Community Corner

🌱 Patch AM: How a Center Street office tower could become 58 new homes

Also, don't miss Christmas in Hercules 2025 on the Berkeley Patch calendar

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Good morning Berkeley! We're back again in your inbox, keeping you updated with what's happening in and around town. ☀️

In today's newsletter:

  • How a Center Street office tower could become 58 new homes
  • How a UC Berkeley fraternity party led to a wrongful-death lawsuit
  • How People’s Park is about to change student and affordable housing

Also on today's calendar: Christmas in Hercules 2025 and 10 more events.

Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Today's riddle: I once read a book about anti-gravity. 🤔 (Answer below!)

Weather forecast:

Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

  • Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high of 56 and low of 40 degrees.
  • Saturday: Fog in the a.m.; mostly sunny, temps: high: 56, low: 42.
  • Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high of 55 and low of 40 degrees.

📰 News we're reading

1. Berkeley office to residential conversion joins national trend (housingwire.com) — A long-underused seven-story office building at 2001 Center St. in downtown Berkeley is slated to become 58 apartments with a rooftop garden, taking advantage of new state laws favoring housing near transit. The project, steps from BART and including very low‑income units, helps Berkeley meet its commitment to add 8,934 homes by 2031 while mirroring a national surge in office-to-residential conversions.
   

2. Parents sue UC Berkeley fraternity in party drowning (berkeleyside.org) — A lawsuit by the parents of a UC Berkeley student who drowned after a crowded fraternity pool party is raising serious questions about event safety and oversight near campus. Berkeley police and the Fire Department have already cited the Alpha Delta Phi chapter for permit and nuisance violations, while the fraternity’s national organization has suspended the Cal chapter’s operations as the case and coroner’s investigation continue.
   

3. UC Berkeley finds new developer to build affordable and supportive housing at People's Park (berkeleyside.org) — UC Berkeley has tapped Berkeley-based Satellite Affordable Housing Associates to build about 100 affordable and supportive apartments at People’s Park, alongside a new dorm for 1,100 students. Backed by millions from the city of Berkeley and the state, the long-disputed project will add deeply affordable and potentially fully supportive housing while preserving much of the park’s open space and expanding on-campus housing guarantees.
   

4. AC Transit implements tap-to-pay and free local transfers (dailycal.org) — New AC Transit fare rules and tap-to-pay options could significantly cut costs for Berkeley riders, especially UC Berkeley students already riding free through BayPass. The Next Generation Clipper upgrades add free local transfers, daily and monthly fare caps, and instant online card reloading, rolling out across Bay Area buses and trains over the next several weeks.
   

5. 2025 C2M Summit Showcases Innovative Cleantech Solutions (berkeley.edu) — A major cleantech summit at UC Berkeley Haas recently brought nearly 400 people together to see graduate teams pitch climate and clean-technology solutions. Students from more than 20 Berkeley disciplines worked with startups on carbon fiber, fast water treatment, metal recycling, and climate-smart fertilizers, competing for MetLife Climate Solutions Awards and the Hasler Award.
   

📸 Around Berkeley

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💬 Chatter

What your neighbors are talking about on social media

  • This is Webb looking as far back in time as far as possible.
    Which means it is seeing the very first photons the universe released. The actual moment God said ‘Let there be light!’ if you will. That dull red… (Nextdoor North Shattuck)
  • Hi Neighbors What are you reading and recommending?
    My friend and i just finished The Women which is a reminder of the horrors of war Now im half way through Clear by Carys Davies and it is spectacular (Nextdoor Lorin District)
  • University of California Berkeley posted a job opening for Lecturer Pool - Master of Computational Social Science - ISSP - College of Letters & Science in Berkeley. Apply here.
  • Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. posted a job opening for Cal Student Store Supervisor (Full Time) in Berkeley. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Berkeley here.

Ok Berkeley! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!

-- The Patch AM Team

P.S. The answer to today's riddle: I couldn’t put it down.
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Send it to us!

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