Oakland Projects and Business Development (Berkeley, Alameda: low income, tax, groceries)

[Stephen1110]

Overstock.com buys naming rights for Oakland Alameda County Coliseum

"The O is about to become the new home of the A's and Raiders. No, Oprah did not buy the naming rights to Oakland Coliseum; Overstock.com did."

"When the new name is approved, the Coliseum will become the "Overstock.com Coliseum", that is until Overstock changes its name to O.co"

"That name change is an effort by the online company to gain customers throughout the world."

Welcome to O.Co -- New Home of A's & Raiders | NBC Bay Area


"The online retailer is paying the Oakland-Alameda County Stadium Authority a modest $7.2 million over six years"

"Premier estimated that the Overstock.com name will make 1.3 billion impressions annually by being seen from freeways and on billboards, mentioned in the news media and seen on stadium signage."

Overstock.com Puts Its Name on Oakland Coliseum - NYTimes.com

[04kL4nD]

Has anyone heard anything about the Jack London Market opening?

It was supposed to open last year, but I haven't heard anything about it lately.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Has anyone heard anything about the Jack London Market opening?

It was supposed to open last year, but I haven't heard anything about it lately.

I know, I am following them on Twitter hoping to see updates. There isn't anything on their website either. The other related projects that disappeared:

• Bracina which is supposed to go in the market: Construction Delays Pushing Bracina's Opening Back ... Way Back - San Francisco Restaurants and Dining - SFoodie
• Tanya Holland's new creole restaurant
• Baogette and other concepts from the Top Chef winner Hung: Bao Wants Hung Huynh and Baogette in Oakland Too : Oakland Rising : Eater SF
• A pizza place: Oakland Rising: Corbo to Open Pizzeria Zanna Bianca : Eater SF

[Stephen1110]

Balco Properties Pays $1M for Oakland Office



"Balco Properties Ltd. LLC, a local real estate investment firm, acquired a three-story office building in downtown Oakland, CA, from Graphic Communications Union District Council 2 for nearly $1.03 million, or about $75 per square foot."

"The property is at 230 Grand Ave., just north of Lake Merritt. The 13,659-square-foot building was leased at the time of sale to a mix of office use and Medical users"

http://www.costar.com/News/Article/B...-Office/128126

[jade408]

I went to a "Town Hall" meeting tonight about the Broadway Valdez Specific Plan. (http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CEDA/o/Redevelopment/s/Projects/DOWD008194#ReferenceDocs - broken link)

It was my first city meeting, and it was really interesting. Anyway, I remember submitting feedback on the plan and 3 proposals before things lost steam with the downturn. This was a relaunch of the project, and it seems like they will be starting the plan from scratch. Mayor Quan even offered a few remarks around some of the opposition she has been getting to attract more retail to the city, even though the demographics match the retailers targets.

In a nutshell, the City of Oakland has identified this corridor between Uptown and Piedmont Ave as the perfect place for a shopping district for Oakland. It is well documented about the huge amount of retail leakage in Oakland. Basically, Oaklanders leave Oakland to go shopping and have a purchasing power of $5B annually. (Yikes!). If Oakland could convert these dollars and have them stay in town, the city could fund more services (obviously) with the revenues.

This area is a perfect site due to existing transit and highway access, as well as close proximity to well off areas like Montclair, Rockridge, Trestle Glen, Crocker Highlands, Piedmont the city and Piedmont Ave.

The purpose of the meeting was to get feedback/ideas/input on what people want. There was a large contingent from the nearby senior homes, some "social justice types," current commercial property owners, and long term residents.

Some of the interesting comments:

• Many people were concerned about pedestrian access and safety
• Some people were concerned about the affordable housing ratios (and were really insistent on pinning down a firm number at this early stage
• Most people want some basic amenities: groceries and drugstores
• People were really vocal of not having it turn into another Bay Street or Walnut Creek
• Lots of people wanted lots of mom and pop neighborhood businesses
• Some people were anti big-box
• And there were a few people we were getting a little bit too detailed for the current project phase (Paraphrase: We must have a used clothing store. This is required and it is more earth friendly! There used to be a great one at Lakeshore!)
• Other people used this as an opportunity to give the city general feedback

Outcomes: Mayor Quan is headed to a retailer conference to meet up with retail execs. There is a bigger presentation meeting planned for about a month from now. The city offered lots of ways to submit feedback, and I encourage you to do so. This area is really critical, since it is underutilized and right between lots of established districts. IF it works, it will be one of the only connected retail districts in town, and makes Broadway a contiguous cooridor.

