April 10, 2025
Mayor Adena Ishii and City Council
2180 Milvia Street,
Berkeley, California 94704
Dear Mayor and Council,
The Sierra Club understands the importance of ensuring a livable planet through smart urban planning, a critical part of reducing individual climate impacts. Prioritizing dense housing within urbanized areas and close to jobs and amenities will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector dramatically. To promote more equitable housing options while reducing negative climate impacts, we understand the importance of incubating or cultivating walkable, bikeable neighborhoods with robust transit options in Berkeley, and are writing to express our strong support of the 2274 Shattuck project to create multi-family housing on the site of the old UA Theater.
Our national policy in support of urban infill identifies it as “a key strategy for minimizing sprawl and vehicle miles traveled by reducing the need for people to drive.” As stated in our Urban Infill Policy Report:
If we begin to rebuild our existing neighborhoods and regional infrastructure around properly tailored Smart Growth design, instead of continuing to build new sprawling development, we can save vast amounts of land. We can also dramatically cut our
climate emissions while creating more convenient and equitable neighborhoods and regions. In addition to better environmental and social outcomes this strategy can also better serve the economic needs of our society.
The proposed development is an excellent urban infill project, located near downtown Berkeley BART and multiple AC Transit bus lines.
Additionally, we are pleased to see that the building will feature electric appliances in the residential units, furthering its environmental benefits by reducing reliance on fossil fuels. We encourage the city to continue promoting the use of low-NOx appliances and other decarbonization strategies in future developments, as these efforts are critical to reducing building emissions and supporting Berkeley’s leadership in sustainability.
The development includes restoring the historic facade and lobby of the original theater and incorporating both into the residential development. This would be a fitting acknowledgement of the 92-year-old Regal UA Theater, which today is a shell of its former grand self, having undergone many drastic remodels that left it a utilitarian multiplex, with scarcely a trace of its former significant architectural features. As noted in the Historic Resource Evaluation, it has been so seriously degraded that it would not meet current qualifications for state or national historical resource status. Additionally, the building is seismically unsound and suffers from dire structural deterioration. In recognition of these and other facts, city staff approved the Class 32 In-fill exemption as set forth in AB 1633.
In addition to climate and environmental policies favored by the Sierra Club, this project addressed the Club’s stated support for inclusive and affordable housing policies, specifically, The developer has agreed to provide 227 affordable-by-design units which are suitable for students, young professionals, and families. The project also provides 23 very low-income affordable units.
Finally, this project will contribute more than $7M in Building Permit and Impact Fees to the City of Berkeley. It will also contribute ~$2M annually to the property tax base. For all these reasons, the Sierra Club urges you to approve the 2274 Shattuck project.
Respectfully,
Maxwell Davis, Chair
Sierra Club Northern Alameda County Group