GB3 Office of the President TO MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON For Meeting of ACTION ITEM APPROVAL OF DESIGN PURSUANT TO CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT FOR THE STILES STUDENT RESIDENCE HALL PROJECT, BERKELEY CAMPUS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Berkeley campus has selected American Campus Communities (ACC) through a Request for Qualifications process to build and operate, under a long term ground lease, a new mixed-use student housing facility located at the corner of Bancroft Way, Durant Avenue, and Dana Street. The Regents approved the business terms of the transaction with ACC at the January 20, 2016 Regents meeting. The existing project site is comprised of a surface parking lot with the two-story Stiles Hall situated at one corner. Incoming first-year students will be provided with state-of-the-art dormitory style residential accommodations. The proposed project would house 773 students in an eight-story building with 19 distinct communities of approximately 30 students each, housed primarily in doubleoccupancy units. Each community would include a dedicated resident advisor, study lounge, and a pair of gender inclusive bathroom facilities. Student dining would be accommodated in existing dining facilities, such as those across Durant Avenue from the project, at the campus Unit 3 housing. The Stiles Hall community services program would be accommodated in the ground floor of the new facility along Bancroft adjacent to new retail spaces. RECOMMENDATION The President of the University recommends that, following review and consideration of the environmental consequences of the proposed Stiles Student Housing Project, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), including any written information addressing this item received by the Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff no less than 24 hours in advance of the beginning of the Regents meeting, testimony or written materials presented to the Regents during the scheduled public comment period, and the item presentation, the Committee on Grounds and Buildings:
COMMITTEE ON -2- GB3 1. Adopt CEQA Findings based on the analysis of environmental impacts presented in the Addendum to the University of California, Berkeley 2020 Long Range Development Plan Environmental Impact Report for Stiles Site Student Housing Project. 2. Approve the design of the Stiles Site Student Housing Project, Berkeley Campus. BACKGROUND UC Berkeley s Undergraduate Education Initiative identifies residential life as a critical component of the student academic experience. The residence halls provide an important pedagogical as well as social setting. Equally important, any new residence hall must provide affordable, economical housing for Berkeley students. Incremental growth in undergraduate enrollment, particularly among first-year students in recent years, has resulted in higher occupancies in existing residence halls, with many rooms designed as doubles being converted to triples. 1 Additionally, at their November 2015 meeting, the Regents adopted a budget plan that includes a significant increase in undergraduate enrollment at all campuses, which will greatly increase pressure on existing campus housing resources. The current housing supply available to students both on and off campus is constrained. Finally, the Berkeley campus has limited capital resources to build new housing. The Project has been proposed to meet these urgent campus needs. At the January 20, 2016 meeting, the Committee on Finance approved the business terms of a ground lease to the American Campus Communities (ACC) for the development of the project, as well as for space leasebacks by the Berkeley campus, for the term of the ground lease, of (i) the ground floor retail space, and (ii) the student residence portion of the Project during the summer term of each academic year. These business terms included provisions to set bed rates in the first year of occupancy substantially equal to on-campus housing rates with an allowance for annual increases that are comparable to on-campus rate increases. All costs of the entitlements, design, construction, operation, and management of the Project, and transfer of the Stiles Hall property would be borne by ACC from project revenues. Project Site PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Project site is in the residential Southside neighborhood to the south of the UC Berkeley Central Campus. (See Figure 1, Design Graphics.) The 32,500-square-foot site is bounded by Bancroft Way to the north, Dana Street to the west, and Durant Avenue to the south. Approximately 26,000 square feet of the site is owned by the University and is currently used for University parking. The balance of the site, which is owned by a non-profit service organization, Stiles Hall, is a separate 6,500-square-foot parcel at the corner of Bancroft Way and Dana Street, (See Figure 2, Design Graphics.) Stiles Hall provides counseling and coordinates volunteer service opportunities for campus students. The University and ACC have negotiated the terms of 1 In academic year 2014-15, 41 percent of the Berkeley campus residence hall beds were triples.
COMMITTEE ON -3- GB3 an agreement to purchase the Stiles Hall site and incorporate space for the service organization into the ground floor of Project. Project Design The proposed Project is approximately 183,500 gross square feet. It is seven stories in height on the portion fronting Bancroft Way and increases to eight stories on the Durant Avenue side because of the grade change across the project site. The student bedrooms would be above the ground floor. The primary student entrance, administrative offices, student services, and amenities would be located on the Durant Avenue side of the site. Two retail spaces would be constructed on the ground floor of the Bancroft frontage, along with the Stiles Hall replacement space. The Project is consistent with the UC Berkeley 2020 Long Range Development Plan and its design was informed by the City of Berkeley Southside plan. The Project utilizes traditional urban design principles in its planning including: activated street frontages (retail store frontages, residential amenities); major building entries situated at prominent street corners; and internally focused courtyards and garden spaces. The building s exterior character is a composition of dynamic, yet highly rational façade components that seek to provide depth and contrast in materials, colors, and textures. Through subtle shifts in geometry, and a sophisticated palette of materials, the proposed design captures and reflects the diversity, energy, and optimism of the first year undergraduate students for whom it is designed. The northwest and southwest corners of the upper floors extend several feet over the city sidewalk with angled façades that take their cue from the angle of the rising terrain at the buildings base. Reflected both in plan and elevation, these angled façades reach towards the campus, and towards the City of Berkeley. Notwithstanding its vibrancy, the design is restrained in its composition and sensitive in its massing as it engages the surrounding context. In massing and elevation, the building is divided into three primary volumes. The first is anchored at the corner of Dana Street and Durant Avenue with the entrance to the student residence at ground level, with the highly activated student lounges stacked above the entry. The second is anchored at the corner of Bancroft Way and Dana Street with the major retail tenant entrance on the ground floor, and the active, transparent student lounges above, extending up to a vaulted corner at the roof line. Finally the subdued volume at the east end of the Bancroft Way frontage, acts as a transition to the adjacent commercial infill buildings. The project site abuts the public sidewalk along three edges of the property, totaling 510 linear feet of frontage. The ground floor street frontage on these three corresponding façades will feature continuous glazing, interrupted at key points to allow for entrances, exit stairs, and a service entry. Frontage along Bancroft Way will be divided into roughly three equal segments, including two retail tenant spaces and the new home of Stiles Hall. The retail frontage will then wrap around the corner onto Dana Street and extend close to the middle of the block. The long façade on Dana Street will be broken in the middle at the entrance to the student bicycle parking and the service portion of the building. The glass frontage will then continue to the corner of Dana Street and Durant Avenue, revealing the student amenity spaces in that area, such as an exercise room and
COMMITTEE ON -4- GB3 the main student entrance. And finally, frontage along Durant Avenue will also be predominantly glass and will house the administrative offices. The project includes shared study spaces at the corners of the building located at Dana Street and Bancroft Avenue, and Dana Street and Durant Avenue, at all residential floors (two through eight). The portions of building volume containing these spaces project past the property line above the public right of way, to give them emphasis, and to accommodate the targeted number of residential units in the project. An encroachment from the City of Berkeley is needed in order to create these strong urban corners and provide adequate interior space. Major building materials are expected to include prefinished metal panels, integrally colored stucco, fiber cement panels, cast-in-place concrete, and liberal amounts of glazing associated with active-use program areas. Roof forms are proposed to be flat, utilizing materials with a high solar reflective index to address heat island effect. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT SUMMARY In accordance with University procedures and the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Project was evaluated in relation to the original analysis of the environmental impacts of implementation of the UC Berkeley 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) in the 2020 LRDP Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (SCH #2003082131). The analysis concluded that the Project is consistent with the 2020 LRDP EIR, certified by the Regents in January 2005, as well as with Amendment #1 and Addendum #5 addressing Climate Change. Based on documentation included in the 2020 LRDP EIR Addendum for the Stiles Site Student Housing Project, the University determined the potential impacts from construction and operation of the Project do not constitute new information of substantial importance regarding significant environmental impacts. Construction and operation of the Stiles Site Student Housing Project would not cause new significant environmental impacts. POLICY COMPLIANCE Long Range Development Plan. The Stiles Site Student Housing Project is consistent with the policies of the 2020 Long Range Development Plan approved by the Regents in Jan 2005. Physical Design Framework. The Project is consistent with the principles of the campus Physical Design Framework accepted by the Regents in November 2009. Independent Cost and Design Review. The Project is privately funded and would not be funded or financed by the University. Independent cost review is not required. The campus has conducted design review, and UC Berkeley Construction and Design would oversee performance by the developer on the project. Capital Financial Plan. The project is entirely funded via ACC private equity and therefore is consistent with the current campus Capital Financial Plan.
COMMITTEE ON -5- GB3 Sustainable Practices. Per UC policy, the Stiles Student Housing Project would strive to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating, with a minimum of LEED Silver. Seismic Safety Policy. The Stiles Site Student Housing Project would comply with the University of California Seismic Safety Policy including independent seismic peer review. A more detailed analysis of policy conformance is presented in the CEQA document. Key to Acronyms ACC American Campus Communities CEQA California Environmental Quality Act EIR Environmental Impact Report LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LRDP Long Range Development Plan ATTACHMENTS: Attachment 1: CEQA Findings Attachment 2: Design Graphics Attachment 3: Addendum to 2020 LRDP EIR Attachment 4: UC Berkeley 2020 LRDP EIR and Amendments http://realestate.berkeley.edu/2020lrdp