Fast-Food Development Proposed for the Ridge Site
By Thomas Lollini, FAIA, RCPC Land Use Committee Chair, and Ryan Phillips
A conceptual proposal to develop a Chick-fil-A fast-food drive-through restaurant at the southwest corner of Broadway and Coronado is being introduced by the Oakland Office of Economic Development.
The site is the northwest corner of the roughly 4.5-acre vacant property known as The Ridge, where a Home Depot was proposed in 2021.
No planning application has been filed yet. The Oakland Office of Economic Development introduced the proposal to the Rockridge District Association for feedback.
The proposed use differs from the site's designation as a housing opportunity site. The property is listed in the 2023 General Plan Housing Element as capable of supporting up to 788 units. That estimate may have been made before the zoning element raised the height limit to 95 feet, above the 65 feet assumed in the inventory.
“The Pleasant Valley lot is one of the best housing opportunity sites in all of Oakland, not just District 1,” said Oakland City Councilmember Zac Unger (District 1). “This space should be used for housing first and foremost, and I do not accept that a fast food drive-thru is the best we can do.”
The Chick-fil-A would occupy 1.5 acres of the 4.65-acre site, roughly one-third of the vacant parcel. Development would be primarily asphalt, with a 4,893-square-foot structure. By comparison, Trader Joe’s site is one-third this size. If the larger vacant parcel were developed at the same density as the development proposal by Align Real Estate for the Trader Joe’s site, it could yield up to 1,221 units, even with retail, a parking garage, and street-front units within its base.
A commercial-only development on this site runs afoul of the city’s agreements with the state regarding planning for the capacity to produce housing. The property carries housing overlay zoning designations S-13 and S-14, which require that the site be used primarily for housing.
The Chick-fil-A proposal would also require a conditional use permit. To consider approving this project, the city would need to revise its housing element site inventory to comply with state housing laws by adding a replacement site. However, there are no suitable replacement sites for the prescribed number of housing units available in North Oakland.
The current development agreement between TRC, an Albertsons subsidiary, and the Chan family, who own the property, requires that the development of this full 4.53-acre site be primarily commercial. The Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC) land use committee continues to research the project and the site.
Given the community’s strong support for housing at that site, as expressed during the Home Depot protests, and RCPC’s year-long Community Vision Plan process, RCPC would oppose a project that uses any part of the site for a fast-food drive-through, as such a use is incompatible with the City’s housing objectives and the neighborhood’s desire to see this site developed as primarily housing.
