The Downtown Redevelopment Area encompasses a 250-block area bounded by Embarcadero to the south, 27th Street to the north, Lake Merritt to the east and Interstate 980 to the west. Excellent transportation systems, easy accessibility, central geographic location and a state-of-the-art fiber optics cable system are some of the highlights of Oakland’s Downtown Redevelopment Area.

Navigation Menu Major Features Developments Completed Current Developments Streetscape Improvement Projects Map Downtown Façade Improvement Program Downtown Tenant Improvement Program Basement Backfill and Repair Program RFP, RFQ and Contracting Opportunities Additional Info Uptown Traffic Management Plan 10K Housing Initiative

Downloadable PDF Files Central District Urban Renewal Plan 5-Year Implementation Plan 2009-2014 Downtown Oakland Development Activities Chart 10K Housing Map Downtown Oakland Commercial Map Downtown Parking Map Fox Theater Amended DDA

Major Features:

• Major office center; with over 15 million sq. ft. of office space and approximately 80,000 daytime employees.
  
  
• Excellent mass transportation systems including the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system which connects Downtown Oakland to other Bay Area cities and a population of over 7,000,000 people and AC Transit, the third largest public bus system in California, which connects Downtown Oakland to twelve cities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
  
  
• Easy freeway access to Downtown Oakland from Interstate Highways 880 and 980.
  
  
• City Center, Old Oakland, Chinatown, Lake Merritt, and Jack London Square provide entertainment, retail, office, and residential opportunities.
  
  
• 500 room convention center hotel and 90,000 sq. ft. convention center, with a new 162-room Courtyard by Marriott Hotel nearby.

• A fiber optic network by Pacific Telesis representing a $5 billion investment.
  
  
• The Bay Area’s most favorable climate, with pedestrian and waterfront access.

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Developments Completed:

Office - New Construction

• Oakland’s downtown office renaissance began in the 1990’s with the construction of several major private and public office buildings, including the Ronald Dellums Federal Building (~ 4,000 employees), Elihu Harris State Building (~ 2,000 employees), University of California Office of the President building (~ 900 employees) and City Administration Complex (~ 900 employees) 

• New development of CBD Class A office space began in 2002 when Shorenstein Properties completed construction of Oakland’s first new Class A office in 12 years. This 677,000 square-foot building located at 555 12th Street was 93% leased by the mid-year 2004, and today enjoys occupancy hovering around 97%.

• Renovation of Oakland’s Historical Buildings has resulted in renewed tenancy interest in mature office space including: The Tribune Press Building (1912, restored 2007), The Latham Square Building (1925, restored 2003), The Pacific Building (1912, restored 2001), The Rotunda Building (1912, restored 2001), The Sears Building (1929, restored 2001), The Wakefield Building (1927, restored 2001), The Tribune Tower (1906, restored 2000), and many others. Total completed restoration since 2000 includes over 1.5 million square feet of CBD office space.

• Center Twenty-One: Completed in October 2007 by Brandywine Realty, Center Twenty One is Oakland's first newly constructed Class A building since 2002. Its nine-story, sky-lit atrium creates a dramatic aperature between the existing 2101 Webster Street office tower and the new, 215,000-square-foot office building at 2100 Franklin Street. The combined complex offers 675,000 square feet of Class A office space and 16,000 square feet of retail. The project is Gold LEED certified, the first multi-tenant LEED rated building in Oakland's CBD. Center Twenty one, along with a portfolio of four other marquee Class A buildings in the Oakland CBD were purchased by the CIM Group in a $412.5 million transaction that closed in October 2008.

Office - Reconstruction

• Cathedral Building (1615 Telegraph): This landmark 14-story Class B office building, located at the intersection of Telegraph Avenue and Broadway, has been redeveloped as an office/residential condominium project through Brog Properties. The office and residential condos are currently listed for sale.
  
  
• Plaza 360 (360 22nd Street): Purchased by Pacific Real Estate Partners in December 2006, this 120,000-square-foot Class B building has undergone extensive renovation. Completed in 2009, the building has received LEED Certification for Existing Buildings.

• 365 Main Oakland Data Center (720 Second Street): Located in the Jack London Square area, this 111,000-square-foot building was purchased in January 2007 by 365 Main as the newest of this company's six data centers. The data center provides air-conditioned, secure space to companies wishing to house computer servers, networks or storage. This building is an important connectivity asset to Oakland's fiber-rich downtown.

Hotel & Entertainment/Special Use

• Fox Theater – Rebabilitation of the Fox Oakland Theater, a National Historic Landmark movie palace located in Oakland’s Uptown District, is underway. The Agency replaced the roof and renovated the historic sign and marquee in 2000 and 2001. The project includes the interior renovation of the theater into a live performing arts center with a flexible seating plan capable of accommodating between 500 and 2,300 patrons, a new home for the Oakland School for the Arts in the theater’s wrap-around space, and an exterior façade renovation. The grand reopening gala was on February 5, 2009. For more information about the Fox’s history, historic and current photos, and to donate, please visit the Friends of the Oakland Fox.
  
  
• Cathedral of Christ the Light: The newest Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in the world is located in the Oakland CBD adjacent to Lake Merritt and will contain offices and conference facilities. Its dramatic architecture has created a magnificent centerpiece for the Uptown-Lake Merritt area's renaissance. The Cathedral Center includes The Cathedral of Christ the Light, a landscaped plaza open to the public, a 200-space parking facility, parish offices and hall, conference facilities (350 seats for dining), Catholic Life Center, chancery offices, rectory, bishop’s residence, cafe and bookstore. The complex had its Dedication Mass and Consecration of the Cathedral on September 25, 2008. The master plan includes future construction of a 150-seat daily chapel and a 126-foot bell tower, both to be built at an undetermined future date.

