Category — business

Last week saw the first dry First Friday of 2010, though it was pretty chilly after the sun set. Like the rest of Oakland, Downtown shines best when drenched in sun, and it seems the rainy season has finally ended. If you’re working downtown, living downtown, or planning to hang out downtown, here’s what you need to know in mid-May.

Downtown Oakland’s second-largest property owner, Shorenstein Properties, has put its four-million-square-foot office and retail portfolio on the market. The properties include the City Center shops; Oakland’s third-largest and second-tallest building, 1111 Broadway; and an agreement to complete construction of a new high-rise at 11th and Jefferson. Though Shorenstein is a local company and a long-time investor, new energy and ambition could improve the City Center office district.

To link Oakland’s disparate office markets and transit hubs, the City of Oakland has set a date for the launch of its new shuttle serving Broadway. On Monday Jun 21, commuters can catch a free ride from Uptown all the way to Jack London Square every fifteen minutes, from 7am to 7pm. Downtown is geographically quite large for a downtown of a mid-sized city, and it’s just not a nice walk from a Midtown lounge to a Jack London Square restaurant, so many expect the shuttle to help unite different retail  nodes, over time. If the shuttle can secure additional funding, its hours can be lengthened to serve dining, but for now it’s great for commuters and Jack London Square restaurants, which suffered mightily when the City’s last Broadway shuttle ended operation in 2002.

Far from the beaten First Friday track, Jack London District’s Swarm Gallery opens a new exhibit this Second Friday, featuring photography and wood sculpture. The Mercury20 photography gallery is now open at its new location on 25th St near Broadway. Today is the deadline for Alameda County artist to submit work for ProArts Gallery’s juried annual, Bay Area Currents 2010.

The Uptown neighborhood continues to add residents and businesses at a rapid clip. City Homestead reports several new restaurants coming to the district, and recently the Planning Commission gave a new bar permission to operate at 17th and Telegraph. Oakland will spend Redevelopment funds to brighten BART’s lonely alleyway. With artsy lighting joining our rightful sunshine, it’s the season for hanging out in downtown Oaktown.

It’s April Second today, also known as First Friday, and true to form, the DTO is hopping with artistic, cultural and gastronomic treasures. A brief roundup of what’s new and notable downtown follows, for your urban enjoyment.

The scoop on what you may have seen near the Art Murmur: classic car enthusiasts gather informally in Uptown every First Friday.

Hibiscus gets a flattering writeup in a popular Bay Area dining blog.

The Oakland Running Festival (yes, it was more than a marathon), which was centered downtown, is estimated to have brought almost two million dollars to Oakland in one weekend. And that’s not including the publicity value of all those nice blogs about the Town!

Will Oakland’s next Pride Parade be in Uptown?

Obi Kauffman interviews The Hive’s Elise Morris. The Hive’s sister gallery, Swarm, will be open tonight displaying conceptual works and watercolors. You can find more about tonight’s art offerings in The OakBook’s monthly art roundup.

New fixture The Layover presents art to walk through, created by one of the DTO’s most prominent public artists of the last decade. And in Old Oakland, a new bar brightens Ninth Street. With cabaret reform coming to the Council for final passage this Spring, look for new nightlife venues continuing to crop up.

Another winery comes to Jack London Square. If only there were a water taxi, the Oakland and Alameda waterfronts would be a premier boozy destination!

Mobile food vendors will gather near 23rd and Telegraph this evening, including a “jerk” specialist, but most of Oakland is not supportive of alternative culinary experiences.

The fate of the A’s, whether they stay in East Oakland, move downtown, or move to San Jose, remains unresolved.

Happy weekend downtowners! I’ll see you in Uptown.

This week’s downtown news is brought to you by first-hand experience, online media sources, and the number 30.

