Fourth Street Lofts Web Log

Sure, they have a spiffy new sign, but I prefer the old one.

Posted by Jim Pire at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Good Morning,

This is to let you know that a new organization has formed to represent the Jack London District, an Oakland area extending from the Embarcadero to the 880 freeway, and from the Lake Merrit Channel to Adeline Street, and encompassing both Jack London Square and the historic Waterfront Warehouse District..

The Jack London District Association (pending 501(c) (3) ) is organized to represent all residents, property owners, business owners, and other stakeholders in the effort to promote positive relationships within the district and with municipal governments, public and private agencies, community-based and advocacy groups, and other interested persons regarding activities occurring in or relating to the district.

The Association has elected seven directors and has commenced business. It welcomes input and participation from all Jack London District stakeholders.

A press release with more details is available in Acrobat format here. We would appreciate your help in posting or distributing the release. For more information, please contact Wendy Tinsley, President, wltinsley at jacklondondistrict.org, 510 663-7443, or Ben Delaney, Vice President, bdelaney at jacklondondistrict.org, 510 419-0800.

Best regards,

The Board of Directors of the Jack London District Association.

Posted by Jim Pire at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...but I really do love all of this stuff. :-)

Can you spot the four workers on top?

Posted by Jim Pire at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am very happy to report that the UPS I purchased for one of the networks in our building just paid for itself. This afternoon's power outage lasted 42 minutes. Our 1500 KVA UPS has 52 minutes worth of reserve power, so the fourthstreetlofts.com network never missed a beat. YAY!

Posted by Jim Pire at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Signature Properties has scheduled ground excavation of the 288 Third site, formerly called 300 Harrison, to begin this Wednesday, May 18th, and will last through Wednesday, May 25th. We estimate that 100 to 120 trucks will offhaul soil from this site between the hours of 7AM and 4PM each day (approximately 15 trucks per hour).

Regards,

Signature Properties

Rudemil Valeros
Project Coordinator

Posted by Jim Pire at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Greetings !

As most of you are aware, Pulte Homes is in the process of constructing housing between 4th and 5th Streets, on Alice Street.

We are excited that we will be pouring our building foundation on Monday and Tuesday of next week, May 16th and 17th. While this is great news for our progress, we realize that the process of pouring this foundation will inconvenience some of you for these 2 days.

As a token of our appreciation for your patience, Pulte Homes has made arrangements with the Cuckoo's Nest restaurant across the street on 4th Street to provide coffee and bagels or other goodies on Monday and Tuesday. These complimentary refreshments will be available from 6:30am to 10:30am on both days, on the patio in front. We invite you to stop by, watch some of the activity, and be able to ask some questions if you like on Monday morning.

Pulte Homes
at 428 Alice

Posted by Jim Pire at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IN DEPTH: OAKLAND STRUCTURES/BANKING AND FINANCE

From the November 19, 2004 print edition
Pulte follows the road less traveled by builders
Company shifts toward developing in overlooked zones
Ryan Tate

Four years ago, Pulte Homes was playing it safe, erecting average-looking houses in quiet Bay Area suburbs like Dublin, Concord, Tracy and Brentwood, just as it had been doing for the prior half century.

You'd hardly recognize Pulte now. It's out on the bleeding edge of urban redevelopment, proposing chic condominiums on an industrial wasteland in rough-and-tumble East Oakland and stylish townhouses in bleak West Oakland.

"It takes some guts to go into places like that," said Steve Kalmbach, the division president who guided Pulte into the urban market at the start of the new millennium. "Not a lot of our competitors are doing that right now."

That's probably because East and West Oakland are two of the most dangerous parts of the Bay Area. And as mean as the streets are, entitlements can be tough as well. So why bother running the gantlet? Because the poorer and more industrialized parts of Oakland present the last great opportunity for reasonably priced housing within spitting distance of Bay Area job centers like San Francisco. Oakland is swathed by each of the Bay Area's major freeways and is dotted with BART stops. It also has jobs of its own. Each morning, workers flock to the federal building -- and offices for companies like Kaiser Permanente, SBC and Clorox -- only to flee the city at night.

Yet brand-new condominiums in Oakland start at under $300,000. That's competitive with prices for homes in bland suburbs that are hours inland. Kalmbach specifically mentions Dixon, 60 miles northeast, well past Vacaville; Brentwood, 45 miles east, past Antioch; and Tracy, 51 miles east. Not only are those communities as expensive as Oakland, development opportunities there are drying up. And there is a limit to how far Bay Area workers are willing to commute.