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Current Developments:

Office - New Construction

• 1100 Broadway and Key System Building: With entitlements now complete, SKS Investments is proposing a LEED Silver rated (or higher) office complex at 13th and Broadway that will consist of the restoration of the historic Key System Building and new construction of a 20-story, Class A office building. The rentable building area will total 310,000 square feet of office space and 9,800 square feet of retail space. SKS is now actively marketing the psace to prospective tenants. Construction is expected to begin in late 2009.
  
  
• 601 City Center: Entitlements are complete on Shorenstein's proposed 23-story, Class A commercial building to include 596,767 s.f. of net space. Designed to achieve LEED Gold standards, 601 City Center will be the East Bay's largest "green" office building. The site will include ground floor retail, 22 floors of Class A ofice space and 120 underground parking stalls. Construction is anticipated to begin in late 2008. Leasing of the building is underway.

• Kaiser Center: Immediately adjacent to Kaiser Center I, completed in 1960 as Henry J. Kaiser's 28-story corporate world headquarters and personal residence, is the three-story, mixed-use (office and retail) Kaiser Center II. On March 25, 2008, Swig Co. filed a preliminary development plan with the City of Oakland that, if approved, would allow Swig to replace the Kaiser Center II structures along 20th and Webster streets with towers of 780,000 and 565,000 square feet.

The redeveloped Kaiser Center site plan calls for a broad, pedestrian-friendly concourse with active streetfront uses from Webster Street eastward along 20th Street. This design will strengthen the connection between downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt. The project is being designed by Skidmore Owings & Merril design principal Craig Harman, who also led the design team on the nearby Cathedral of Christ the Light.

Hotel & Entertainment/Special Use

• Jack London Square has grown to include numerous restaurants as well as retail and office space. Jack London Square Partners with its development partner Ellis Partners, LLC, envision a complete redevelopment of Jack London Square to include several hundred thousand new square feet of Class A office space, upgrading the Waterfront Plaza Hotel by its new owners Joie de Vivre Hotels and a second four-star hotel with 284 rooms and 15-20,000 square feet of conference space.
  
  Phase I (complete) includes redevelopment of an existing office/retail building at 66 Franklin and new construction of a two-story retail/office building at 10 Clay Street with opportunities for outdoor dining on the waterfront.
  
  Phase II (complete) has produced The Market, a six-story commercial building that will include 62,000 square feet (two stories) of open-air produce, meat and fish market, cafes, restauratns, a culinary school, and shops. The 100,000 square feet of Class A office space features stunning views of the Port of Oakland, the Bay and San Francisco. An adjacent seven-story parking garage at 255 Second Street has 1,086 parking spaces and 30,000 square feet of retail space.

• Marriott Hotel/Courtyard Marriott/Scotlan Convention Center: The 484-room, full-service Oakland City Center Marriott and the 162-room Courtyard Marriott Downtown were purchased by CIM Group in June 2007. CIM Group now also manages the Scotlan Convention Center on behalf of the City of Oakland. Built in 1983, the Oakland City Center Marriott is a 21-story, full-service hotel located at 1001 Broadway adjacent ot the Oakland Convention Center and the 12th Street/City Center BART station. CIM Group plans a comprehensive renovation that will modernize the facility and provide an enhanced, upscale new look and feel for the guest rooms and common areas, CIM will evaluate enhancements to complement the convention and meeting business and develop retail and retaurants along the street to create new pedestrian energy and activity.

Housing & Mixed-Use

• Mayor’s 10K Housing Program – This program was initiated to bring 10,000 new residents to Oakland. Activities under the program include: partnership between Uptown Partners (Forest City, Inc.) and the Redevelopment Agency to develop over 700 units of housing, marketing of Downtown Oakland and key development sites with mass mailings, published articles and direct negotiations; preparing Agency owned sites for development; and facilitating private projects to encourage rapid development. Click here to visit the 10K Housing site.

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Streetscape Improvement Projects

A number of streetscape projects are planned for the Downtown, including:

•Revive Chinatown Pedestrian Improvements (scramble traffic signals, bulb-outs, pedestrian countdown timers, high visibility crosswalks, new sidewalks, lighting, new furniture, lighting at four intersections: 8th/Webster, 9th/Webster, 8th/Franklin and 9th/Franklin) -- Project completed summer 2008.

•Broadway Phase II & III (design and construction of new sidewalks on the west side of Broadway from 16th to 17th streets and selected pedestrian amenitites from 13th to 20th streets including some new trees and tree grates.)

•Broadway/West Grand (installation of new double-acorn candelabra lighting fixtures, street trees and median improvements.)

•Old Oakland (new brick sidewalks, historic lighting, and pedestrian amenities  on the west side of Washington Street from 7th to 9th streets.)

•Latham Square (reconfiguration and enlargement of Latham Square, traffic  island removal, traffic calming features, revised signalization, and new furniture,  lighting and pedestrian amenities.) To view graphics of the Latham Square  Project, please click on the following links:  Design concept sketch                           Design Plan

•Telegraph Avenue (widened sidewalks, travel lane reduction from two  north/south bound lanes to one north/south lane plus a center turn lane,  construction of corner bulbouts, and lighting and pedestrian amenities from 16th  to 20th streets.) To view graphics of the Telegraph Streetscape Project, please  click on the following links:  17th-18th Design concept sketch              17-18th existing conditions sketch  Cross sections                                        Design plan

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