Specialty film is the theme of moment, with the International Black Women’s Film Festival opening at the Oakland Museum tonight. If you missed yesterday’s viewing of Afro-futurist classic Brother From Another Planet, there will be another airing of the Black Sci-Fi film fest in August. And 21 Grand is showing an avant-garde video art project this evening,

Yesterday I had the opportunity to enjoy a lunch prepared by the team behind Encuentro, a wine bar and vegetarian restaurant planned for 200 Second St. While they wait on all the hassles to clear to open their restaurant, they host an occasional lunch that is both literally and figuratively underground – in a semi-sunken loft somewhere near the JLS train station. Tuesdays and Thursdays (though not next Thursday), look for an open door to find an $8 gourmet and vegetarian lunch, usually a choice of sandwich or salad (lemonade, ice tea, and cookies are extra). You can find more information by sniffing around Facebook.

In other Jack London Square news, the Chronicle reports that the much-anticipated restaurant Bocanova is coming closer to its debut, with more details available on its New World cuisine and family-style dining. In related news, the forthcoming gastropub on 13th off Clay Jefferson is finishing its buildout and anticipates an early August opening. In perhaps even more joyous news, the hulking half-finished City Walk project across the pedestrian way has been transferred to another developer, raising hopes that the project might actually be finished. New restaurants joining new housing? It seems like the 10k Plan has a little more steam.

In journalism, it’s called burying the lede. In dialogue, it’s an aside. This week, the juiciest information about openings in downtown Oakland came from a careful reading of an article and a blog. In a wide-ranging interview with Bakesale Betty herself, the Trib’s Dave Newhouse reveals the opening date of Uptown’s new Bakesale Betty’s bakery: in September! Meanwhile, an SF Weekly blog about Souley Vegan’s prepared dishes at the Grand Lake Farmers’ Market mentions that the vegan soul food cook hopes to reopen a downtown location this summer, at 3rd and Broadway.

There’s hidden information, and then there’s rumor and innuendo, which I suppose is a form of information. From the rumor mill, an Uptown steakhouse, and new dance club or two, and an Old Oakland take on hip Japanese cuisine are said to be in the works. Frozen yogurt is now being served in City Center, providing another place to get a sweet treat. With the Parkway perhaps getting a lifeline, it seems like anything is possible. Except perhaps a reopened Kaiser Auditorium.

Today, the Washington Inn continues its Friday night comedy series in Old Oakland; Mike Moto headlines. Jack London Square continues its nighttime dance lessons under the stars with American Tango. And Oaklandish is bringing back its Salsa by the Lake event this Sunday, though in Splash Pad Park to avoid Measure DD construction.

Finally, Mignonne Decor closes the doors on three charming years in Old Oakland with a sale today and tomorrow on vintage housewares and furniture. Though the store is, if anything, moving up in the world (it will soon find itself in West Berkeley’s furniture district), Old Oaklanders are disappointed that four gifts and clothing boutiques have closed in less than a year. But with some exciting things in the works for Uptown and other parts of the DTO, we hopefully won’t have to wait long for a new place to patronize! Sadly, though, we won’t read about it on OaklandGoods.

It’s happening downtown, from waterfront events to new construction, to good decisions and bad decisions from City Hall.

Jack London Square, its first round of new construction almost complete, is set the liven up summer with a series of special events. Thursdays Palm Tree Plaza at the foot of Broadway will show nautically-themed films, with The OakBook hosting a trivia contest. Fridays the Linden Street Studio will teach dance classes (today is the waltz) under the stars, and restaurants are offering prix-fixe dinners. A hanging tile mural is being installed on the new Amtrak parking garage. And more opportunities are arising for the future: east of the square, the former Zazoo’s is for sale. It appears to be a $3.2m tear-down, potentially zoned for up to 120 residences, and no height limit.

It’s not all roses, though, for downtown’s waterfront: The Island reports the Port of Oakland is considering ending ferry service at Jack London Square. I find this very unlikely, since it would entail ending the Alameda Ferry as well, while the Water Emergency Transit Authority is attempting to expand ferry ridership and infrastructure.

