Category — office

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.

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.

The big event in downtown Oakland this week, of course, was the destructive aftermath of a protest against BART police killing an unarmed, restrained man. Alerted by Google, I fled to Rockridge and followed the events via television, phone and Internet. A terrible tragedy, to be sure, but at least the DTO looks great from a helicopter!

Fortunately, we can all do something to make a difference. What better way to help downtown recover than to fund window repairs by patronizing vandalized businesses? Living in the O compiles a list of victims for your dining, shopping, and grooming pleasure.

City Homestead offers a perspective of the riot from Westlake, and her experience being touched by the Oscar Grant killing. At FutureOakland, I blog that the OPD failed to protect downtown residents and should investigate its crowd control tactics. CounterPunch publishes an account of the protest that sympathizes and attempts to justify the vandals’ anger by asserting racial division, but other bloggers point out that the radical elements appeared to hail from Berkeley and San Francisco.

Recently, Oakland developer Hal Ellis passed away. As the original builder of City Center, one of the region’s largest job centers, he helped revitalize downtown Oakland in the 1970s. In the last few years, his Jack London Square Partners have begun transforming the foot of Broadway into another major office district, this time anchored by gourmet retail. But just as the DTO will rise from Wednesday’s ashes thanks to efforts of pioneers in the mold of Mr. Ellis, Jack London has risen from the dead and will visit his eponymous square tomorrow (Saturday Jan 10 2009) on the occasion of his 133 birthday. The history walk begins at Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon at the end of Webster, at noon.

The Trib’s Night Owl, Angela Woodall, reveals details and dates of Ozumo’s venture in the DTO, on the smoking-hot corner of Broadway and Grand. Ozumo and Pican, who signed leases months ago but did not begin work until recently, will share the intersection with Luka’s, the Franklin Square Wine Bar, newly-glam Vo’s, and next year, Bakesale Betty.

The original Uptown investment that sparked the district’s revitalization, The Uptown Apartments, celebrated the first residents and the broader community by opening a new Oakland park last night. The park, built and maintained by Forest City but operating as a city park, will soon be home to Remember Them, a colossal bronze monument a friend called “Mt. Rushmore for liberals.” Check out the park before it’s overwhelmed by “art.”

The Trib also writes about the Fox Theater, which has received tens of millions in donations and is now going to reopen as a fully-restore, full-scale theater, a far cry from “The Ruins” plan developer Phil Tagami floated to get the city interested in its restoration, which promised a usable building on the cheap. The School for the Arts is planning to move in at the end of November, so the building will appear occupied and revitalized at that point.

All the talk about the city’s budget over the last week explains why many neighborhoods are working to provide their own services and not rely on the city. Before the recess, the City Council approved several new Business Improvement Districts, including three downtown, two of these in Uptown (Uptown, which includes the Lake Merritt office district, and Koreatown, which includes part of Uptown and several blocks to the North). The Uptown bid is currently looking to hire security guards for the district. Much of the controversy before Tuesday’s vote focused on cuts to the Cultural Arts and Marketing Department, and the Oakland Convention and Visitor’s Bureau was mostly defunded. Next week, the OCVB will propose a hotel BID (PDF) to fund its activities in the future.

In other downtown news, the Barbary Lane retirement home in the historic Lake Merritt Hotel opened for long-term residents. I’m not sure whether the restaurant overlooking the Lake will be again open to the public.

Jack London Square, and its eponymous neighborhood, is quickly becoming a culinary destination. Mono and Miss Pearl’s Jam House had already proven the waterfront, once home to TGI Friday’s and The Old Spaghetti Factory, has become a viable place for upscale and edgy cuisine. Renowned (among my foodie friends at least) chef Daniel Patterson, of Coi and the former Elizabeth Daniel, has signed a lease to create a “neighborhood place” called Bracina.

The OakBook recently profiled Meg Ray of Miette, a dainty and TV-ready confectionary in SF’s charming Hayes Valley neighborhood, who will bring her contemporary yet vintage aesthetic to the under-construction Jack London Market building (nee Harvest Hall, which is much catchier). These high-profile tenants certainly confirm the marketing pull of Jack London Square II, an office and culinary complex meant to compete with City Center. But the waterfront and its new buildings is far from the only emerging culinary hotspot in the DTO.

