A long-scruffy slice of Berkeley waterfront may finally get its glow-up. The East Bay Regional Park District has unveiled a preliminary design to transform approximately 20 acres along the North Basin shoreline into a new public park, integrating habitat restoration with a range of visitor-friendly features.
The concept packs in a pebble beach, a waterfront promenade with stepped access to the Bay, a small mountain-bike skills area, and new restrooms, among other upgrades. The catch: the current implementation estimate is around $25 million, and the district has not yet secured full funding. About 50 people attended a Nov. 19 community presentation on the plan, according to Berkeleyside, which also reported that EBRPD staffer Scott Stoller hopes to bring the design to the Park District board in early 2026.
Design highlights
The preferred concept encompasses approximately 2,800 linear feet of shoreline and was developed by a consultant team led by WRT. Design materials lay out two main alternatives. One leans into a marsh promenade and boardwalk, while the other emphasizes a more social sunset promenade built around a perched pebble beach and active-use amenities, including the bike skills area near the Tom Bates sports complex.
Both versions carve out space for interpretive signage, limited concessions, and an extended Bay Trail route that would prioritize habitat where possible. As outlined in the project's conceptual design report, the plan is explicitly framed as a balance of recreation and restoration, according to the East Bay Regional Park District.
Funding and approvals
So far, the work has been focused on planning, rather than pouring concrete. The early phases of environmental study, community engagement, preliminary design, and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis are supported by a Measure AA grant. The San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority recommended up to $600,000 for those tasks, according to the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority.
Actual construction money is another story. Before any shovels go in the ground, the district will need direction from its board, a stack of permits, and full CEQA clearance. Only then can staff begin discussing seriously how to fund a project with a multi-million-dollar price tag.
Community outreach and equity
On the community side, EBRPD leaned on its New Voices Partnership to bring in residents who are too often left out of planning meetings. Participants received stipends of up to $1,000, and the effort earned an Underserved Communities Merit Award from California Trails & Greenways, according to the East Bay Regional Park District.
The district says the outreach program included workshops, stakeholder sessions, and public presentations that helped shape the preferred preliminary plan, from the mix of amenities to the proximity of trails to sensitive habitats.
Environmental and technical hurdles
The shoreline’s history is not exactly pristine, and the consultants are not sugarcoating that. The site contains historic landfill and engineered fill, including demolition debris and concrete. Digging into that mix could turn up contaminated material that would require hazardous-materials mitigation, which would increase costs and slow down construction, according to the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority.
Those constraints will also determine whether ambitions like daylighting Schoolhouse Creek can realistically happen. The project team notes that features of that scale will need detailed technical studies and regulatory approvals before any excavation is allowed.
What's next
From here, staff plan to present the preliminary design to the Park District board for direction, finalize the environmental review path, and then initiate the lengthy process of securing construction funding. If the board approves the concept, the project will proceed to detailed design, permitting, and CEQA work.
Until that happens, the North Basin plan remains just that: a polished, community-informed blueprint that still depends on money, environmental clearance, and a series of regulatory sign-offs before it can turn into a real shoreline park.