On Wednesday the Planning Commission approved plans to renovate the former Sweet Jimmie’s on San Pablo and 17th, on the edge of Uptown near Old Oakland. The operator of SF’s Independent will create a smaller venue, a restaurant, and two clothing boutiques, and gussy up the façade. The building hosted Dave Chappelle’s surprise performance last month. Meanwhile, with no public hearings needed, nearby @17th is set to be the new location of the Bench and Bar.

Less awesome for downtown was the Planning Commission’s decision to grant The Shorenstein Corporation five years to resume construction on 601 12 St, which is now a gigantic hole. The lot is half a block from the partially shrink-wrapped CityWalk site. Old Oakland could endure nine years of construction as result of that decision, mitigated only by $50,000 worth of murals on a fence.

City Hall may be closed today, but there is good policy news as well. As the reader may know, on May 5 pedestrian advocates and downtown residents persuaded the City Council to use a prominent Uptown lot for public art instead of car parking. The approved motion, introduced by Councilmember Ignacio de la Fuente, directed Cultural Arts to incorporate the lot into its Uptown arts budget, but allowed the parking plan to move forward in two weeks if City Administrator Dan Lindheim determined an arts use is infeasible. It’s been two weeks, and Cultural Arts has presented several options to Mr. Lindheim, which have not been declared infeasible. So Uptown will not take a step backwards by reverting a prominent Telegraph Avenue lot, however temporarily, to car parking. Whatever Cultural Arts does with the lot, I’m confident it will enrich the neighborhood, complement the streetscape, and perhaps even give Playa-haters a chance to see large-scale sculpture. Uptown Unveiled debuts in June.

In case you missed them.

Mignonne, an Old Oakland boutique featuring vintage and French housewares, furniture, and gifts, is moving to West Berkeley. This weekend the shop holds a moving sale, at 10th and Jefferson across from Lafayette Square Park. Other shopping opportunities include a new gallery in Uptown, and 17th St has been on the upswing this year. A recent business article reports that Oakland’s retail vacancy rate is much lower than the national average. Of course, it’s hard to subtract from zero.

Much was made of an empty Uptown lot where pedestrian advocates successfully delayed a plan to build a parking lot. The alternative, integrating the lot into the Uptown Unveiled public-art program, must be ruled feasible by Tuesday for it to proceed. Meanwhile, here in Old Oakland we have our own empty lot, the site of a high-rise office tower known as 601 City Center. Unlike the Uptown lot, construction started and then stalled, leaving a huge hole in the ground. But Oakland and the developer, Shorenstein, have agreed to, among other things, create a “a public art program to increase the attractiveness of the security fencing.” Funny that just a few weeks ago city staff argued that decorating construction fences with art is unattractive!

The East Bay Express reviews Pican, which, alongside Ozumo, is fast-becoming a premiere destination for its California-meets-Atlanta cuisine, epansive bourbon selection, and warmly handsome interior decor. The Coco Times reviews Banyan 14, while Becks reviews nice outdoor spots downtown for this beautiful weather.

An SFer posted a sweet blog about how much he (or she) likes working in the DTO, which to him feels like a secret. One reason we’re not seeing new highrises like 601 City Center or 1100 Broadway being built is that, despite the low vacancy rate, there aren’t new tenants moving into the market (and a source reports that Kaiser is consolidating at lot of its operations to Pleasanton). But big block of space was just leased: a “neutral” office for BART to conduct its negotations with its union.

Though doom and gloom surround the economy on many fronts, downtown Oakland is only getting more happening. But it’s not all new ventures. A traveler to Downtown Oakland this week sees new businesses, but also transformed businesses, rescued businesses and long-lived businesses.

