Oakland Projects and Business Development (San Francisco, London: real estate market, foreclosed, hotel)

[tanglenet]

Back on thread:

We just leased a car from One Toyota of Oakland across from the Coliseum on Oakport. This is the round 4 story building that had a Toyota dealership for about 1 day after being built as they opened right during the financial collapse. Really pleasant experience. Very different from Downtown Toyota and Toyota of Berkeley where we also shopped. My understanding is that the owners are from Arizona and have the same business model down there as here in Oakland.

One Price One Person® - Oakland New Toyotas and Used Cars - One Toyota of Oakland, Oakland, CA 94621 (http://www.onetoyotaofoakland.com/en/about_us/one_price_one_person.cfm - broken link)

[tanglenet]

We also finally ate at Commis. Really excellent and highly recommend. Prix fixe at $59 per person. My only complaint is that the wine list is OK but not as good as the food. Otherwise, incredible dishes and attentive and knowledgeable service.

commis restaurant

Also hit SR24 and was disappointed. A lot of interesting spices added to dishes (french fries and fried chicken both had anise) but it just didn't gel for me. The wine list was also mediocre and over priced.

http://www.sr24food.com

[jade408]

I liked SR24 but I noticed it could be hit or miss. We enjoyed dessert and I think we had halibut that was excellent, but my friend ordered spaghetti and meatballs that were both mediocre and overpriced. But the "new" restaurant winner for me has been Chop Bar [http://www.chopbar510.com/]. If you haven't tried it, it is an absolute winner. Moderate prices, yummy food, good sized portions.

I also enjoyed True Burger, that was another winner.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Originally Posted by jade408

There are lots of larger offices downtown, or buildings tat target non profits but not enough in the mid-range.

I seriously don't understand your argument. Commercial real estate is hurting even in prime areas like San Mateo, and Mountain View, and after just a cursory search I found lots of open office space in Oakland that is leasing for under market value.

You can't seriously be trying to blame "lack of affordable" office space on why Oakland can't attract private investors. I'm honestly trying to analyze the points you're making but they just don't make any sense. Sorry.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

I seriously don't understand your argument. Commercial real estate is hurting even in prime areas like San Mateo, and Mountain View, and after just a cursory search I found lots of open office space in Oakland that is leasing for under market value.

You can't seriously be trying to blame "lack of affordable" office space on why Oakland can't attract private investors. I'm honestly trying to analyze the points you're making but they just don't make any sense. Sorry.

Lots of tech startups need "light industrial" zoning, but there isn't much of that in a prime location in Oakland. Overall Oakland's commercial space is holding up pretty well, but there are still some high profile vacancies in downtown.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Lots of "tech workers" also like to find affordable housing that isn't a shoe box and isn't near killing fields. Overall, Oakland is failing badly in that regard.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

Lots of "tech workers" also like to find affordable housing that isn't a shoe box and isn't near killing fields. Overall, Oakland is failing badly in that regard.

The tech workers "concerned with affordable housing" are well aware that there isn't any affordable housing on the Peninsula or much of Silicon Valley. They live far already. South San Jose, Morgan Hill.... the housing near peninsula or South Bay employment centers are nowhere near inexpensive. This isn't a big concern for the average tech worker some people even forgo proximity to their office to live in SF. The problem is a "space" and "proximity" problem more than anything else. I recently talked to 2 services company from the east who are planning to open Bay Area offices. One chose downtown SF to be near their primary partner; the location is across the street. The second one chose the peninsula to be near their key partner and many of their clients, the same office park. Clearly these companies chose a location based on proximity to key vendors, suppliers, and customers. Right now Oakland doesn't have that critical mass in any industry, which makes it tricky.

[Mr. Fantastic]

See you're missing the point. There have been actual studies done on the demographics of successful cities around the country that show, without argument, that things like the availability of affordable housing, the quality of public education, and crime rate matter when it comes to attracting skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and in turn, private investment.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I know Oakland has a problem with having a competitive edge when it comes to any industry, but you seem to be missing the point that having a city that is full of crime, fiscally bankrupt, and has a poor public schooling system are major factors in why that is the case.

You're making the evaluation equivalent of saying someone has AIDS because their white blood cell count is low. Well duh! That's a symptom of the disease. But what caused it? That's the point you're missing.

[tanglenet]

Originally Posted by jade408

I liked SR24 but I noticed it could be hit or miss. We enjoyed dessert and I think we had halibut that was excellent, but my friend ordered spaghetti and meatballs that were both mediocre and overpriced. But the "new" restaurant winner for me has been Chop Bar [http://www.chopbar510.com/]. If you haven't tried it, it is an absolute winner. Moderate prices, yummy food, good sized portions.

I also enjoyed True Burger, that was another winner.

jade408, thanks for the rec.

Is Chop Bar located where the 4th Street Cafe or Gorilla Cafe use to be? Or maybe it's still there? It was a place in the middle of the produce district and kind of fell off the radar as the food started going down hill. Primarily a breakfast spot.

Also, have you been to Boots and Shoe Service? I've heard it's good.

[18Montclair]

Burke Williams & Sorensen LLP said it will bring on the 12 Oakland lawyers who specialize in public law, which involves counseling cities, counties or taxpayer-funded districts.

Burke Williams will also hire one public law attorney from San Francisco’s Hanson Bridgett LLP, who will join the new attorneys in Oakland.
The hires are effective Sept. 1 and account for nearly all of the lawyers in McDonough’s Oakland office.

Read more: SoCal law firm opens in Oakland - San Francisco Business Times

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