We are calling on city leaders to follow the law and to give a full CEQA review to the United Artists!

New laws in California have been made to create affordable housing. These laws mean housing developments are now fast-tracked and the process has been streamlined to meet state quotas. However, the state still has statutes on the books for the treatment of historically significant properties and these laws still stand.

In 2015 the United Artists was placed on the state historical register and delineated as a building of historical significance. On Feb 1, 2024, after our group filed a landmark designation application, the Berkeley’s City’s Landmark Preservation Committee (hereinafter “LPC”) landmarked only a small portion of the theater. Only the front façade was landmarked and rehabilitation status was given to the lobby. “Rehabilitation status” is an official term that means the developer must retain aspects of an old building but can repurpose it for other uses. This does not protect most of the lobby’s significant features such as the art deco brass railings, fixtures or the murals. Nor will this save the most important part of the building, the auditorium. The developer can agree to keep things the way they are but is not legally obligated to do so. On 12/12/2024, at the Zoning Board’s final hearing, the members granted Patrick Kennedy of Panoramic Interests application to exempt the UA from a CEQA review and demolish most of the building.

What is CEQA?

To quote Google: “The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a state law that helps protect historic buildings and sites in California. CEQA requires that proposed projects be reviewed to determine if they will impact historic resources. 

What are historic resources under CEQA?

• Buildings, structures, sites, objects, and historic districts that are listed in the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) 
• Properties that are determined to be eligible for listing in the CRHR 
• Properties that are designated locally as historic resources 
• Properties that are determined by the lead state agency to be historical resources”

The United Artists meets all these criteria.

The LPC granted full landmark status to the UA but only if the developer sells the building to someone else. Our fear is what can happen even before that scenario should occur. We can use an example of the theater down the street (“The Shattuck Cinema”) that was recently completely torn down. The entire project appears to have fallen through and the construction has stopped. If Kennedy destroys the building and then sells it, it is gone forever. There will be nothing left to landmark (except the front façade and the lobby.)

In January of 2025, Save the United Artists Berkeley hired a preservation attorney, Susan Brandt Hawley, who filed an appeal to the CEQA exemption on 01/13/2025. We await a hearing date.

If the City grants a CEQA report, will that save the building?

That remains to be seen. It will require the developer to assess what is historically significant. We have hired an attorney and filed an appeal to the decision. If the City denies our appeal, it is still a step that must be taken before a lawsuit. We are geared up to fight this through.

Why is the City hiding important documents?

The developer’s “Historic Resource Evaluation (“HRE”) severely downplayed the historic features of the building. The city hired its own peer review consultants “The Rincon Group,” to prepare an independent report. The Rincon consultants filed two reports, one on June 21, 2024, and another on August 2, 2024 which stated that the UA is very much a building of historic significance and requires a full CEQA review. Our group was aware these independent reports were coming out and we repeatedly asked to see them. The City’s principal planner, Sharon Gong, stalled us for almost 5 months. It wasn’t until October 24, 2024, that the City put them on record. However, they did not send them to the zoning board committee, nor did they add them to the public documents included for the final hearing. Two of our members sent emails which mentioned and included the Rincon reports. These were the only two emails missing from the records.