As I mentioned in an update to last week’s blog, Bakesale Betty has received all necessary permits and is building their new bakery in Uptown, which will hopefully open this summer. Also under construction are two spots in Old Oakland near City Center – a wine bar and a sushi restaurant, both on Clay near 11th St. Though it’s true that Old Oakland’s designer denim boutique closed after two years in business, nearby retailers Verse, Mignonne, and Fiveten Studio are still going strong. Check out Mignonne’s mailing list for their Saturday sales and vintage trunk shows.

One of downtown’s two (or three) completed but empty condo developments opens this evening with a party featuring Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and wannabe Mayor Don Perata. I’m sure Jean Quan will be there too, though Robert Bobb is probably tied up in Detroit. The Ellington is a 134-unit high-rise near Jack London Square. Meanwhile, Old Oakland’s Dwell, built by now bankrupt AF Evans, has received multiple offers and a new owner is expected to be announced soon. I understand that the Jackson St project with construction defects has been renovated, but if anyone knows what’s going there, please let us know.

The former Maxwell’s Restaurant and Lounge on 13th St is now Maxwell’s Soundstage, thanks to new operator Dwayne Wiggins of Toni Tone Tony and Alicia Keyes fame. He also operated the coffeeshop in the Alice Arts Center until it closed in 2007. Look for respected singers to draw a sophisticated urban crowd, though so far there’s only been one show. Maxwell’s is near another soon to open club in the area southeast of Broadway. Perhaps other districts are starting to eclipse Uptown’s light; a local architect makes an argument for Jack London Square in a design interview.

On Sunday, the Museum of Children’s Art, a wonderful children’s art center in Old Oakland, celebrates its 20th birthday! From noon to five pm on April 26th children and their parents can enjoy refreshments, entertainment, and hands-on arts and crafts including miniature golf! Year-long memberships will be available at an anniversary discount, too. In addition to retailers, nightlife, and urban housing, there are some great resources for kids in the DTO as well. MOChA is at 538 9th St in the Swan’s Market courtyard.

 It’s a week of things to get excited about in the DTO, though the city may screw that all up with an Uptown parking lot right in the middle of Telegraph! Check out ABO for the details, and enjoy your downtown weekend!

Wednesday night, the Oakland Planning Commission passed an updated zoning law for downtown Oakland, after more than a year of discussion and debate. The new law aims to spur more development and business success in the center of the East Bay, while respecting neighborhood character and promoting public transit use. While a few dozen people debated downtown’s future, a block away a few thousand people were experiencing downtown’s present. And it’s pretty cool.

At least six spots are set to open in the coming months: a wine bar near City Center, the reopening of Umi Toshi on Clay in Old Oakland, Mimosa Champagne Bar in the ever-expanding Uptown district, Farley’s East coffeeshop and ERA dance club on Grand near Broadway, and Geisha dance club on 14th St in SOBO (UPDATE: Councilmember Kaplan reports that Bakesale Betty has received permits and is under construction). This bounty of entertainment retail is shared with other neighborhoods as well, but downtown is beginning to take its place as the rightful star of Oakland’s show.

Jack London Square, in the midst of an enormous expansion, is turning up the heat this weekend, with a boat show and the announcement of a series of Friday night outdoor dance classes starting on May 1, led by Linden Street Dance Studio. Next week, the Ellington, a high-rise condo building that fell victim to its developer’s bankruptcy, will reopen under new ownership for sales. And speaking of foreclosed but completed condominium complexes, Dwell in Old Oakland is expected to be sold to a capable real estate firm very soon.

This week, all week, Uptown was thronged with crowds attending multiple concerts at the Fox, the Uptown, and the Paramount, as well as simply enjoying the revitalized neighborhood. I stopped by AVE and Flora with a visiting relative on Tuesday evening, and both were packed with folks that did not look like they were here for Green Day. It is hard to remember that only two years ago the entire district was vacant. Despite all this obvious success, KALW is going to have a radio show discussing whether or not the 10k program was a good thing. Seems like old habits die hard.