"We see the future of the market being infill," Kalmbach said.

Pulte classifies homebuyers on an 11-point scale, with 1 being a first-time buyer who has scrounged together just enough money to buy a starter home and get out of the rental market; and an 11 being a retiree looking for an active senior community. Oakland, Kalmbach said, is one of the only communities left where Pulte can build for 2a, 3s and 4s, which includes urban professionals looking for more vibrant living opportunities and unconcerned about the quality of local schools; and middle-class couples with no children, or young children, and fewer concerns about schools than a typical family.

Around 2000, when Kalmbach joined the company, it was delivering 300 housing units per year in the Bay Area, all of them suburban detached homes. This year, it expects to deliver about 950 units, with 400 of those coming from urban infill markets like Emeryville and San Jose, and the rest from more suburban markets like Hayward and Sunnyvale.

Traditional home development is "getting tougher and tougher," Kalmbach said. So companies that jump into markets like Oakland stand to reap the benefits a few years down the road.

Mike Ghielmetti, president of competing developer Signature Properties, said Pulte has done good work in its urban infill projects so far. Though smaller than Pulte, Signature also started out as a suburban, single-family home developer before branching into urban development. And like Pulte, it has gone into some of the rougher parts of Oakland, with Durant Square, a 270-unit project on the Oakland-San Leandro border, and the Estuary, on the outskirts of Fruitvale.

Posted by at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HAPPY FRIDAY 13TH!

STAMP OUT HUNGER DAY
This Saturday, May 14, is an opportunity to make up for our poor showing over the Holidays in filling the Food Bank food barrel. It's Stamp Out Hunger Day by the US Postal Service. Our postman will be picking up bagged nonperishable canned and boxed goods left in the mailroom. Please, no glass containers.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Last weekend was quiet in the neighborhood. Pulte Homes did not work on Saturday as it had requested. Our input to DON SMITH of CEDA was heard.

Another note - of small consolation but hey, we take it where we can get it these days... the Pulte and Signature projects seem to be winding up earlier than their M-F 7pm curfew.

Here is the latest information, courtesy of GARY KNECHT, President of SoNiC.

Monday, May 16, 7 AM to 7 PM : Concrete trucks will line up in the vicinity of 426 Alice Street while waiting to unload at the rate of about one truck every four minutes. 3rd, 4th, 5th, Harrison, Alice, and Jackson Streets will all see increased traffic and partial blocking.

Tuesday, May 17, 7 AM to 7 PM : Same as Monday. According to the contractor: "Please be advised that the mat pour will be split into two pours that will occur on Monday, May 16 and Tuesday May 17th. These will be all-day pours, with the largest pour on Monday." Bad weather could cause delays.

Wednesday, May 18, 6:30 PM : City Planning Commission, Hearing Room 1, City Hall, One Frank H Ogawa Plaza. Item 3 on the agenda is a public hearing on Covenant House's application for a Major Conditional Use Permit to establish "an Emergency Shelter Residential Activity for 30 young adults within an existing structure" located at 200 Harrison Street (currently owned by We the People Legal Foundation, Inc and Edmund G Brown, Jr). For further information contact case planner Chris Candell at 510-238-6986 or by email at ccandell@oaklandnet.com. The case report should be posted on the Planning Commission's website by Wednesday, May 11.

FERRY SERVICE FOR BAY TO BREAKERS RACE
This Sunday, May 15, our local neighborhood ferry will offer an early morning ferry to San Francisco for Bay To Breakers. The special ferry leaves Jack London Square at 6:45 a.m. and then proceeds to Alameda where it will depart at 7:00 a.m. The ferry arrives at the Ferry Building at 7:25 a.m. Return departures to the East Bay leave the San Francisco Ferry Building at 1:10, 3:45, 5:15, and 6:40 P.M. One way fares are: Adults, $5.50; Juniors ages 5 to 12 years old, $2.75; Seniors and disabled, $3.25; Children under 5 yrs, Free.

Complete schedule and fare information is available on line at www.eastbayferry.com or by recorded message at (510) 522-3300.

Have a nice weekend.

Posted by at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can say one thing about the new buildings going up around us - their progress will be well-documented!

