Central Station

511 Bike Mapper

2008-05-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is directly from the BIKE MAPPER website that is part of bicycling.511.org.

What a great tool for getting around on a bike and figuring out your route for Bike to Work Day on May 15th. Check it out and go for a ride.

Welcome to the Bay Area’s resource for bicycling information. Here you’ll find the new 511 BikeMapper, route maps, locations of lockers and racks, information on how to take your bike on public transit and across Bay Area toll bridges, how to ride safely in traffic, tips on commuting, bicycle resources and more.

New to biking? Register with the 511 Ridematch Tool to find a Bike Buddy and start today!

Rosanna Anson Vazquez, Photographer

2008-05-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

You will be treated to a number of Rosanna's surrealistic photographic works in the new Pacific Cannery Lofts model, a Signature Loft, opening next week. Rosanna comes to us on a full scholarship to the MFA program at the Art Academy from Barcelona Spain. Growing up in an artistic family Rosanna began her college studies in advertising but followed her artistic passion and switched to graphic design where she explored the world of shapes , colors, and drawing both by hand and on the computer. Moving on to study at the Llotja School of Arts in Barcelona she found work with a fashion photographer and was fascinated more by the photo shoot itself than the art. Shooting with a "point and shoot" camera she entered her own work into the El Pais Photography competition and won first prize which was a Canon 30D camera. Since then she has not stopped shooting. Winning the scholarship to San Francisco has allowed Rosanna to live her dream. She wishes to entertain people with her surrealistic photos and to get their minds off hard times. The actual photograph is only the first step in her art form. The image is later manipulated in order to create different dreamscapes. Changing color, and applying additional images all come together to create the incredible surrealism of her work. You can view her work at her flickr site and of course at our new Signature Loft Model at Pacific Cannery Lofts.

One Huge Crane

2008-05-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

What kind of crane does it take to lift palm trees over tall buildings? Well they have what you need at Hatton Cranes.
The crane pictured here, which is the one used to move trees at Pacific Cannery Lofts, is the largest mobile crane made and a permit is needed every time it is moved. This is a 500 Ton Hydraulic All Terrain Crane with a
197' Main Boom
276' Luffing Boom
With "All Wheel steer"

The tires on this rig were as tall as I am(just over 5') and there were at least 10 of them. The people from Hatton were amazing with their precision and placement of the trees. Although it was a very windy day the trees were lifted over the building and placed bulls eye into 4' x 4' holes that the crane operator could not even see. (He had a 40ft tall building in between himself and the holes.) Standing in the courtyard was another Hatton team member with a walkie talkie directing the crane operator's every move. Hats off to the Hatton/Miller team. "LIKE BUTTA!"

Flying Palm Trees!

2008-04-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

So how did they get those 3500 lb palm trees up over the 40ft high Pacific Cannery Lofts building and into the three courtyards. Under the watchful eye of Jeff Miller of Miller Company Landscape Architects these trees and the concrete garden furniture were craned up and over the building and lowered into a previously prepared 4' x 4' x 4' hole. As the tree was precisely placed in the hole, the Miller Company's team held it in place while dirt was tossed around the root ball to hold the tree upright in its new home. These Mexican Fan Palms, that were in the ground in Arizona just two days prior, were trucked to the site at PCL. Their leaves are tied in a upright position to aid nutrition to the roots for a healthy transition to their new home at the Pacific Cannery Lofts. For more pictures please visit the PCL photoblog in the next few weeks as we have many amazing photos to share from this event. WOW!

New Eats Come to Town

2008-04-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

Another pair of SF restaurateurs has ventured across the bay to bring some new dining to Oakland. They add to a growing number of entrepreneurs that see the growing opportunities in Oakland without having to pay the San Francisco price tag of running their business. Located in Jack London Square just about a mile and a half from the Pacific Cannery Lofts, Mono in getting a lot of buzz from foodies around the Bay Area. As written by Eater SF, "Now several weeks into dinner service, Mono is the brainchild of the husband-and-wife team of Todd Wilson and Eloisa Castillo and the latest in Oakland's steady rise to dining prominence. The space, inspired by the couple's industrial loft down the street, seats no more than a few dozen, but there's an outdoor patio for those sunny days and the seasonal menu is available at the horseshoe bar as well." The food, as described by the owners, is "globally inspired small plates and wine."

You can read more about Mono from the Oakland Tribune, NovoMetro, or see customer reviews at Yelp.

Bikes on Bart

2008-04-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

I have noticed more and more people riding bikes to work and around urban settings. Expect this number to increase even more as home owners begin to move into the Pacific Cannery Lofts in a couple of months. With a short bike ride to West Oakland BART many future home owner will be "biking and barting" to work and play.

