Category — business

Today we celebrate Oakland’s past – and its future. From the trendy Art Murmur showcase of contemporary art to a conference on preserving California’s historic architecture, today and this weekend offer opportunities to experience the past, the present, and discover and shape the future. Mayor Quan will cap off a week of celebrations by cutting a birthday cake and unveiling the restored historic model of City Hall, smashed by Occupy in January. And with Occupy apparently over – partially thanks to the organizers of the large March for Dignity and Resistance changing their route to avoid being used as cover for Occupy-related crime – Oaklanders can shake off the negativity and focus on building a stronger city.

This weekend’s events include:

• The California Preservation Foundation annual conference kicked off downtown on Thursday. One public event is a Jane’s Walk put on by Oakland Urban Paths in partnership with 10,000 Steps, Once Upon A Time, and Friends of the Cleveland Cascade. Meet at 10am Sunday at 11th and Broadway (the Key System mural), the walk is two hours. Because it will include walking through city parks, no dogs are allowed.
• Old Oakland’s Pop Up Hood celebrates six months of success with several of their tenants signing long-term leases, hopefully sparking a retail revitalization of this beautiful, historic neighborhood.
• The Oakland Museum of California has started its Summer Nights program with movies and events running late into the balmy evenings.
• Linden Street Brewery and Tina Tamale host a Quatro de Mayo party tonight.
• A guerilla light art project is seeking funding for a roving projector in the DTO via Kickstarter.
• Businesses like the new bar District (827 Washington St) are part of a trend of expansions to Oakland from San Francisco.
• The Oakland Police Department (455 7th St) hosts its first-ever Open House at 5pm tonight, for community members to learn more about the department.
• Highlights of the Art Murmur include: Urban Information at Slate Contemporary (473 25th St), PaleoTone at Hatch Gallery (492 23rd St), and Odyssey at Betti Ono (1804 Telegraph Ave).

Next Thursday is Bike to Work Day, with a pancake breakfast and all-day valet bike parking outside City Hall, and a bike away from work party in Old Oakland (9th and Washington) in the evening. Check out Walk Oakland Bike Oakland’s Pedal Pools page if you’d like to ride downtown with your neighbors!

On this beautiful day we have nothing but good news for downtown: a new investment and HUB for Oakland, new moves from an important local industry on 4/20, and some flattering television profiles of our favorite neighborhood.

A new Hub for Uptown, above Grand

Broadway’s large Western block between 23rd and 24th Streets downtown is owned by a spin-off of Signature Properties. A follow-up to the successful Broadway Grand project across 23rd, it’s approved for a 367-unit development. In what is hopefully another sign of economic recovery, the first phase, about 100 units, will likely start construction this year on the rear of the block on Valley St – home to one beautiful brick facade which will hopefully be preserved. But more immediately, the half of the block facing Broadway is fully leased under the curation of Numi Tea owner Ahmed Rahim, and so later this year we’ll see a fully-occupied commercial strip from the forthcoming Sweet Bakery at 24th all the way to Ozumo at Grand.

One of these spaces will be occupied by the developing HUB Oakland project, an application to bring the Google-sponsored incubator for woman and minority-led technology startups to downtown Oakland. Tonight HUB Oakland hosts a mixer and panel discussion at Oakcollectiv, though all tickets were reserved in advance, look for more events and news from HUB Oakland on Facebook.

4/20

It’s not all doom and gloom for the medical cannabis industry, as demonstrated by the spirited protest today at the Dellums Federal Building. Former Prop 19 spokeswoman Dale Sky Jones is taking over Oaksterdam University and it will likely survive though on a smaller scale, while Richard Lee will reopen the Oaksterdam Gift Shop, which is a great stop for visitors to the city. Read an Oakland North interview with the two of them to learn how they expect to continue serving patients and employing Oaklanders.

In celebration of 4/20, which has become slang for marijuana for some reason, the New Parish (579 18th St) hosts the “12th Annual 420 Fest” of island music headlined by Fungo Mungo, and stoner favorites the Extra Action Marching Band come to the Uptown (1928 Telegraph) tomorrow along with fellow hornmeisters Damon and the Heathens.

What’s on TV?

A few nice TV news spots about the DTO this week:

• ABC7 profiles the Gardens at Lake Merritt (entrance on Bellevue)
• KTVU reports that Downtown Oakland is leading the housing recovery, based on demand from downtown workers.
• News10 Sacramento highlights the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (610 16th St, Ste. 230) planning 24-hour video game marathon as a fundraiser.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend!