Crews have begun demolition work on a parking garage in Oakland to make way for what will be the city’s largest residential tower. Demolition of the Merchants Parking Garage at 1314 Franklin St. is the first step in Carmel Partners’ plan to build a 40-story residential building with 634 units and 17K SF of retail, the East Bay Times reports.

The project will include 27 to 54 units that will be considered permanently affordable, and 2,400 SF of retail will be at reduced rents for community service businesses. The project also will have 600 off-street parking spots.

This development is part of a wave of new high-rise residential and mixed-use towers that will add hundreds of housing units to Downtown Oakland. Pinnacle Red Group recently proposed the city’s tallest tower, a 440-foot mixed-use building at 1261 Harrison St. with 185 housing units and 120K SF of office. Gerding Edlen is building a 23-story tower at 1700 Webster St. with 206 rentals. Nautilus Group is working to gain approvals for a 29-story tower at 2044 Franklin St. that will include 184 housing units.

CORRECTION, NOV. 28, 4:10 P.M. PT: A previous version of this story did not have Pinnacle Red Group identified properly. The story has been updated.