Author: Ryan Phillips
Date: June 6, 2026

Summary: Rockridge residents pushed back hard against a proposed 415-unit senior housing project with two towers (300–352 ft) on the current Trader Joe's site, citing scale, traffic, and grocery-store loss, while a smaller group framed it as needed transit-oriented housing near BART.

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Rockridge residents voiced serious concerns about the scale, traffic impact, and loss of a neighborhood grocery store during a Land Use Committee meeting hosted by the Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC) on May 20.

Others, though fewer in numbers, argued that the 415-unit senior housing project is exactly the kind of transit-oriented development the State is demanding near BART.

The virtual meeting focused on an application to build two residential towers, standing roughly 300 feet and 352 feet, on the site currently occupied by Trader Joe's at 5727 College Avenue.

The project includes 390 standard apartments, 26 efficiency units for memory care, structured parking with 185 spaces, a 3,800-square-foot restaurant, a 2,100-square-foot cafe, and a "community" auditorium that may only be for residents of the project, but no public open space, and no plans to return a grocery store to the location.

RCPC has received 45 letters to date regarding the project, with the most frequent concerns being the loss of Trader Joe's, the height of the towers, insufficient parking, and the project's size relative to the low-rise commercial and adjacent residential neighborhood.

The existing zoning for the site allows a height of 95 feet. The proposed towers would rise approximately 2 to 2.5 times that limit. One resident told the council that, no matter the zoning rules, he found the design repulsive and asked whether aesthetics would be addressed at any point in the approval process.

Several attendees focused on the fate of Trader Joe's, which has a lease that runs through 2027. The property is owned by a different national grocery chain, which reportedly placed a deed restriction on the site prohibiting any future grocery store after the current lease ends. A bill making its way through the State legislature would ban such restrictions on former grocery store sites.

An aide to City Councilmember Zac Unger (District 1) attended the forum and told the group that the City's hands are highly limited by State law on several key points, including unity density bonus allowances for senior housing that can result in heights significantly greater than existing zoning limitations.

Density and affordability requirements within a half-mile of the Rockridge BART Station, mandated by a recent State housing law (SB 79), do not apply to this project, as they do not take effect until July 1, 2026. The developer's filing of a pre-application for this project locked in State and local law as of mid-April. SB 79 provisions require all projects using the law to have some affordable housing.

One resident questioned whether the project's senior housing designation is being used to get around affordability requirements that would otherwise apply to large multifamily developments. Because the project is listed as senior housing under existing State law, it does not have to include affordable units as would be the case under SB 79.

One resident spoke in support of the project's scale, saying he opposes the loss of Trader Joe's but, given the severity of the housing crisis in California, he supports the height and density. He urged RCPC to fight to keep a grocery store on the site while accepting the rest of the project as proposed.

Other attendees pushed back against the proposed project. One resident raised concerns about fire safety, noting that a building of this height would require specialized equipment that the nearest fire station is too small to house.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of next steps. RCPC will seek discussions with the developer regarding project design modifications and retaining Trader Joe's on the site. Shortly, RCPC will designate a liaison committee, comprised of board members and other neighborhood residents, to take a leading role in ongoing interactions with the developer and the City to obtain project changes that support a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood and sustain the commercial and social vitality of College Avenue.

Project review is at a preliminary stage, and no official decisions or public hearings are on the immediate horizon.