Developer Picked for Former Tradeway, Chamber Sites Next to City Hall

The City Council put on its Redevelopment Agency hat Monday night and chose Hayward-based Eden Housing as the developer for turning the former Tradeway furniture store and Chamber of Commerce office building into a mixed-use project with residential units, retail space and a health center.

The council members, who comprise the city's Redevelopment Agency Board, voted 4-to-0, with Councilmember Ann Cheng absent, to designate Eden as the developer for the two properties at 10860 and 10848 San Pablo Avenue, immediately south of City Hall on the east side of the street.

The Redevelopment Agency operates in designated zones, primarily along San Pablo Avenue, and is dedicated to fostering  affordable housing and improving the city's business environment.

In line with goals for the project developed by the city, Eden proposed converting the existing properties into a development that would include 64 units of affordable housing for seniors, 2,250 square feet of retail space and a 2,400-square-foot health center.

The council's selection of Eden Monday night does not commit the city to proceed with the development. It merely allows the city to enter into exclusive negotiations with Eden over the terms and details of the development and to begin the environmental review process.

Eden's proposal, chosen from 11 submitted to the city, could be altered in line with  future negotiations and requirements for compliance with environmental quality laws, city staff and councilmembers noted Monday night.

Completion of the project is likely to take four to five years, Hilde Myall, senior project manager for the city, told the council.

Two people spoke during the public comment period to urge the city to preserve the former Chamber of Commerce office building because of its earlier role as the home of Contra Costa Florist, which was a prominent part of the flourishing Japanese-American nursery community in north El Cerrito and adjoining area of Richmond.

"The National Park Service has clearly stated that the Japanese flower community and its internment during World War II is a significant historic context for our area," said Tom Panas, a director of the El Cerrito Historical Society, adding that the former florist building "is the last extant structure we have in El Cerrito testifying to the Japanese flower industry, its community, and its history."

Former Albany Mayor Jewel Okawachi also addressed the council, noting her Japanese-American family's Bay Area past and struggles, and urging, "It is important that we preserve some of the Japanese and Japanese-American heritage and historical sites."

Featuring a distinctive rock front and a roof with four steep peaks, the single-story structure, vaguely reminiscent of a fairy tale abode that might have housed the Seven Dwarfs, also once served as the office of the long-closed Valley of the Moon quarry.

"There remains a lot of flexibility still in the development of the site plan," said Councilmember Sandi Potter, who is also chair of the Redevelopment Agency Board. Potter's term on the council and agency board ends this year, and she is not seeking re-election.

Councilmember William Jones expressed a similar view: "There's a lot of flexibility in this program as it goes forward."