Initial plans propose a five-story, 87-unit modular apartment building on the vacant quarter-acre parcel at 3070 Brook Street in Oakland’s Broadway-Valdez neighborhood. The plans describe efficiency dwelling units, shared community spaces and exterior circulation; the proposal has not been established as approved construction.
According to San Francisco YIMBY, the site lies between 30th Street and Broadway, and the proposal includes modular construction, landscaping and possible sidewalk upgrades. The report identifies a Southern California-based family trust as the applicant and says it is invoking California’s State Density Bonus law in seeking to advance the project through Oakland’s approval process.
A Lot With a Shifting Development History
The parcel has had a different development concept before. San Francisco YIMBY’s coverage of a preliminary application filed around October 2025 described four one-story detached homes; a separate report from the outlet characterized the proposal as four modular accessory dwelling units intended to provide affordable rental housing. Neither account specified whether the units would be deed-restricted or affordable by design. That application was later voided, according to the reporting.
The 2025 filing named San Francisco-based PermitFlow as the applicant, while the current proposal lists a Southern California-based family trust. The change in applicant and scale marks a substantial shift in the plans for the parcel in roughly a year.
Location Near Piedmont Avenue Corridor
The proposed site is near the bottom of Piedmont Avenue, grocery stores and AC Transit bus lines. No approval timeline has been established.
Modular Construction Is Part of the Proposal
Modular construction is a feature of the plans as filed; it does not mean work has begun.
The Legal Tool Behind the Density Push
The proposal invokes California's State Density Bonus law.
What the Filing Does—and Doesn’t—Establish
Oakland Planning Code Chapter 17.107 defines a density-bonus incentive as a qualifying reduction or modification to development standards that produces identifiable, actual cost reductions for affordable rents or housing costs, according to the Oakland Planning Code. That definition does not establish that an incentive has been granted for Brook Street or specify which affordability commitments or other conditions would apply to this proposal. A City of Oakland report dated May 27, 2025, said the city had added more than 12,000 market-rate units to its housing stock over the preceding five years. That citywide measure describes past additions, not a comparison with adopted housing targets, and does not count the unapproved Brook Street proposal as completed housing.
What exactly the 87 units at 3070 Brook Street will look like once built — and whether any will be designated affordable — remains an open question. For now, the project exists only as initial plans, the latest and largest proposal for a vacant stretch of Brook Street.
