Developer Rick Holliday took a dilapidated industrial building in one of Oakland’s oldest neighborhoods and created the Pacific Cannery Lofts, a modern and stylish 163-unit complex that is one of the major developments in West Oakland.

Holliday, who started his career more than two decades ago, said this $60 million project is his best to date in terms of quality and design. Units ranging from studios to townhomes are priced from $249,000 to the high $400,000s. About half of the complex has sold.

“Our target market is people who are tired of paying rent,” Holliday said. “It’s really closer to San Francisco than some parts of San Francisco.”

The units incorporate some of the building’s industrial features such as exposed columns and large windows with modern elements such as space-efficient built-in shelving, tables and desks. Other amenities include several floors of garage parking, three landscaped courtyards, a dog-washing room and a bike lounge.

Holliday first mapped out the Pacific Cannery Lofts several years ago when he came up with a masterplan for a West Oakland development called Central Station that would consist of several new housing projects and renovation of the historic West Oakland train station. Developers including Pulte Homes, Bridge Housing and HFH Limited agreed to build more than 1,000 new units.

“West Oakland is changing fast — in 10 to 15 years, it will be a totally different place,” Holliday said. “If you’ve never been here, you have all these preconceptions. But, if you spent time walking around here, you’d be shocked.”