Bikes are allowed in any BART car but the first car of a train. There are restrictions during commute hours for standard bikes but folding bikes are allowed on BART at all times. For more information on Bart Bike Rules check out
http://www.bart.gov/guide/bikes/bikerules.asp.
Please come by the Pacific Cannery Lofts sales office to check out two different types of folding bikes made by Dahon. One has 20"wheels and the other is full size. Both fold easily and are light enough to roll or carry. Happy riding and "keep the rubber side down!"

Mexican Fan Palms in the PCL Courtyards!

2008-04-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

Eight, 25ft Mexican Fan Palms, (Washingtonia robusta), were placed into the courtyards at the Pacific Cannery Lofts last week. These trees weigh approximately 3500 pounds each and will grow high enough to clear the 40ft building. The gray trunk is ringed with closely set leaf scars although usually at least part of the trunk remains covered with dead leaves that hang in a thatch. The solitary trunk, about 10-12 in in diameter, bulges at the ground and becomes slender as it approaches a crown of large palmate leaves with gracefully drooping leaflet tips. These are rich glossy green and grow to about 5 ft long and 4 ft wide. They are borne on 3 ft (0.9 m) orange leaf stems that are edged with sharp sawtooth spines.

In addition the concrete benches and tables were also set in the courtyards so you can now start to see what a wonderful space this will be.

Now I know what you are thinking....how do they get the trees, and concrete furniture over the building and into the courtyards if they weigh so much. You can find out in our next blog where we will share this incredible process.

West Oakland Branch Library History

2008-04-20T14:30:00.001-07:00

The West Oakland Branch Library is the oldest branch in the system, established in 1878. After occupying 4 other sites, the library branch relocated to the current facility in 1979. West Oakland Branch Library is situated on the corner of 18th & Adeline St. - across from DeFremery Park and Recreation Center and the West Oakland Senior Center."

According to UC Berkeley Librarian Suzanne Calpestri, the existence of a library provides clear evidence that West Oakland's rich history was about a community that believed it would be well served by having an educated and literate population.

West Oakland has approximately 35,000 books, compact disks, videos, DVDs, audio books, audiocassettes and magazines and newspapers for all ages. Circulating materials are largely of popular interest with a strong emphasis on practical how-to topics and local history. Special-Interest collections include the African American Collection, a Small Business Collection, Careers and College section, a Lesbian /Gay/ Bisexual/transgender Collection, and Spanish Language Materials for children and adults. West Oakland has an extensive children's section focused on providing early literacy materials to children and their parents as well as a growing teen collection.

For more information visit their website at:
http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/Branches/West/index.htm

A little bike maintenance

2008-04-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

NovoMetro wrote a great piece, Messing with Bikes, on some of the free workshops in Oakland for bike maintenance. Oakland is a great place for commuting by bike, especially given how many places you can easily get to on flat roads or by hopping on BART for a commute into the city.

I'm a perfect candidate for one of these workshops as I love to bike, often ride to work, but really don't know too much more than the basics when it comes to good bike maintenance and repair (I have been spoiled for years by having a good friend that is also a bike fanatic, so I always have eager hands to turn to for a tune-up). As the article points out, however, bikes are pretty simply machines, so it is worth taking a few minutes to learn the basics.

With the bike lounge that we're building at the Pacific Cannery Lofts, we'll be sure to include a good work-stand for keeping your bike in shape. Perhaps more importantly, we'll be looking to offer some free workshops hosted at the bike lounge so even people like me can get the benefit of it.

Let the Landscaping Begin!

2008-04-11T15:40:00.001-07:00

Work on fhe first of our three courtyards began this week. With the scaffolding down, the green light was given for the landscaping crews to get their work underway with plants, shrubs, greenery, palms trees, and hardscape. For the past few weeks our landscape architect has rented out a shop that is half a block away from the Pacific Cannery Lofts, and they have been forming and pouring concrete benches and furniture for the courtyard. Sometime either next week or the week after the palm trees will be craned in and planted - we'll keep you posted as the work progresses. Soon people will have a much better understanding of why one of our models, the Courtyard Loft, has its name - thus far visitors have had to look out windows onto scaffolding and plastic coverings instead of trees and greenery, which can be a challenge for even the most imaginitive minds.

The view outside the courtyard model now can be seen below:

And when it is done, it will look a little more like this:

SF Chronicle - The Live-Work Concept Evolves

2008-04-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Last week the feature story of the San Francisco Chronicle's 'At Home' section highlighted the latest live-work concepts and projects, focusing in part on the Pacific Cannery Lofts.

