Downtown Redevelopment Plans Unanimously Approved In Berkeley

"The $150 million hotel and conference center, tentatively dubbed the Berkeley Charles Hotel, would include more than 210 hotel rooms, 50 market-rate condominiums, an extensive conference center, jazz club, restaurant and underground parking.

Despite its size, the high-rise has generated almost no opposition, a miracle in a city that bickers over everything from vacant lots to old-growth eucalyptus. Berkeley's usual warring factions -- preservationists, City Hall staff, developers and zoning wonks -- have joined, at least temporarily, in support of the project."

"The downtown committee recently voted to close Center Street between Shattuck and Oxford for a pedestrian plaza."

"About 10,000 people a day walk the one-block stretch between BART and the UC Berkeley campus. The committee decided to create an open space with benches, artwork, outdoor cafes and possibly a daylighted stretch of Strawberry Creek, which goes underground after leaving the campus."