The Richmond Planning Commission is set to consider three residential developments on Thursday, February 5, that would add 222 housing units across Canal Boulevard, Central Avenue, and Marina Way, including single-family homes, townhouses, and junior accessory dwelling units.
The projects include the Quarry Residential Project at 1135 Canal Boulevard, which proposes 76 small-lot single-family homes; the Cascade Townhome project on Central Avenue, with 46 condominium-style units; and the Marina Point Residential Project at Marina Way, which includes 70 single-family homes and 30 junior accessory dwelling units.
Richmond considers housing development for long-vacant Central Avenue site
A vacant lot on Central Avenue that has cycled through multiple failed housing proposals over the past decade, including a 393-unit apartment building approved in 2023, is back before city planners, this time with a far more modest development plan. The Richmond Design Review Board will consider a 46-unit townhome
Soren Hemmila
City planners have recommended conditional approval of the Quarry project, which aligns with the city’s long-range housing plan. Staff has also recommended conditional approval of the Cascade Townhome project, while issuing no recommendation in advance of the meeting for the Marina Way proposal.
Marina Bay waterfront housing project moves to design review
A proposed waterfront housing development in Marina Bay is back in the spotlight after the city missed state-mandated deadlines for reviewing the plan. The Marina Point Residential Project calls for 70 three-story homes plus 30 accessory dwelling units on a 4.92-acre vacant parcel next to the Rosie the Riveter
Soren Hemmila
Opposition has emerged around the Marina Point project, particularly from residents of the Marina Bay neighborhood, who say community concerns were dismissed earlier in the review process.
“At the December Design Review Board hearing, community concerns regarding unresolved safety and traffic issues, emergency access constraints, inadequate parking, district assessments, and shoreline protections were dismissed,” Margarita Mitas, president of the Marina Bay Neighborhood Council, wrote in comments submitted to the city.
Mitas said residents do not dispute the need for housing but object to how decisions are being made.
“There’s no disagreement that housing is needed everywhere,” Mitas said. “However, the residents of the Marina Bay community deserve to be heard and have their concerns reflected in the city’s decision-making process.”
While the three projects vary in size and location, planning documents show they also differ in how closely they align with the numbers used in Richmond’s state-certified Housing Element.
The Housing Element assumed 863 housing units would be built across the three sites now before the commission. The projects under consideration total 222 units, a difference city staff has acknowledged in at least one staff report.
In the Central Avenue item, planners note the proposal represents “a potential loss in housing capacity for the site as compared to the site’s projected capacity in the Housing Element,” adding that the difference “may be accommodated by development potential on sites that were not identified in the Housing Element’s Sites Inventory.”
Only the Quarry Residential Project matches the Housing Element’s assumed capacity, proposing the same 76 units planned for the site. The Central Avenue and Marina Way proposals would deliver substantially fewer units than listed in the housing plan.
Quarry Residential Project to be discussed at special meeting Wednesday
A 76-unit residential development planned for a former quarry site in Point Richmond will be discussed at a special Design Review Board meeting on Wednesday, December 17. The Quarry Residential Project is proposed for 1135 Canal Boulevard, an 18.4-acre site sits south of the intersection of Canal Boulevard and
Soren Hemmila
State law requires cities to plan for enough housing capacity to meet their Regional Housing Needs Allocation, but does not require individual projects to be built at the densities assumed in those plans.
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