"The live/work concept evolves to fit the needs of a new brand of consumer. Whether it's living where you work or working where you live, proximity to public transit is an integral component of new loft and mixed-use construction."

On the Cannery, the article focuses on how the location (270 BART trains a day to San Francisco in less than 10 minutes), the custom upgrades for defining the space, the bike lounge, and the opportunity to have a public and a private entry to a space all create a more functional and more interesting live-work space that is centrally located in a transit hub.

You can see the whole article here: Live_Work_Chronicle.pdf

Live-work buildings create the foundation for a great community, whether you are just there to live or just there to work. We can speak firsthand about the community at the Clocktower Lofts, where several entrepreneurs made their start (including Holliday Development), and many others make their home. And at the Cannery with the opportunity to own for less than $2,000 a month, the rent/buy comparison makes sense for apartment space and office space alike.

Is Oakland the Next Brooklyn? (Part 2...)

2008-04-03T10:24:00.001-07:00

We made a first post a few weeks ago comparing Oakland to Brooklyn, raising the question of whether Oakland is beginning to have the same relationship to San Francisco that Brooklyn has to Manhattan. With so much going on in Oakland, and a location like that of the Pacific Cannery Lofts that is only 10 minutes away from downtown SF, it almost seems inevitable.

This past weekend, the New York Times published some similar thoughts in their article, "Sisters in Idiosyncrasy." They go on to say:

"that the populations drawn to both areas by alternative art and music scenes, and by a tolerance for diversity, were looking for a “messy urbanism, a clash of different styles that Brooklyn still retains, that the East Bay still retains.”

Other communities across the country also fit this bill, but what Brooklyn and the East Bay share is proximity to more cosmopolitan centers — Manhattan and San Francisco — where the “creative class,” many of whom are freelancers, can earn a living.

“You can make money in both cities,” Ms. Levine said. “Can you make money in Portland, Ore.? It’s a cool city, it’s got lots of hipsters, but can you make money?”

Roger Guenveur Smith, an actor who has been “flowing in and out” of the Bay Area and Brooklyn since the late 1980s, said the two areas are similar in the relationship that Brooklyn has to Manhattan, and Oakland and Berkeley have to San Francisco: one of interest and curiosity, but also independence."

You can view the entire article here

Paint'n Time

2008-04-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Gallons and gallons of EnviroKote, an environmentally friendly primer, are stacked up as painting gets well underway.

As we'd mentioned before, some scaffolding is starting to come down throughout the Cannery. One of the 3 courtyards has the scaffolding down and is within a week of having the landscape installation begin....that means hundreds of shrubs, groundcover plants, and even palm trees.

Also shown below is the Grove, what will be a richly landscaped pathway that meanders between the original Cannery building and the new townhomes. This Grove is perfectly suited to become the home to a commercial row of live-work owners, with the ability to have a client entrance on one side and a private entry from inside of the building.

GREEN HOUSE GOSSIP

2008-03-27T11:43:00.001-07:00

You may have noticed that there is now a green house on the property in front of the sales office.
This structure was donated to People's Grocery, a non profit organization focusing on solving the community food and health needs of West Oakland by growing fresh fruit and vegetables, organically and locally.
I was able to walk into the green house the other day and it was like a steam bath in there. Rows of small plants, including 30+ varieties of tomatoes, are being incubated here and will then be transferred to People's Grocery's two acre farm in Sunol. They will then be packed into a SOUL box (Sustainable, Organic, Unprocessed and Local) and redistributed to residents in West Oakland. Peoples Grocery also has programs on healthy cooking, urban agriculture, nutrition and more. Please check them out at http://peoplesgrocery.org/

How do you value 10 minutes?

2008-03-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

In 1991, Holliday Development developed 601 4th Street, also designed by David Baker + Partners. These lofts sold amid a tough market and an even tougher neighborhood, as SOMA was yet to see much of its revitalization.

Originally the average sales price on these lofts was $285,000. Today, we just saw a listing for one of the penthouse homes for $1.959 million. As noted on SocketSite, this is a "truly unique San Francisco Space and Penthouse."

Now that the Holliday-Baker team has turned to the Pacific Cannery Lofts, the opportunity is here for another truly unique space by the same team, this time located just on the other side of the bridge, about 10 minutes away (and for about $1.5 million less than this penthouse).

