Fulton Apartments Berkeley Ca

City Design Review Committee Approves Apartment Complex Design, Debates Downtown

Business at the July 21, 2011 City of Berkeley Design Review Committee meeting was divided between final review of a large new apartment building in West Berkeley and discussion of design guidelines for Downtown Berkeley that delved into the value of street level open space in new development, setbacks on tall new buildings, and the architectural value of bays projecting over the sidewalk. 

651 Addison Street  

When someone said Berkeley housing development should be concentrated along transit corridors, maybe they didn’t exactly mean building along multi-track interstate railroad lines carrying dozens of freight and commuter trains a day? Just a thought. Nonetheless, Berkeley will now have a second large housing complex bordering and overlooking the railroad tracks just south of University Avenue. 

651 Addison Street is a 94 residential unit, four-story-over-parking development at the northwest corner of Addison where the street crosses the tracks. There will be two ground level commercial units facing on Addison, and 102 parking spaces. Addison extends a block and a bit more west to the edge of Aquatic Park, and also serves as a main vehicle, walking, and bicycle route to the Park and the adjacent pedestrian bridge over the freeway. 

The project stands across the tracks from the block-square “Fourth and U” housing development completed a few years ago. 

This development seems to be a placid, but delayed, project coming at the tag end of a long and bitter development controversy. The property was the site of the Berkeley Drayage Building, which served for many years as an informal live / work artists complex. There was heated controversy about half a dozen years ago when the then-owner sought to evict the artist residents. For a time the property was at the nexus of the unending debate over how to provide affordable artist and craftsperson space in Berkeley.

My Morning Jacket Rocks in North Fulton - Roswell, GA Patch

In the words of Ed Sullivan, Saturday night's concert at Encore Park Amphitheatre was "A Re-e-ally Big Shew!"

The night fired up with singer-songwriter Neko Case. Take a pinch of indie rock, alternative folk country and a lot of soul and you have Neko Case. This redheaded siren has been performing and songwriting since 1994. Her peaceful voice is haunting and commanding. I strongly recommend catching her show next time she is in Atlanta.

The headliner tonight was My Morning Jacket. This smoking hot, versatile rock band originated in Louisville, KY in 1998. My Morning Jacket's musical genre is solidly rock with southern jam band and indie tendencies. For example, on the song "One Big Holiday," I can hear Lynyrd Skynyrd and Allman Brothers' influences. On the mesmerizing ballad "Gideon," which they performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra on David Letterman, is more indie rock in sound. At the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival, this jam band played for nearly fours hours.

My Morning Jacket is not afraid of hard work. Since 1998, the band has produced six studio albums, three live albums, provided sound tracks to seven feature films, and performed on every major late night talk show from Leno to Conan. My Morning Jacket even appeared on an episode of American Dad and Saturday Night Live. Throw in grueling tour schedules that include North America and Europe and you have this band's recipe for success.

Regardless of how you want to categorize My Morning Jacket, the music is powerful and charged with high energy. During the concert front man Jim James is all over the stage. Guitarist Carl Broemel is hitting the licks clear and quick. Bassist Tom Blankenship and drummer Patrick Hallahan provide a solid backbone. Bo Koster fluidly dances across the keyboards with tasty work.

This was first time I have seen My Morning Jacket live and will not be my last. It is easy to understand why they are one of this generations top performing bands. I would highly recommend giving them a listen.

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