Case Study: David Brower Center, Berkeley, California

A quick glance at the tenant directory in the lobby of the David Brower Center reveals that the four-story structure in downtown Berkeley, California, is not a typical office building. Names like the Earth Island Institute, the Green Jobs Network, and the Bay Area Open Space Council, give visitors a clue that the 30 organizations occupying the upper floors share a set of common goals—all are focused on social issues and sustainability. “Brower was conceived as a home for environmental action,” explains Amy Tobin, the center’s executive director.

The 43,500-square-foot building’s ground level contains facilities like a 178-seat auditorium and a 1,300-square-foot gallery intended to help its like-minded tenants connect with each other and the surrounding community. It also has an organic restaurant. Brower, completed in the spring of 2009, is part of a larger project that includes a 97-unit affordable apartment building known as Oxford Plaza, retail space, and a below-ground garage. The approximately $75-million mixed-use complex, financed with an array of grants, tax exempt bonds, low-interest loans, and donations, occupies a city-owned plot near the southwest corner of the University of California (UC) Berkeley campus, replacing what was, until the start of construction in 2007, a surface parking lot.