The artist-owners of Soizic at the waterfront end of the Broadway completed Mua, their renovation of the gorgeous Oakland Auto Parts building along the edge of Auto Row, which is fast becoming colonized as an extension of Uptown. Not to be outdone, the owners of Dona Tomas leased a space just up Telegraph from their sleek Flora bistro, where they promise to serve their first burrito. With Forest City’s Uptown project, which almost single-handedly transformed lower Telegraph from a wasteland to an urban center, announcing great progress on leasing their 664 units, businesses see the area as a good investment.

Though the edges of the DTO are up and coming, the older center of town isn’t slouching. As previous noted, Tamarindo Antojeria and The Trappist are expanding into their next-door storefronts, relieving the crowds that crush these tiny but renowned spots. Despite this, Old Oakland continues to struggle to attract retail, with one closed retailer unfortunately converted to soon-to-be-illegal office space, and EBALDC’s Swan’s Market complex losing tenants. Across Broadway in old City Center, El Senor Burrito, a popular joint on San Pablo, is coming to 13th St in the restored Mash Building. In a time when terrible economic news is splashed on the front page of every newspaper, business expansion in the DTO is a welcome relief.

Tonight, the Planning Department will present the final of their four public input meetings regarding proposed zoning for the Central Business District. This final meeting will not be downtown, but in Adam’s Point, at the Sailboat House (which is poorly served by public transit) at 6:30. To be discussed are use restrictions, separate residential and commercial zones, and strict design guidelines. For a thorough explanation of what exactly the new zoning proposes, see A Better Oakland’s post, Zoning From Mars.

The proposal will be presented to the Zoning Update Committee of the Planning Commission on Wednesday, at City Hall, which is actually downtown. And near several different transit lines.

Also, I’d like to thank the Oakland Museum for throwing one of the DTO’s best parties ever. Make Me, Hottub, DJs, exhibits, and free beer – I can’t remember so many people ever having so much fun at our beautiful museum.

Sources report the owners of San Jose’s Blank Club have purchased The Uptown, a 249-capacity music venue on Telegraph that has been struggling mostly due to inept management (sorry, guys!). Across the street, Forest City’s mammoth Uptown rental development has debuted its web site, with the first phase, along San Pablo, scheduled to open early next year.

Further uptown, the Conley Consulting Group has studied the potential of Auto Row based on the assumption that most, if not all, of the car dealers will be moving to the Army Base or other locations in the near future. Their report (PDF) will be heard next week by a City Council committee. Highlights include demographic analysis, comparison to other successful mixed-use retail developments, and a very specific plan calling for major retail (with residential above) along Broadway, Webster, Valdez and 27th streets. They also note that interest in their survey and public meetings vastly exceeded expectations. The report also highlights the city’s unfortunate habit of printing out and rescanning documents as PDFs, which not only wastes time but also makes most graphics unreadable.

Finally, the Shorenstein Company’s penultimate City Center office high-rise is moving toward construction, with a Design Review meeting Wednesday. The building, on the block which was home to the Art & Soul Festival’s Main Stage (11th, 12th, MLK and Jefferson), will be larger and taller than 555 12th Street. The report detailing the design is not available as of this writing, but they’ve indicated that it will look similar to 555 and the APL building (IMHO, not a good thing).

The 1333 Broadway building (whose retail tenants include CitiBank and Gap) is undergoing a makeover. The 238,000sf office high-rise, originally built to match the Clorox building in 1972, was acquired by Prentiss Properties (now Brandywine Realty Trust) in 2005 after a heated bidding war. Brandywine owns much of the office stock in the Lake Merritt high-rise district, including Oakland’s tallest building, the Ordway (404ft). They are stripping the dull beige tiles from 1333’s monotonous ten-story facade, revealing shining silver concrete. The Brutalist in me wants them to keep it stripped, but a source who works in the building says that’s not to be. He received a letter from Brandywine that the facade will be “retextured,” possibly removing the beveled detailing shared with the formally dissimilar Clorox Building, and recolored either pink, green, or blue.