Trinomial NRHP Status Code Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date

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PRIMARY RECORD NRHP Status Code Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date Page 1 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments P1.

1 PRIMARY RECORD NRHP Status Code Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date Page 1 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments P1. Other Identifier: Amherst Hotel, Lawson s Stationery, Varsity Theater *P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County Alameda and (P2b and P2c or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b. USGS 7.5 Quad Oakland West Date 1993 Township & Range No data c. Address 2231 Shattuck Ave. City Berkeley Zip d. UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone 10S; mE/ mN e. Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate) Assessor s Parcel Number: Northeast corner of Shattuck Avenue and Kittredge Street. *P3a Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries) A prominent Neoclassical Revival commercial building, the City of Berkeley Landmark Brooks Apartments Building is a Contributor to the Shattuck Avenue Downtown Historic District. Although the storefront level has been altered over time, the overall proportions and materials of the three-story building continue today to serve as an example of an earlytwentieth-century commercial architecture in the downtown core. The Brooks Apartments Building is part of a setting of mostly historic buildings that form the primary corridor of commercial buildings lining Shattuck Avenue and the transit center that connects the city with the University of California campus. 2S2 (Continued on next page) *P3b. Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP3. Multiple family residential property *P4 Resources Present: Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other (Isolates, etc.) P5b. Description of Photo: (View, date, accession #) View facing northeast, January *P6. Date Constructed/Age & Sources: Historic Prehistoric Both 1907, 108 years old, based on Berkeley Gazette 10/23/1906. *P7. Owner and Address: Robert S. & June I. Jeon 3215 Monterey Blvd. Oakland, CA DPR523A *P8. Recorded by: (Name, affiliation, and address) F. Maggi, L. Dill, & S. Winder Archives & Architecture, LLC PO Box 1332 San Jose CA *P9. Date Recorded: March 30, 2015 *P10. Survey Type: (Describe) Intensive *P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter none.) Archives & Architecture LLC: Shattuck Avenue Commercial Corridor Historic Context and Survey, *Attachments: NONE Location Map Sketch Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure and Object Record Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling State Record Rock Art Record Artifact Record Photograph Record Other (List)

2 Page 2 of 6 *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments The historic upper two floors of the Brooks Apartments feature a forceful and creative Neoclassical design. The two upper levels are configured with a series of window bays separated by two-story pilasters clad in buff brick. The brick continues into the window spandrels and upper wall. There are eight window bays facing Shattuck Avenue and ten facing Kittredge Street. The outer bays on each façade encompass paired window units; these are each flanked by a pair of wider pilasters, anchoring the corners. Each pilaster is wrapped by a Greek key frieze and topped by an egg-and-dart capital. The window headers feature decorative pressed-brick keystones in a Π design. The spandrels have slightly recessed panels and the upper walls are corbelled slightly. The windows are the original double-hung, reported previously as patent fireproof metal sash. At the top of the building is a cornice that features raised bulls eyes and massive dentils. A pair of original fire escapes spans two window bays on each façade. Centered on Shattuck Avenue and off-center along the Kittredge Street frontage, the fire escapes consist of half-oblong landings with wrought-iron railings that include a diagonal pattern at the top. The upper floors are separated from the ground level by a string course/sill band that features leaf-and-dart moldings and is shown in historic photos. The entrance to the upstairs levels is framed with stucco and features a wooden door frame with arched transom recessed into a Moorish arched opening; it is not clear if this is original, but is likely early. The storefront at 2233 Shattuck Ave. is not original; it consists of wood mullions and colored tiles with a recessed aluminum door. The corner storefront design is recent, with wood-framed display and transom windows, tiled bulkheads, and stucco surrounds. The entrances are recessed; one as a corner inset and another facing Shattuck Avenue. Historic photos indicate that there were originally a series of high windows along the Kittredge Street façade; these have been infilled. This building serves pedestrian traffic that flows along Shattuck Avenue to related downtown urban uses. The parcel is roughly square in footprint, with a slight angle along Shattuck Avenue. The footprint of the building covers most of the property, but includes central light wells that appear on aerial views. The building width is just over 70 feet while the depth of the parcel is approximately 80 feet. The building serves two retail/restaurant uses and two levels of upstairs apartments. Character-defining features include: party-wall commercial building footprint; buff brick upper two floors; series of window bays separated by two-story brick pilasters of two widths; Greek key frieze and egg-and-dart capital at the pilasters; decorative keystones above the windows; patent windows; paired corner window units; recessed panels between the windows; upper wall corbelled pattern; building cornice with bulls eyes and dentils, string course/sill band that features leaf-and-dart pattern, and fire escapes. The Moorish entrance is historic, possibly original. Alterations include almost the entire ground floor, including the stucco finishes, storefront designs and materials. The historic elements of the building appear in excellent condition. (Continued on next page) DPR523L

3 Page 3 of 6 *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments Shattuck Avenue façade, viewed facing southeast. Kittredge Street façade viewed facing northwest. - Detail of upper façade on Shattuck Avenue. DPR523L

4 Page 4 of 6 *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments Corner restaurant from Shattuck Avenue, viewed facing southeast. Detail of Shattuck Avenue entry to apartments at northwest corner of building. DPR523L

BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD Page 5 of 6 *NRHP Status Code 5B *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments B1. Historic Name: Brooks Apartment Building B2.

5 BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD Page 5 of 6 *NRHP Status Code 5B *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments B1. Historic Name: Brooks Apartment Building B2. Common Name: None B3. Original use: Mixed-use Residential/Commercial B4. Present Use: Mixed-use Residential/Commercial *B5. Architectural Style: Neoclassical *B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations) Constructed *B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date: n/a Original Location: n/a *B8. Related Features: None. B9a Architect: Meyers & Ward b. Builder: Unknown *B10. Significance: Theme Commerce and Architecture Area Downtown Berkeley Period of Significance Property Type Mixed-use Residential/Commercial Applicable Criteria A(1), C(3) (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.) This 1907 three-story mixed use apartment building with ground floor commercial uses was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark on April 7, 2003 under Berkeley s Landmark Preservation Ordinance. Among the findings, the building was found to be architecturally significant as an excellent example of the work of Meyers & Ward, is representative of the transformation of old wooden Berkeley into a substantial fireproof downtown environment, and was the site of the Varsity Theater, reportedly the first playhouse in Berkeley devoted primarily to movies. The nomination was prepared by Jill Korte. The property has also been determined eligible for the National Register, and is listed on the California Register of Historical Resources. After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and subsequent fire that gutted San Francisco, B.F. Brooks, a Berkeley entrepreneur, hoped to capitalize on the post-earthquake influx of people, business, and wealth by constructing in Downtown Berkeley a new mixed-use building with commercial uses located on the ground floor, and residential apartments on the second and third floors. Included within the new building was the Varsity Theater, accessed from what is now the storefront of E-Z Stop Deli along Shattuck Avenue. (Continued on next page) B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP Story Commercial Building *B12. References: Berkeley Daily Gazette, 10/23 and 12/22/1906. Henry H. Meyers Archives (drawings), CED, Berkeley, Korte, J., Landmark App., Brooks Apartments, JRP Hist. Consult., DPR523, 2231 Shattuck Ave., Marvin, B., Historic Resources Inventory form, Pettitt, G.A., Berkeley: the town and gown of it, 1973 Sunset, Commercial Berkeley, 11/1906. B13. Remarks: Proposed historic district *B14. Evaluator: Franklin Maggi *Date of Evaluation: March 30, 2015 (This space reserved for official comments.) DPR523B

6 Page 6 of 6 *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Brooks Apartments B.F. Brooks was a prominent local civic booster who was active with the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce in promoting a Greater Berkeley Plan, including the establishment of a new city wharf in West Berkeley. According to the Berkeley Daily Gazette, With the completion of this building, Shattuck Avenue will be solidly built on both sides from University Avenue to Bancroft Way. With an estimated cost of $50,000, the apartment building was under construction by October Brooks commissioned architects Henry H. Meyers and Clarence R. Ward for this building. The firm had been formed in 1903, and during a six-year period had designed a number of significant buildings, mostly in San Francisco. In Berkeley, they designed the 1905 Granada Building and the Carlton Hotel, both on Telegraph Avenue. Meyers, a California native, designed over 200 buildings during his career in Northern California, Hawaii, and Guam. He was first associated with firm of Percy & Hamilton, where he became a principal in 1900, where he supervised the Kohl Building, an early steel frame building in San Francisco. After his partnership with Clarence Ward, he continued his own proprietorship for another twelve years designing mostly institutional buildings, and held the position of Alameda County Architect from His early partner Clarence Ward had worked for a number of San Francisco architects, concluding his career with Myers in During his period with Myers after the 1906 Earthquake, the firm was noted as "the busiest architectural firm in San Francisco" (Architect & Engineer, 02/1907, p. 74). Integrity Brooks Apartments has most of its historic architectural integrity. It has integrity of location and setting in Downtown Berkeley. It has full integrity of its design at the upper two stories and, although the storefronts have been altered it retains its design integrity at the ground floor. It has integrity of the majority of its materials, details and workmanship, and has continued integrity of visual associations with commercial Berkeley design from the early twentieth century. The Brooks Apartments Building continues to be identifiable as a historic building within the greater downtown core. Prior Surveys The property was surveyed in 1978, and found eligible for the National Register, given a status code of 3S by OHP. In 2003 the property was nominated for Berkeley landmark status. The property was subsequently designated a Landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in on April 7, The property was evaluated by JRP Historical Consulting as a part of the East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project, and was determined eligible for the National Register as a part of that Section 106 process. On March 15, 2006, OHP listed the property on the California Register. Evaluation The building is historically significant due to its association with important patterns of development in the downtown core and for its distinctive architecture. The property remains an important contributor to the establishment of a historic district in Downtown Berkeley. The building consists of forms and materials that were prominent in the downtown during the period of significance for this building; from The form and detailing of the building maintains an important link to the past of Downtown Berkeley. DPR 523L * Required information

Trinomial NRHP Status Code 3S Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date

Trinomial NRHP Status Code 3S Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date PRIMARY RECORD Page 1 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) F.D. Chase Building P1. Other Identifier: Opal Theater, Hotel Crail, Vernon Hotel, Hotel Alexander, California Terrace Inn *P2. Location: