Oakland’s Brooklyn Basin Project Breaks Ground
The Brooklyn Basin project broke ground March 13, 2014. After years of planning, challenges, and financial uncertainty, the project is underway. The first phase will include infrastructure development and 1,200 housing units.
Over the next decade, 65 acres of industrial land south of Jack London Square is slated to become Brooklyn Basin: a 3,100-home neighborhood with 200,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 3,500 structured parking spaces and approximately 27 acres of public open space, two renovated marinas and a wetlands restoration area. Once finished, trails will tie the parks to the Bay Trail as well as Lake Merritt. 
The total project is estimated to produce about 10,000 construction jobs.
“This is a symbol of Oakland’s renaissance in so many ways,” Mayor Jean Quan said during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday that was attended by the Chinese Consul General Yuan Nansheng.
The project is by far the biggest piece of housing boom that the mayor expects to yield 7,500 units in a city where rents have jumped 25 percent in only the last two years. David Kakishiba, who fought for the community benefits as the executive director of the East Bay Asian Youth Center, said he believes the project will be a boon to the surrounding neighborhood and the city as a whole.