Happy 3rd Anniversary David Brower Center! How a Building Can Build Community
IN THE NEWS: April 29, 2012
Bruce DeMartini
Equity Community Builders
425-561-6200
bruce@ecbsf.com
Berkeley, CA: The City of Berkeley selected ECB and affordable housing developer Resources for Community Development (RCD) to develop 97 residential units, 10,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space and a 50,000 square-foot center for environmental organizations on a key city-owned site in downtown Berkeley. ECB was the development manager and financial consultant on this award-winning mixed-use, transit-oriented development located in downtown Berkeley.
In her article in TreeHugger, Bonnie Hulower commends the Brower Center for its ongoing commitment to promoting sustainability and supporting ecological activism of its tenants, for example, by subsidizing rates for use of meeting rooms and event space. Hulower also recalls her first impression of the development’s green design and “how light and airy the space felt.” The Brower Center received LEED Platinum certification.
David Brower Center offers sustainable office facilities for environmental and social action organizations, a public art gallery, a sustainable organic restaurant, flexible meeting spaces and a theater for educational programs and events.
ECB structured the project financing to include bank financing, PRI loans from foundations, New Market Tax Credit equity, public grants, and charitable contributions for the Brower Center, retail and parking components of the project.
For two decades ECB has demonstrated its commitment to responsibly developing buildings and creating great places that contribute to the vitality of neighborhoods and help strengthen communities. We aim to provide affordable housing at all points on the income spectrum; to employ adaptive re-uses of historic structures; and to develop centers for non-profit innovation.