Check out the info:
A roundup of coverage from Living in the O
Official Site from the City (http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CEDA/o/Redevelopment/s/Projects/DOWD008194 - broken link)
Better Oakland Coverage from last year's planning sessions (http://www.abetteroakland.com/building-up-broadway-specific-plan-and-alta-bates/2010-01-27 - broken link)

[ssmaster]

Originally Posted by jade408

I know, I am following them on Twitter hoping to see updates. There isn't anything on their website either. The other related projects that disappeared:

• Bracina which is supposed to go in the market: Construction Delays Pushing Bracina's Opening Back ... Way Back - San Francisco Restaurants and Dining - SFoodie
• Tanya Holland's new creole restaurant
• Baogette and other concepts from the Top Chef winner Hung: Bao Wants Hung Huynh and Baogette in Oakland Too : Oakland Rising : Eater SF
• A pizza place: Oakland Rising: Corbo to Open Pizzeria Zanna Bianca : Eater SF

i posted previously that i thought development in jack london was losing steam .when daniel patterson put his jls restaurant on hold and opened up plum in uptown it semed as if uptown was surpassing jls in redevelopment.
i hope something can be done to turn this around but i don't see a easy solution other than putting in a 14 screen multiplex to increase foot traffic.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by ssmaster

i posted previously that i thought development in jack london was losing steam .when daniel patterson put his jls restaurant on hold and opened up plum in uptown it semed as if uptown was surpassing jls in redevelopment.
i hope something can be done to turn this around but i don't see a easy solution other than putting in a 14 screen multiplex to increase foot traffic.

For me JLS is a dead zone (even though I love Chop Bar). It is just too far from BART and way too deserted after dark. Or more accurately, the "stuff" is spread all over the district and not very cohesive.

At least in Uptown, things are kinda contiguous. There is a good amount of stuff concentrated around Broadway/Grand and the Fox Theater. The other downtown neighborhoods have a low concentration of commercial that is open after dark (besides Old Oakland, but that area is dead on a Sunday afternoon).

[lmk1707]

I don't think it would be terrible for Oakland to have its own Bay Street, it's one of the nicest areas of Emeryville, and it would be nice to have a few (gasp) big box retailers around, like H&M or Anthropologie. Did people say what it was about Bay St./Broadway Plaza they found objectionable?

[jade408]

Originally Posted by lmk1707

I don't think it would be terrible for Oakland to have its own Bay Street, it's one of the nicest areas of Emeryville, and it would be nice to have a few (gasp) big box retailers around, like H&M or Anthropologie. Did people say what it was about Bay St./Broadway Plaza they found objectionable?

I wish I went to other meetings. Some people seemed to think they equaled "sterile" and "suburban." Someone wanted to model Oaklnad after Portland downtown. (never been so I am not sure if it is appropriate.)

Someone recommended Hayes Vallley.

Everyone seemed to miss the point of getting lots of sales tax receipts. Another Rockridge/Piedmont Ave/Lakeshore/Temescal/Glenview.... isn't going to cut it.

It is ridiculous a city the size (and affluence) of Oakland doesn't have basic stuff like a Macy's, more than one Gap, etc. Why isn't there a mall (or Union Square-esque) shopping district in town.

I like Broadway Plaza and Bay Street, because they are outdoor malls. I don't think the corridor needs to turn into one huge private development either, with no official public spaces. That is really easy to remedy.

There was a lot of talk about "adaptive reuse" and keeping the existing buildings. I remember reviewing the original plans and they were going overboard on the the saving. But I agree a lot of those spaces would be awesome to review. Some consultants put together a collection of case studies that included Bay Street, Broadway Plaza, Seattle and a few Socal places.

I was getting annoyed with the affordable housing advocates. I am totally for affordable housing, but considering no one had defined what the mix of commercial/housing/retail would be it was a little silly on trying to pin down the city on affordable housing ratios.

[lmk1707]

You're right - we already have rows of boutiques, and I do occasionally shop there but the thing about boutiques is they're either limited in selection or expensive, or both, so I still find myself going to Bay St. anyway. I think a lot of people want a one-stop place to shop, without having to boutique crawl across the city to find what they need, and we'll still have significant "retail leakage" if Oakland can't provide it. I'm not very familiar with how retail and residential play together, but Emery has tons of condos interlaced with their shopping area, and in WC only a couple blocks away are residential areas with houses. It seems like the perfect place, since it's such a dead zone right now despite being in the middle of two more trendy areas. Pill Hill is a weird sort of place already, less residential than it seems with only some low-rise condos and single family houses, and so many medical buildings.

I hope they're able to push through the opposition to create a useful shopping area - I expect it would revitalize Uptown quite a bit too.