Wave GOODBYE to the Scaffolding (or at least some of it)

2008-03-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

This is when it gets exciting. The scaffolding at PCL is starting to come down, revealing the building one elevation at a time. We first saw the beautiful eggplant color of the stucco at the entrance to the sales office and design center. This color will continue into the largest courtyard where it will be complimented with a soft blue/grey on the opposite courtyard wall. Next you will see the soft green/yellow color of the middle courtyard that will soon be complimented by lush greenery. The last courtyard will be more of a soft yellow. The real pop will come along the main corridor wall with a bright lime green that you will walk by but not stare at everyday! It should be gorgeous!

Learning Life Skills

2008-03-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we posted on Stephon Taylor and Reggie Collier, two apprentices from the local area that are actively involved on the construction side of the Pacific Cannery Lofts. The two apprentices impressed us, and now they're both noted on the cover of the Oakland Tribune.

Cecily Burt of the Tribune writes:
"Taylor, 20, an apprentice electrician working for Rex Moore Electrical Contractors and Engineers, is one of a handful of local residents who are helping build a variety of residential developments within the large Central Station project in West Oakland — practically in his own backyard.

What makes Taylor's story unique? He learned the basic fundamentals of the construction trades — carpentry, electrical work and plumbing — during a bare-bones, six-week training program run by Bruce Cox in a West Oakland warehouse.

Cox, a contractor and owner of MBC Construction who also helped create a similar construction job training program for the Men of Valor group at Acts Full Gospel Church, said he is determined to give his time, knowledge and energy to help every aimless young person land a good job...

Taylor has been working for Rex Moore electrical contracting for about eight months. Every three months he attends state-licensed electrician apprentice classes in Hayward, a four-year program conducted by the Western Electrical Contractors Association, and he continues to attend twice-weekly training classes conducted by Cox, both to learn new skills and refresh and reinforce the ones he knows.

"I like the people I work with, and I like the fact that I'm going to school (to continue to learn)," Taylor said while pulling wire through framed walls in the Pacific Cannery Lofts project, one of several new residential developments that will cover 29 acres along Wood Street between 12th Street and West Grand Avenue.

Taylor said his co-workers have been helpful.

"Most of the guys I work with are from Sacramento, and they all have country accents," Taylor joked. "I'm teaching them the urban style."

His foreman, Darvin Crawford, said Taylor is a very good worker who has caught on quickly and worked hard to overcome his lack of experience and the lure of the neighborhood.

"I couldn't say a bad thing about him ... He's highly intelligent and picked up the wiring very fast," Crawford said. "He's very young, and he's going to make a lot of mistakes ... but he's a good kid. I told him if he stays with it he'll make $100,000 a year, no problem."

"This is good for Stephon," Cox said after visiting the job site. "He grew up here in West Oakland and he's positioning himself to make big money. I'm happy he keeps coming to class."

Taylor's wide smile showed he's happy things worked out, too. He said he really likes his job at Rex Moore and thinks he's found his niche in electrical work.

A few other of Cox's students also are working on the Central Station developments — with good results so far."

For the full article, click here:

Taylor%20-%20Tribune%20-%2003-24-08.pdf

Calling all Nurses

2008-03-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

The Center for Housing policy released a study that for many markets of jobs, homeownership is out of reach as unaffordable for those workers. The Inman News Blog wrote a piece on this study, and as an example cited nurses and their lack of ability to own a home in the Bay Area.

But at the Pacific Cannery Lofts with 4.99% financing, we are now calling on all nurses (and other professionals in the same situation) who have felt the effects outlined in the housing study and feel like homeownership is out of grasp. With homes starting at $350,000 and one of the lowest fixed rate loans in the country, the opportunity to buy is opening for for a wide range of hard working professionals. We've even reached out to the California Association of Nurses to try and spread the news.

Pocket Parks and Elevated Tracks

2008-03-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

The newest addition to one of the many pocket parks in the Central Station Community can be seen in this blogs image. The beautiful metal trellises are actual pieces of the 16th Street Station’s elevated tracks that needed to be removed to make way for the next set of building that will go between the Ironhorse Apartments and the 16th Street Station itself. Beautiful paths and pocket parks will be the connective tissue between the varied living units of the Central Station making for an integrated, walkable community. It should be beautiful! I keep imagining the plazas, paths and parks full of residents on a sunny day.

Ironhorse Groundbreaking Ceremony

2008-03-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, March 13th, was yet another beginning for the Central Station Community! Ground was broken for BRIDGE's Ironhorse Apartments, which will offer 99 newly constructed family apartments at 14th St. between Wood Street and Frontage Road. The apartments contain a mix of one, two and three bedroom units affordable to families with annual incomes ranging from $18,000 – $50,000. Twenty of the apartments are being made affordable to those with the lowest incomes, through rent subsidies administered by the Oakland Housing Authority. Ironhorse will be BRIDGE’s first GreenPoint Rated development, as well as it first to participate in the Bay-Friendly landscaping program. As a result, the design includes numerous sustainable or “green” building and landscaping measures. Ironhorse at Central Station represents BRIDGE’s continued commitment to the development of high quality innovative design. (Above is West Oakland Neighbor Marilyn Reynolds speaking at the ceremony)

Who Lives Here?

