Sutter Health held the first in a series of planned community and stakeholder meetings Monday evening regarding its proposed Emeryville hospital campus.
About 60 community members attended the meeting at the former Chiron/Novartis campus at the corner of Hollis Street and 53rd Street.
Originally scheduled for 60 minutes, the meeting stretched to roughly 90 minutes as residents peppered a panel of Sutter representatives with questions and concerns.
A six-member panel representing various areas of expertise walked attendees — both in person and online — through a presentation while fielding questions throughout the evening.
The revised proposal includes a 780,000-square-foot, 17-story hospital rising approximately 330 feet. Initially proposed as a 200-bed facility, the project has since been expanded to 325 beds.
If constructed as proposed, the hospital would surpass Pacific Park Plaza — currently Emeryville’s tallest building at 318 feet — becoming the tallest structure in the city.
Among the most contentious new details revealed Monday were plans to remove the traffic diverter on Horton Street — popular with bike advocates — and the inclusion of a rooftop helipad.
Many residents raised concerns about traffic impacts, particularly along 53rd Street, where Emeryville’s school and child development center are located, and along the Horton Street bike boulevard, where vehicles would be routed to access the existing parking garage.
Sutter representatives said recent streetscape improvements along Hollis Street would remain intact. However, they were less definitive when asked wether the recently approved 40th Street Multimodal Project would impact their project.
One nearby resident questioned the cost of hospital parking, expressing concern that high rates could push patients and visitors into already limited neighborhood street parking.
Other ideas and concerns raised during the meeting included the possibility of relocating the hospital to the smaller vacant lot at Stanford Avenue and Hollis Street, as well as whether Sutter Health had consulted with Ohlone or other Indigenous representatives and considered voluntarily paying a “land tax.”
While opposition in the room appeared strong, at least one attendee voiced support for the project.
“We’re not some suburban community anymore,” the resident said, pushing back on assertions that Emeryville was some quaint little town. “We’re an urban city.”
Representatives repeatedly deferred to the forthcoming Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that will include extensive traffic analysis and recommend ways to mitigate impacts, along with additional studies examining environmental concerns, wind effects, and shadow impacts.
Sutter representatives did not provide estimates for helicopter or ambulance traffic volumes, nor did they say whether the hospital would seek a trauma center designation — a move that could further increase helicopter and ambulance activity.
According to Sutter, the project could bring roughly 3,000 jobs to the city, along with hundreds of additional indirect jobs tied to patient activity and hospital operations. Additional economic activity would also be generated during construction of the hospital. However, as a nonprofit, the health system would be exempt from property taxes and would likely generate significantly less business and sales tax revenue than comparable private-sector developments.
If approved, occupancy would begin in 2029 with the construction on the hospital slated to begin in 2029 with completion anticipated in 2033.
“We don’t have a plan B,” one Sutter representative said when asked whether the organization had identified an alternate site should the proposal fail to move forward.
Sutter representatives are expected to next appear before Emeryville’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) on June 1. The meeting is likely to draw significant scrutiny over the proposed removal of the Horton Street diverter and its potential impact on bicycle safety and neighborhood traffic volumes.
Emeryville needs stronger financial leadership. I’m not sure how much money has already been spent over the last three years redesigning Horton and Hollis, but turning major streets into two-lane roads has already created more traffic and frustration for residents. I live in that neighborhood, and traffic is honestly terrible now.
Between pedestrians, bikers, buses, school traffic, and only one lane going each direction, the area becomes overwhelming during rush hour and after school pickup times. It’s already difficult getting my daughter to school and making it home afterward.
Now the city plans to add a 17-story hospital with an emergency room, ambulances, and even a helicopter landing area near a bike path while also removing and redoing work that was just completed. That just doesn’t make sense to me. The congestion is already out of control, and adding that level of emergency traffic to an area that already struggles with basic traffic flow seems like poor planning for the residents who live here every day.
Have you thought about biking to school?
A very ableist assumption. Also an assumption that school is within biking range.
If you squeeze people too hard, they’ll just move to Dallas or Phoenix and drive even more and burn even more gas.
Can you imagine how many emeryville seniors would love to bike if they still could and maybe need Paratransit or the GoRound or their adult child to take them shopping. They’d be in real trouble doing their grocery shopping on a two wheeler.
Same sentiment. The bonehead who approved the Hollis street improvements should be fired. The ill-conceived bus pads that are in the only lane available are going to make emergency access even more difficult. Width of lanes and the left turn setbacks are signs of piss poor design. Along with the striping and bulb outs it’s an obstacle course that pits drivers against peds (just look at the amount of tire marks at those bulb outs). The cheap bollards and misaligned crosswalks employed at the Hollis/Powell intersection, are another sign that it’s a joke.
The whole Hollis street project appears to be designed by several different amateurs.
Hollis is the only north-south route that could have been used as a perfect way to bike through Emeryville (greenway is mixed use and San Pablo isn’t viable even with the pending redevelopment).
Odds are these “improvements” will be gone when they present the EIR.
That same traffic expert put a street length bicycle wide track of drought resistant plants on the west side of Hollis from 53rd to Stanford, created an unspeakable traffic hazard with no bike lanes but bus bulb outs so heading south one lane turns left while the lane closest to the curb must MOVE left and if a GoRound is serving passengers the traffic comes to a dead stop. Now you mention creating danger: EPD is ticketing moving violations on Hollis and traffic in both directions comes to a halt. Exactly what kind of a well thought out upgrade is this??
Hollis has long had 1 lane in each direction, except for sections like Powell to 53rd which previously had 2 lanes in one direction and still do. The recent project didn’t change the lane counts.
Horton has also long been one lane each way. The recent changes to add the raised protected bikeway from 53rd to 45th and on 53rd to Hollis were paid for by the previous developer before Sutter bought the property. Those weren’t city funds.
The project cut lane widths, which eliminated right turn slip lanes (both official and unofficial, as there was often room to slip for a right turn when there wasn’t paint on the street). This former lane width also allowed for traffic to navigate around vehicles waiting to turn left. The street redevelopment has significantly curtailed these types of former “unofficial” street capacity.
Heres the link to the Finance Department’s page https://www.emeryville.org/Government/Departments/Finance. The tab for City Operating and Capital Budget includes the document with the 2025-2026 general fund budget starting on page vi. A drop in sales tax and bigger deficits are forecast.
Maybe Sutter will turn the City around financially but what changes is Emeryville prepared to make or will HAVE to make because the planning has not looked ahead. I agree wholeheartedly that Emeryville’s elected and paid leadership need to pay more attention to the financial implications of projects . . . BEFORE they happen With close attention to expenses, revenues and escalating deficits. I hope there is enough pushback to create a proper solution.
Thanks, that was a good summary of the meeting. I hope community residents will continue to show up in force and provide needed input into the development of this project. There is plenty to be hopeful for and plenty to be fearful of.
I had to refrain from chuckling when the one lady mentioned consulting the Ohlone. Really? Your biggest concern with this behemoth project is whether a piece of land that has been redeveloped a half a dozen times over the past century might offend a 100 “decedents” who aren’t even a federally recognized tribe and wouldn’t survive the scrutiny of a 23 and me test?
White people are so weird!
Needs more shadow studies! God forbid a new hospital cast a shadow
Not in my backyard! Retired Sutter Health Registered here- spent most of my Nursing career at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. The neighbors of the 4 CPMC campuses throughout the City in Pacific Heights, Laurel Village, The Castro & The Mission loathed having a hospital in their backyard, yet they utilized the services . Funny how that happens. When Alta Bates on Ashby Avenue in Berkeley is permanently shuttered due to state earthquake retrofitting laws, there will be a hospital desert between Richmond & Oakland. Not a great scenario for women in active labor, or God forbid a mass casualty event/accident on the freeway. Common sense is no longer common and critical thinking skills are no longer critical!
Honestly, screw all the NIMBY complainers.
However, local taxpayers should receive money back for every red cent misused on projects that are implemented and then mowed down for newer projects after the aforementioned ones are only left standing for a few years. Lord knows organizations like Sutter Health receive every tax incentive, credit, and rebate imaginable when they decide to bring their business to local municipalities.
Downtown Oakland would be a better site for this project. MUCH better public transportation options, no complaints about too much congestion.