In last Friday’s euphoria of the DTO’s renaissance, a downtowner commented that there were 10,000 people downtown. Now, of course, 10k gets thrown around a lot when it comes to the DTO, but the sheer, attention-getting scale of such a crowd was both appealing and plausible. So, I decided to do a bit of digging to see if that was true. In fact, it probably was roughly true during February’s first Friday night.

The maximum capacity of the new Fox is 2800 swells, the Paramount seats 3040 patrons, the Uptown holds 575 fans, and the small live theaters (Oakland Metro Operahouse and Café Van Kleef) combined probably add another 500 bodies. So, with all the packed restaurants and bars, and of course the Art Murmur, there probably were about 10k visitors to the DTO last week. Altogether, the live performance venues downtown have a total maximum capacity of almost 7000 people.

Under Oakland’s fire code, the capacity of a restaurant or nightclub with only one exit is 49, essentially limiting each storefront to 50 customers. Assuming two turnovers before a show (and music shows are more casually-scheduled than, say, an opera), that’s about 100 theater-goers served per restaurant, permitting up to 70 restaurants supported solely by theater-goers to be packed to capacity on show nights. And of course many people go out to dinner even without visiting a theater, perhaps including some of the thousands of people expected to move downtown as projects like the Uptown Apartments and The Grand fill up. Then there are nightclubs, Chinatown restaurants, DJ bars, and art galleries.

Restaurants like Flora and Mua opened in anticipation of the Fox, and were immediately successful even without the extra 2800 people that will now populate Uptown five nights a week. Aside from popular but occasional events like the Art Murmur, the draw of the existing nightlife and the reputation of some downtown restaurants will continue to bring gourmands and daters to the DTO. As the Uptown neighborhood takes shape as an entertainment destination, we can expect visitors from across the city as well as the dreaded “bridge and tunnel” crowd to seek out the DTO. Which of course makes sense, since downtown is by definition and in actuality the hub of the regional transportation system.

Geisha, a two-story dance club on 14th, will open soon. Tablehopper has some details about Levende’s new venture in Old Oakland. This year will see the debut of Pican, next door to Ozumo, and rumors are flying that closed or under-populated nightclubs in Uptown and the City Center area are in negotiations with aspiring owners. Despite the financial freeze preventing further commercial or residential development, and the sometimes ham-handed civic leadership causing protests and bad PR in the DTO, its emergence as a regional nightlife destination has only begun.

Oscar Grant’s death at the hands of a BART police officer, violent protests downtown, and OPD controversies hog the headlines, but there is much more to learn from the news this week. With so much recent discussion about public safety strategies, Oaklanders are increasingly aware of today’s tactics. But Oaklander Online gives us a glimpse of policing in the past, gleaned from her great-grandfather’s diary of walking the beat in 1918′s DTO.

Though transportation giant American President Lines is shipping hundreds of jobs from downtown Oakland to Mesa AZ, Shorenstein paused construction on 601 City Center, and several struggling construction projects finally went into default, other forms of investment are finding the DTO hospitable. Levende East secured permission to serve alcohol with a limited menu at a new cafe in Old Oakland, and it was only one of three such hearings at the Planning Commission Wednesday night (the other permits were granted for restaurants in the Laurel and Eastlake Districts).

Souley Vegan has left 13th St because of code compliance issues, but the owner tells me that she’s hoping to reopen in a better-equipped space downtown this summer. Around the corner, the Trib’s Night Owl reminds us of continuing developments at DeLauer’s Super Newsstand.

Folks continue to discover the DTO’s new restaurants, and even Montclarions are vowing to come down here more. Oakland Goods reviews Ozumo, BixChix visit Miss Pearl’s, Living in the O reviews Dazz Thai and other Thai outlets, and the Single Guy Chef likes the Red Door Cafe.

There are only 12 days until the Fox explodes onto Telegraph, but the week’s news shows there’s much more to the DTO’s growing vibrancy.