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Oakland Closes Escrow with Development Partners on Brooklyn Basin Property

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The California State Lands Commission and the Port of Oakland have closed with Zarsion-OHP I, LLC of Oakland, an entity managed by Signature Development Group (Signature) and Zarsion America, on the Brooklyn Basin project (also known as the "Oak-to-Ninth" project). For more than a decade, the port has been in contract to sell and lease the 64-acre waterfront site. 

California Gov. Jerry Brown announced from Beijing during his trade mission to China in April that a China-based firm agreed to invest in the $1.5 billion development. Gov. Brown estimated that the Brooklyn Basin project will deliver 10,000 short and long-term jobs.

Nearly 10 years ago, in November 2003, the Port of Oakland and Oakland Harbor Partners, LLC (Signature and its partners) executed an option to purchase and ground lease real property the port-owned Brooklyn Basin. After many years spent securing environmental and land use entitlement approvals for the project, the developer exercised the option and the parties closed escrow June 10.

The area was originally constructed with a mix of industrial buildings, warehouses, a marine terminal and two recreational marinas. The property is no longer needed or suitable for modern aviation or maritime purposes. The current plan envisions a mixed-use, urban, master-planned community. Brooklyn Basin is adjacent to the Jack London Square district, which is experiencing revitalization due to new developments in recent years, a growing base of new residents, and new commercial establishments and restaurants.

According to Signature Development, the project represents an asset of more than $1.5 billion that will include 3,100 residential units, about 200,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and two marinas with up to a combined total of 200 boats slips. The project will provide new venues for public access to the waterfront with more than 30 acres of public access and open space planned, much of which is presently not accessible to the public. 
 

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