Huge Difference Between What Onni Wants and What They Have a Right to Get
Developer Should Come to Us,
Cap in Hand
News AnalysisThe Onni development project is really big. It's big, even for Emeryville, known throughout the Bay Area for welcoming extremely large development projects that couldn't get approved elsewhere. This reputation precedes us and is likely the reason Emeryville was chosen by Onni to locate its 640 foot tall building, the tallest residential tower west of Chicago, here instead of Berkeley or Oakland.
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| Christie Avenue's proposed Onni project It has to please us or it's going to be a no go. |
But what if Emeryville acted more like our neighboring cities? What if we decided we didn't like the Onni project as its being proposed? What if we thought it's too much? This corporate developer, like all land owners, has rights to develop their property. But they can't develop as intensely as they're proposing without our permission. Emeryville has rights too. We can say no.
So what's the difference between what Onni wants to build in Emeryville and what they have a right to build?
Quite a lot as it turns out.
What Onni Has
Onni can build 'by rights' a building 75 feet tall, no matter what Emeryville says. On the 3.76 acre real estate parcel they bought, Onni can build a building or buildings totaling as much as 163,706 square feet. They can build up to 320 housing units on it with a floor to area ratio of 3.0. Meaning they can build a building that covers the entire 3.76 acres that's no more than 3 stories tall. Or they can go as high as 75 feet but they would have to leave some of the lot as open space to meet the 3.0 FAR regulations.
That's it. That's as much as this developer is legally entitled to build. Everything beyond this meager amount of development has to be done to our satisfaction. And Onni wants to build A LOT more than what they have right to build. So that means they're going to have to satisfy us. They have to do as we please if they're going to build as intensely as they're proposing.
What Onni Wants
Onni wants to build a tower 640 feet tall; 565 feet over what they have a right to build. Onni wants to build 638 apartments; 318 over what they have a right to build. Onni wants to build a project that's almost a million square feet (982, 236); 818,530 square feet over what they have a right to build. And Onni is proposing to build their project with a FAR of 6.0; twice what's their right to build.
As the Onni project moves towards approval by the City of Emeryville, the people have a right to ask for concessions from this billion dollar development corporation. The concessions should at a minimum, make up for the development's impact on us, over and beyond what Onni can build 'by rights'. Otherwise we're on the losing end of the deal. There is nothing that says we have to concede anything beyond the by rights numbers. Beyond the minimum is at our pleasure. This project needs to markedly make our town a better place to live for the existing residents. Anything less than that, constitutes a gift from the people of Emeryville to the billion dollar Canada-based multi-national corporation.
The by rights legal minimum development rights Onni has should be known by everyone as the City and the developer move this consequential project forward, least we let the developer obscure and cajole us and reap unjustifiable benefits at our expense.
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| The apartment tower at Onni will be 8 1/2 times taller than they are allowed to build by rights. |
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| Double the number of apartments over what's allowed by rights. |
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| How big is Onni? Six times bigger than the by rights size. |
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| The developer is asking to double our by rights FAR allowance. |
