5M from Alameda County. UrbanCore also secured a $1.4M HUNT Mortgage/Freddie Mac permanent loan on the property.