Posted by Jim Pire at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

View image

I need to get rid of my wooden table and Brother MFC 6550MC multi-function printer. The table would be great for a breakfast table, dining table or desk. It is natural in color, but you could easily sand and stain it. The printer can print, scan, copy, fax, etc.

Take a look at the attached image.

Just make an offer!

Chase

Posted by at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anyone besides me think that a couple of these images would look good in our hallway? I'd be willing to pick up the cost of printing, etc. We could finally replace a few of the faded 10-year-old prints and maybe even paint the wall... Hey, it would be fun!

Posted by Jim Pire at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My favorite table at my favorite restaurant.

Posted by Jim Pire at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the roof of our building. I can see that I need to shoot this again later in the day, when the lights are on. :-)

(I'm posting these images at a higher resolution than I normally do so that you can appreciate the details. There are at least two seagulls in flight in the image above - can you spot them? :)

Posted by Jim Pire at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sure most of you already know this, but here's the schedule for the upcoming concrete pour at the construction site across the street.

• Monday, May 16, 7 AM to 7 PM: Concrete trucks will line up in the vicinity of 426 Alice Street while waiting to unload at the rate of about one truck every four minutes. 3rd, 4th, 5th, Harrison, Alice, and Jackson Streets will all see increased traffic and partial blocking.
• Tuesday, May 17, 7 AM to 7 PM: Same as Monday. According to the contractor: "Please be advised that the mat pour will be split into two pours that will occur on Monday, May 16 and Tuesday May 17th. These will be all-day pours, with the largest pour on Monday." Bad weather could cause delays.

I for one am looking forward to it. Should make an interesting time-lapse! :-)

Posted by Jim Pire at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We won't live here forever, but we'll have hundreds (thousands?) of images to remind us of our years in the loft in Oakland.

Posted by Jim Pire at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

COMMUNITY ACTIVISM
There is a lot going on in the neighborhood these days and sometimes we don't always get adequate notice of important meetings. But that doesn't make them any less important.

Tonight is one such meeting at The Egghouse, 229 Harrison (corner of Third Street) in Oakland, from 7-8:30pm.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IMPACT ISSUES
The City of Oakland organized it and it is regarding all four of the neighborhood Construction Projects-Impact Issues related to the ongoing development projects. Representatives from all four of the projects, as well as DON SMITH from CEDA-Oakland's Community and Economic Development Agency. The four projects are: 426 Alice Street-across from our front door; 300 Harrison Street-across from our garage side; 127 Second Street and 206 Second Street

The Agenda is at the bottom of this newsletter.

Hopefully more than a few of us can be there, armed with questions and input.

If you can't be there and want to provide input, contact Smith at 510/238-4778 office, 510/238-3586 fax or via email at dsmith@oaklandnet.com.

Another way to get your questions brought up at the meeting is to contact GARY KNECHT at KnechtGary@aol.com. Gary is on the new Jack London District Board* and is President of SoNIC, another neighborhood organization.

JACK LONDON DISTRICT ASSOCIATION
The neighborhood is about to have a new organization, which is in the process of getting incorporated. The interim officers are: Wendy Tinsley, President (Fourth Street Lofts), Ben Delaney, VP (CyberEdge business & residence on Martin Luther King Blvd), Simon Waddington, Secretary (Tower Lofts), Joanna Adler, Treasurer (Jack London Mail), Steve Sacks (Prime Smoked Meats), Bach Nguyen (Jack London Realty), and Gary Knecht (Egghouse).

COVENANT HOUSE
There was a meeting Monday night at Mayor Jerry Brown's building at 200 Harrison, on the corner of Second Street and Harrison. The building used to house the Mayor before he moved down to the new Sears lofts, and We The People. The corrugated two-story metal building has been on the market for more than a year is in escrow now. Covenant House is buying it and the deal should be final in July or so. If all the permits and processes are completed, Covenant House plans to open around Thanksgiving time.

There was a vocal group meeting with SEAN SULLIVAN, Development Director; JULIA MAXSON, Program Director for the Oakland Intake Center, and the Executive Director for Covenant House California, based out of LA. Also present were our Oakland City Councilwoman, NANCY NADEL; and CHRIS CADELL from CEDA.

By the way, Nancy Nadel is running for Mayor of Oakland.

My impression was that the presenters had a generalized presentation, but weren't able to answer specific questions or address neighborhood concerns. This project is moving fast and will be a done deal unless someone or something quickly raises flags.

