State Laws May Make Rockridge Trader Joe's Housing Development Hard To Stop

OAKLAND, CA — City officials said Monday that state legislation makes it difficult for Oakland to contest the proposed senior housing development at the current site of the Rockridge Trader Joe's.

The statement came during a town hall at St. Augustine's Catholic Church in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood, where hundreds of community members gathered to discuss the proposed development with Oakland City Councilmember Zac Unger and members of Oakland's Planning and Building Department.

The town hall came in response to community dissent surrounding a proposal submitted on April 22 by Align Real Estate, a San Francisco-based developer, to build a 415-unit senior housing complex at the site on 5727 College Ave. and replace the Trader Joe's currently located there.

Unger said that there's a possibility Trader Joe's will be able to stay on the ground floor of the housing complex, stating that Oakland's Economic and Workforce Development Department is "actively working" to keep the popular grocery store in the neighborhood if it were to lose its College Avenue location.

The proposed complex would have two towers, with the taller tower consisting of 31 stories and easily exceeding 300 feet in height. Many residents feel that these towers would pose a threat to safety and diminish the charm of the Rockridge neighborhood, which typically caps development at 95 feet per local zoning code.

However, since the current project proposal qualifies for a 20% density bonus and height waiver under California's Density Bonus Law, which requires cities to allow qualifying housing projects to exceed local height and density limits, the 30-story development is completely legal.

"The idea of a 35 and 20-story building in that location is just an insult to the neighborhood," said Tom Dolan, an architect and urban designer who has lived in Rockridge for 45 years.

According to city officials, the complex would follow a Continuing Care Retirement Community business model, where seniors would pay an entrance fee to move into the facility, before paying monthly service, residence and maintenance fees.

California state law makes it difficult, and in some cases costly, for local governments to interfere with housing projects, like the proposed senior housing, that meet the criteria to be automatically approved for development.

For projects like the proposed housing development that meet compliances with zoning, design and safety standards, officials don't have the authority to deny the project based on subjective considerations such as its "fit" in the neighborhood.

Under California's Housing Accountability Act, local governments are at risk of receiving state fines of up to $50,000 per housing unit if it's found they acted to unlawfully obstruct the development of a qualifying housing project. If Oakland were found to violate this legislation, it could face up to roughly $20 million in fines, based on the project's 415 proposed housing units.

"With this project, it's really important that we hold the developer to the law, not give them any giveaways, not let them cut any corners, not give them any freebies, but that we also comply with state law," said Unger.

California has made progressive housing legislation a priority over the past decade, most recently approving Assembly Bill 130 in 2025, which further streamlined criteria for housing development projects to make it easier for projects to qualify for ministerial approval.

"It was difficult to really find the reasons to deny a project discussion at a time when the state is really telling us we need to apply these laws in a liberal manner to develop as much housing as possible," said Michael Branson, senior deputy attorney in the city's Land Use and Planning unit.

A few community members who spoke during the town hall were chagrined that AB 130 was championed by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who represents the Rockridge neighborhood where the proposed senior housing project would be built.

The town hall started with a statement from Unger, before a live Q&A session with the community members in attendance.

The Rockridge residents who spoke, the majority of which were senior citizens that have lived in the area for multiple decades, grieved what they felt would be the negative effects of the proposed housing development.

Residents were especially concerned about the fire and earthquake safety of such a tall building, while hoping that they would not have to pay for any new fire equipment required by the building.

One citizen suggested that the community boycott Safeway in the neighborhood, since the Trader Joe's real estate site is owned by Albertsons Companies, the owner of the Safeway brand. Meanwhile, others implored city officials to keep searching for a way to fight the development.

"I mean you guys just are giving up," said Ben Amber, a resident of the area. "And that's just a sad thing and you can't give up."

Answering community questions, city officials remained firm in their stance that it would be hard, and potentially costly, to fight against the proposed development, while stating that the developers will be required to pay an impact fee, which is a fee paid to cover the costs that the new development creates for public infrastructure and services.

Many community members were also insistent that an environmental impact study get conducted on the project, to which Branson said there was a "95%" chance that the project would be exempt from environmental review under the California

Environmental Quality Act, due to ministerial approval processes.
According to Unger, the development project remains in very early stages and is many years away from becoming anything concrete.

The first publicly filed planning document for this project can be found at: aca-prod.accela.com/oakland/Default.aspx. The planning number for the project is ZW2600913.

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