Downtown Oakland Specific Plan

Dover, Kohl & Partners led a large multi-disciplinary team to create the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP). The Specific Plan centers equity and will guide downtown development to meet Oakland’s projected housing and employment needs over the next 20 years, connecting people with jobs and services while preserving and enhancing the dynamic arts and culture in this historic downtown.

Launched in 2015, the planning process provided numerous opportunities for local stakeholders and community members to be involved and shape the policy/strategy of the Plan. The process began with a draft vision and goals that emerged through a nine-day public interactive design charrette in October 2015. This phase concluded with a Plan Alternatives Report (2016) which looked at three development scenarios downtown.

In early 2017 a new phase of the project kicked-off with a focus on social and racial equity. An expanded team assessed the work to date, engaged historically marginalized communities, documented disparities, and evaluated the potential equity impacts of draft plan policies. A series of topic-specific Equity Workshops, Creative Solutions Labs, and Neighborhood Design Sessions were held to support this effort; a Public Review Draft Plan documenting this work was published in August 2018.

The Final Plan reflects community and commission input, as well as changed conditions downtown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, staff also worked on initial implementation steps, including zoning amendments and in-depth economic analysis of the zoning incentive program for community benefits. The DOSP and associated General Plan amendments were adopted and the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was certified in July 2024 by the City Council.