One issue which was raised by the neighbors concerned the actual use of the building in our neighborhood. Right now we're being told that it is for a Shelter which basically wouldn't be occupied during the day, and the residents would be 'in' for the night and not allowed outside. The concern was that the Shelter in our neighborhood could become the Intake Center, which is currently at 271 Telegraph in downtown Oakland. The current shelter is a temporary one at St. Andrews Church located at 925 Brockhurst at San Pablo in West Oakland. It was requested that Covenant House include a provision in their permit process that the Jack London District site wouldn't become the Intake Center. The Covenant House people hedged and wouldn't agree.

RON BROWN, the developer of the new building on Second and Jackson, across from Amtrak, said there were disclosure issues. He said under California Real Estate Laws, as a developer he is required to disclose neighborhood things, such as the fan on the Amtrak building which can be heard. Brown said Covenant House in the neighborhood would be something he would have to disclose.

Covenant House has applied for a Major Conditional Use Permit and that hearing comes before the Oakland Planning Commission on Wednesday 18 May 2005 at 6pm in City Council Chambers. This is an important meeting to attend or get comments to the right person.

I'm including Gary Knecht's notes from the meeting, at the end of this issue.

TRASH BASH VI
Fifty of our neighbors joined in for the sixth Trash Bash Saturday 23 April 2005 and cleaned up the neighborhood. Fourth Street Lofts was represented by CATHERINE CHASE, STEVE FOSSUM, RICK LEICHER, WENDY TINSLEY and four others whose names I didn't get. (sorry) Tower Lofts-who had the most participants with 9 1/2 - claimed Catherine also in their count because she owns lofts in each building.

Other buildings were ALLEGRO-6; BRICKHOUSE-2; EGGHOUSE-1; NEW MARKET LOFTS-8; PORTICO-3; SIERRA-9 and MISCELLANEOUS-5.

After the neighborhood was cleaned up, there was a BBQ which was also well-attended.

The Merchants who donated were: Bay Cities Produce - 300 Webster; Ben & Jerry's - 505 Embarcadero; Jack London Mail - 248 Third Street; Prime Smoked Meats - 220 Alice Street; Subway - 336 Madison; Tea House China Bistro - 200 Broadway; Warehouse Bar & Grill - 402 Webster; and Yia-Yia's - 200 Alice.

NEW NEIGHBORHOOD EATERIES
Both Subway and Sierra Deli & Market opened late last month. They both are on Madison.

Subway is at 336 Madison, and it's open daily. Monday-Fridays the hours are 10am to 8pm; Saturday 11am-6pm, and Sunday 11-5pm. This is the Subway which donated to our Trash Bash.

Sierra has two doors, on Madison and the main door on Third Street, corner of Madison. It's open six days a week. Monday-Friday it's open 6:30am-8pm. It may open later and close earlier on Saturdays.

The nice thing about Sierra is that it is a mini convenience store. It has Berkeley Farms dairy products-milk, eggs, cheese, butter, etc. There is also Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream products, Marie Callendar frozen entrees, Birds Eye frozen vegetables and there are canned goods and other last minute items folks need.

FRESH ORANGE JUICE
For those of us who don't drink coffee but want a fix in the morning, Cuckoo's Nest offers freshly squeezed Orange Juice.

SMILE
Smile is the name of a new dental office opening soon, according to its sign. It is located between Subway and Sierra Deli on Madison.

Have a nice weekend!

Lynne

AGENDA FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IMPACT ISSUES MEETING

Subject: Discussion of JLDA concerns relating to development projects in the Jack London area

Purpose: To resolve any misinterpretations of conditions of approval associated with the construction impacts of the Jack London area projects

1. Introductions
2. City concerns and issues
1. Project/Construction signage - Well lettered signage, clearly describing project, developer and an emergency contact telephone number, hours of construction, after hours security
2. A detailed construction management plan to be made available to community and City --- Copy of construction crew job site instructions
3. Haul route plan, including dust prevention
4. Advance notice (one week) of any major construction event, i.e. large concrete pour, major material delivery
5. Noise monitoring requirements if noise complaints occur
6. Community outreach
7. City actions if community complaints continue
3. Community concerns and issues
1. Noise
2. Saturday construction activity
3. Major construction events
4. Regular outreach events to keep community informed
4. Next steps

Posted by at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)