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As an event planner, Aiye needs transportation options to sustai nher business. So when she saw that the LEED-certifiefd Uptown development in downtown Oakland was offeringy discounted access tothe car-sharing service , free annualo public transit passes and access to bikes, she was sold. She signeds a lease the day after she visiter theapartment complex. “I feel bettere knowing that I am living in a placee where I am lowering my carbon Aiyer said. “I love havingh the option of the Zipcar.
” Like other , the firm behind the Uptown, is incorporating greeb into its developments as environmental sustainability becomes more popularr and alternative transportation options for residents are key featuresz for manypotential residents. “You are seeinyg a generation of peopled who have a sense of public consciousness aboug theircarbon footprint,” said Susan senior vice president of . “It’as good regional planning to offer amenities that will resonate with the lifestyler ofthese people.
” Forest City worked with Zipcar, a Massachusetts-based car sharinb service, to offer a free annual memberships to Users pay only an hourly use fee, which can be as low as $7. which opened in May, has 665 apartments in three buildings. Close to one-third of the unite have been leased. , developer of the SOMA Grand inSan Francisco, bought a fuel-efficient Smart car for the building’se residents and donated the pint-sized vehiclr to the building’s in-house car-sharing program, operated by , a San Franciscp nonprofit auto-sharing service. Adam a partner with TMG partners, said the compang wanted to “provide residents the ability to livea car-fre e lifestyle.
” Plus, Chall said, if residents do want to use the car, they are reducingh their carbon footprint by using a low-emissionh car. A 2006 study done by the Universituof California, Berkeley, found that the City CarShare progra m could save 25 million pounds of carbom emissions in a year in the Bay Area. City CarShar said it has cars availabl e on site at 10 developments in San Franciscol and has agreements to go into eight others within thenext “Conversations with developers are definitely startingg to become more said Rick Hutchison, CEO of City “In the last year, developerds have seen that car sharing is not only good for communitiews but it makes sense for the environment.
” The idea of car sharing within residential buildings got a boosyt when San Francisco passed an ordinance in 2005 requiring new residential buildings with more than 50 units to offer a car sharin either on site or within 800 feet of the At the same time, the city set stricty limits on parking for new residentiak complexes in some parts of town, includinhg the Market-Octavia neighborhood — in some areas only one car is allowexd for every four units.
City leadersa hoped the ordinance would encourage residentws todrive less, and Lawrence Badiner, zoningf administrator and assistant planning director for San said most developers are eagerd to provide access to alternativd transportation. “The idea is that if there are fewer cars in the more people use the Muni and there are lesscarbom emissions,” Badiner said. “It’s all about Oakland has also jumped on the alternativwetransportation bandwagon.
As of September 2008, the city requirezs all developers of projects with more than 50units and/od 50,000 square feet of non-residential spacer to submit a “transportation demand management” plan, which includeds strategies to increase bicycle, transit and car-share use. Darin an Oakland city planner, said that these plands often include transitpass incentives, extra bicycled parking and an in-houss car-share program such as Zipcar or City CarShare. “I thinj the use of this new measure is consistengwith Oakland’s sustainability goals,” Ranellettki said.
Bay Area developer Rick Holliday is hoping todraw green-minded residents to the Pacific Cannery, his recently opened Oakland development, by offerinyg a free bike with every unit. In additionh to the complimentary bike, the 163-unitf complex located at 1200 Pine St. in Oakland also holdzs a bike lounge with parking for 300 bikes and bike repairtwork benches, repair stands, an air fill-up station and private lockers. “Everyone is looking to simplifyy their lives when it comes togreen living,” said “Having a smaller carbon footprint is an important part of green living, and a bike providee a simple solution to this.
” Like SOMA Grand, the Arterrw condominium development in San Francisco’s Mission Bay, offers residentz a low-polluting car, a Toyota Prius, througy the building’s Zipcar car share program. The Intracorp San Francisco, offers residentsx $25 towards Zipcar’s membership fee and also providesx residents witha $35 crediy toward hourly rental. Arterra, whicn opened in July, is 55 percent “Green awareness has become more pervasive in the mentality of Bay Area saidMichelle Antic, marketing director for Intracoro San Francisco.
Creative thinking about alternative transportation is how Allam Mark came up with giving Vespa scooters to residents who buy unitsx at 733Front St., a luxurt condominium complex in San Francisco’se Jackson Square. Mark, presideng of the , a San Francisco-basefd real estate marketing and research also helped market theArterra “More and more people are going green and optin to change their lifestyle,” Mark said. “Two yearsz ago, putting an amenity like a Zipcad in a building woulrd havefelt forced.
But now it’s a grear incentive to draw potential residents in theBay
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