{"id":1993138,"date":"2025-09-02T17:30:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1993138"},"modified":"2025-09-02T17:30:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:30:18","slug":"amoeba-music-berkeley-plans-to-build-new-housing-above-its-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/amoeba-music-berkeley-plans-to-build-new-housing-above-its-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Amoeba Music Berkeley plans to build new housing above its store"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A rendering shows the new apartment building that would rise at the site of Amoeba Music on Telegraph Avenue. The plans would preserve the building\u2019s facade, including the Amoeba entryway and a landmark mural on its north side. Credit: Studio KDA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amoeba Music\u2019s Telegraph Avenue record shop has stayed afloat through many sea changes in how people get their music, from the rise of CDs to the era of streaming apps. Now its owners have a plan they say will help secure the future of the 35-year-old store \u2014 and the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/2021\/10\/22\/telegraph-avenue-toilet-peoples-history-mural\">iconic mural on its exterior<\/a> depicting pivotal moments from Berkeley\u2019s 1960s history.<\/p>\n<p>A team that includes Amoeba co-owners Dave Prinz and Marc Weinstein is developing a proposal for a new apartment building at the site, representatives for the project told Berkeleyside this week.<\/p>\n<p>The plan calls for tearing down most of the existing building at 2455 Telegraph Ave., but keeping its facade, including the \u201cPeople\u2019s History of Telegraph Avenue\u201d mural along Haste Street and Amoeba\u2019s arched rainbow entryway. The record store, which bills itself as the largest west of the Mississippi River, would occupy the new building\u2019s ground floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The vision has the blessing of Osha Neumann, the attorney and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/2023\/11\/28\/people-of-the-park-profiles\">activist who helped create the mural<\/a> in 1976. Spanning much of the building\u2019s north side, the mural is made up of scenes such as Mario Savio speaking at a 1964 sit-in that set off the Free Speech Movement, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/2019\/04\/20\/berkeleys-peoples-park-was-born-50-years-today\">clashes over People\u2019s Park<\/a> and the police shooting of James Rector in 1969.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Neumann credited Amoeba\u2019s owners with making a \u201cremarkable\u201d commitment to preserving the mural, which is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/berkeleyplaques.org\/plaque\/telegraph-avenue\/\">a city landmark<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were very much committed to keeping it there,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m sure Amoeba did not want the bad vibes that would come from destroying the mural.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"521\" data-attachment-id=\"506200\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/homepage\/peoples-park-project_profiles_-natera\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1709&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1709\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;9&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\\\/ Cat&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D750&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Osha Neumann, lawyer, artist and activist. Neumann painted a mural depicting the foundation and struggle of the park. \\&quot;Berkeley needed a monument to its history.\\&quot;   People's Park, a  2.8-acre plot of land owned by UC Berkeley in the southside neighborhood, was reclaimed as a community space by students and activists in 1969, during the free speech and antiwar movement and has been at the center of disputes between the University, the city, and park advocates ever since. In 2017, the controversy over the Park reignited after UC Berkeley's incoming chancellor, Carol Christ, chaired a task force to tackle one of the school's most significant crises: its lack of student housing. People's Park was selected as one of 9 sites for housing development, with a  312 million apartment complex with a planned 1,100 beds for students and 100 supportive housing apartments for unhoused people. \\rA series of protests, lawsuits pushed by neighbors and activists, and the COVID-19 pandemic have stalled the project slated for the summer of 2024. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\\\/CatchLightCredit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\\\/CatchLight&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1676482923&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Ximena Natera&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00125&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"People\u2019s Park Project_Profiles_ Natera\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Osha Neumann, lawyer, artist and activist. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/CatchLightCredit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/CatchLight&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?fit=360%2C240&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C521&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-2560x1709.jpg?resize=780%2C521&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-506200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1709&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=360%2C240&amp;ssl=1 360w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C134&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C513&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1025&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1367&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C801&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=674%2C450&amp;ssl=1 674w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1047&amp;ssl=1 1568w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Peoples-Park-Project_Profiles_-Natera-2560x1709.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Osha Neumann is photographed in front of the \u201cPeople\u2019s History of Telegraph Avenue\u201d mural. