Months after revealing high-profile plans to turn a Safeway in San Francisco’s Marina District into a housing project, the developer behind that effort is turning its attention to the site of a Trader Joe’s in an affluent part of Oakland.
The low-slung grocery store at 5727 College Ave. and its parking lot in the city’s Rockridge neighborhood could be replaced by a pair of towers that would house a 415-unit senior living campus within walking distance of a BART station.
The proposal, filed Wednesday by San Francisco-based Align Real Estate, calls for a 31-story tower at the property, as well as a second tower that would rise 25 stories. As designed by SCB Architects, the modern towers would be set on a podium, feature glass-clad facades and soar above the surrounding neighborhood, which is known for its well-kept residential streets, walkable commercial strip and largely low-rise development — though Oakland has certainly seen a number of tower proposals pitched or constructed around its transit hubs in recent years…