News stories that East Bay progressives and environmentalists shouldn’t miss:
1. A Chinese real estate and development firm has agreed to finance the huge Oak-to-Ninth project on Oakland’s waterfront, a once-stalled development that has been estimated to be worth $1.5 billion, the Trib and Chron$ report. The firm, Zarsion Holdings Group, is teaming up with East Bay developer Signature Properties after Mayor Jean Quan introduced the two sides. Quan is longtime friends with Bruce Quan (no relation), an executive with the Beijing-based firm. The massive project, now known as Brooklyn Basin was originally approved by the Oakland City Council in 2006, and is to include 3,100 homes and 200,000 square feet of retail, along with thirty acres of parkland.
