Proposal for Oakland residential tower: it would be city’s tallest building

Plans have been submitted for an East Bay housing high rise that, if built, will become Oakland's tallest building.

The proposal for the development, named Town Tower, was submitted by real estate giant CIM Group, the East Bay Times reported. The property is located at 325 22nd St. near the 19th Street Oakland BART Station. If completed, the tower will be 46 stories tall and contain 596 residential units.

CIM Group had originally proposed an office tower for the site in 2017, but those plans were derailed by changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the East Bay Times. Now, plans for the property center around one of the Bay Area's most contested resources: housing.

25 of the building's nearly 600 residential units will be marked as affordable. Along with its housing units, Town Tower will include a rooftop amenities deck and retail space on the ground floor.

Oakland's current tallest building is the 28-story Ordway Building, which sits next to the lot where Town Tower is set to be constructed. The Ordway Building is also owned by CIM Group and is leased to Kaiser Permanente, which uses the building for its corporate headquarters.

While the Town Tower would be the tallest building in Oakland if completed today, it isn't the tallest project currently making its way through the city's approval process. Real estate developer Hines is planning a 622-foot tall office tower at 415 20th St., which would beat Town Tower's height by 135 feet if completed. Demolition permits for the current structure at that address were filed in August, SFYimby reported.