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/CatchLight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Elisabeth Jewel, a spokesperson for the development team, said both the record store and mural faced a similar challenge: The people who created and maintained them are aging, and they want to ensure they endure for future generations. Prinz and Weinstein view the redevelopment, she said, as an \u201cendowment\u201d for the mural\u2019s future and a new home for Amoeba.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody\u2019s getting any younger here,\u201d Jewel said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t take that important step to ensure [Amoeba\u2019s] longevity, who will?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A rendering shared by the development team depicts an eight-story apartment building rising behind the current structure\u2019s facade. Consultant Mark Rhoades wrote in an email that precise details for the project, such as the number of apartments it would include, are still being determined. The team plans to submit a pre-application for the project, a first step toward city approval, \u201cwithin the next week or so,\u201d Rhoades said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A timeline for when the project might be built also has yet to be determined, Jewel said.\u00a0While housing construction has <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/2025\/04\/04\/berkeley-housing-downtown-vacancies\">slowed in other parts of the city<\/a> amid high interest rates and rising costs, several projects are underway in the Southside neighborhood, which continues to draw interest from developers thanks to its prime location near the heart of the UC Berkeley campus.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"406\" data-attachment-id=\"220695\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/2016\/11\/28\/how-quirky-is-berkeley-rainbows\/amoeba-11\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?fit=696%2C406&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"696,406\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 5s&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1395235049&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.12&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;32&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.000999000999001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Amoeba-11\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;2455 Telegraph Avenue. Photo: John Storey&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?fit=360%2C210&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?fit=696%2C406&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?resize=696%2C406&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-220695\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?w=696&amp;ssl=1 696w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?resize=200%2C117&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?resize=360%2C210&amp;ssl=1 360w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Amoeba-11.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amoeba Music has occupied 2455 Telegraph Ave. since 1990. Photo: John Storey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Telegraph Avenue shop is Amoeba Records\u2019 first location, and has occupied the space since 1990. The building was <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/2014\/12\/18\/how-quirky-is-berkeley-lucky-to-amoeba-at-2455-telegraph-ave\">originally home to a Lucky grocery store<\/a>, then a series of restaurants and cafes. Amoeba has since expanded to outposts in San Francisco and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>The property is a few steps from the walled-off construction site at People\u2019s Park, where crews this month <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.org\/2025\/08\/27\/peoples-park-construction-update-photos\">reached the top floors<\/a> of two new UC Berkeley dorm buildings. <\/p>\n<p>Cal\u2019s plans for the site, which was a center for counterculture movements in the \u201860s, call for 1.7 acres of open space and features celebrating its history. But Neumann and others contend the redevelopment means People\u2019s Park itself is no more. That\u2019s why he is relieved the mural on Haste Street, which he said now serves as a \u201cmemorial\u201d to the park, will be preserved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBerkeley is changing so much,\u201d Neumann said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important that this memory of its radical history remains.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<section id=\"block-95\" class=\"below-content widget widget_block\">\n<div class=\"gf_browser_unknown gform_wrapper gravity-theme gform-theme--no-framework post-feedback-form_wrapper\" data-form-theme=\"gravity-theme\" data-form-index=\"0\" id=\"gform_wrapper_21\">\n<div class=\"gform_heading\">\n<p class=\"gform_required_legend\">&#8220;<span class=\"gfield_required gfield_required_asterisk\">*<\/span>&#8221; indicates required fields<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.berkeleyside.org \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rendering shows the new apartment building that would rise at the site of Amoeba Music on Telegraph Avenue. The plans would preserve the building\u2019s facade, including the Amoeba entryway and a landmark mural on its north side. Credit: Studio KDA Amoeba Music\u2019s Telegraph Avenue record shop has stayed afloat through many sea changes in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1993139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[352210,360593,360594,360595,360596,360597,360598],"class_list":["post-1993138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-amoeba-music","tag-home-highlight","tag-home-lead","tag-housing","tag-mark-rhoades","tag-southside","tag-telegraph-avenue"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Amoeba-Music-Berkeley-plans-to-build-new-housing-above-its.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1993138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1993139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1993138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1993138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1993138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}