2008-03-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

We often get comments about our models saying that it really feels like someone lives there. Well…that’s kind of true, because we envision who would reside in each home, real or imaginary, before we begin to pull it together. Take the Live/Work Grove loft for instance. Our “poster child” there is Kristin Long, president and owner of MIGHTYminnow, a boutique web development, training and coaching firm based in Oakland. (you can see evidence of her logo development and the final logo on the door and by the desk) I met Kristin when I took a web coding class in the city. So taken by her knowledge and teaching style, I hired her to code the Pacific Cannery Lofts website.

Kristin grew up in Nebraska. Moving to SF after college, she accepted a receptionist job in a web company where she quickly absorbed the business and now runs her own. MIGHTYminnow is blossoming and she has recently been asked to join ADOBE where she teaches Dreamweaver and gives input on future ADOBE software releases. For fun she took up swing dance, began to teach that also and eventually helped start SwingOUT!, the first gay and lesbian swing dance organization in the bay area. In 1998 she joined the organizing team of CAMP SWING whose program brings swing dancers from all over together in beautiful Mendocino for a weekend of fun, flare and rhythm.

Ironically, Kristin has now reserved a unit at the Pacific Cannery Lofts and is one of the many young enterprising entrepreneurs that will be the constitution of this new vibrant community. Like most up and coming business people Kristin is looking forward to working at home but having the gallery/café as her third space where she can meet clients, work without the cat on her lap for a little while and strike up interesting conversations with other live/workers.

Oh…and the cupcake cookbooks?……Kristin’s favorite dessert!

Time Trials 4 - Pacific Cannery Lofts to Gilman Street

2008-03-12T12:11:00.001-07:00

We talk about the Pacific Cannery Lofts being in the center of an exciting corridor running from Jack London Square in Oakland to Gilman Street in Berkeley. KB & Steph see how long it takes to get from the Pacific Cannery Lofts to the end of that corridor - Jimmy Beans cafe on Gilman St. for some lunch.

The Road To Myself

2008-03-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

As I am battling traffic on Embarcadero in San Francisco, I remember the days when I had the whole road to myself. Of course those days are long over in the South Beach/ South of Market area.

Back in the late 80’s, I worked in a loft building with an artist in South Beach not far from the Clock Tower. I remember how quiet and at times creepy the neighborhood felt. The general consensus was that the neighborhood was “in transition”. After the 89’ earthquake things really changed. The highway that divided the Waterfront and Ferry Building from downtown and the Cypress Structure was removed.

As I cruise down Mandela Parkway on my way to Pacific Cannery Lofts, I am reminded of the days of having the road to myself in a neighborhood “in transition”. Hmm…sounds like a tune I have heard before.

Historical Perspective...

2008-03-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

In 1989, Rick Holliday completed the first conversion loft building in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, which at the time was a residential outpost in the middle of an industrial neighborhood on the brink of transformation. Like the Pacific Cannery Lofts, the Heublien Building was a concrete structure offering loft dwellers an opportunity to purchase large, creative space in a truly industrial neighborhood, at a fraction of the cost of other residential options. Against conventional wisdom of the time, the Heublien Building, located at 601 4th Street, was converted into 88 lofts, igniting a transformation of the industrial areas of San Francisco’s SOMA district.

Follow this link to a current listing at 601 4th Street – this loft, by the same developer and architect, originally sold for around $300,000 and is now listed at over $1,300,000.

http://sfarmls.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Sanfrancisco&PRGNAME=MLSPropertyDetail&ARGUMENTS=-N784656675,-N217192,-N,-A,-N12558271

Ignore the Headlines?

2008-03-05T16:56:00.000-08:00

That's what Time Magazine writer Dan Kadlec says in his recent article dated February 25th. There are really two markets to time, the housing market and the interest rate market, and there is looking to be a rare union of two great opportunities when you put them together. With rates at near historical lows (see the chart of how rates have trended over the past 30 years), we may be in a short-lived window to capture some of the best values available in decades.

As our mortgage lender so aptly put it earlier this week, a buyer isn't really paying the purchase price (say $400,000), they are paying a downpayment (say $12,000) and a monthly payment (say $1,900/month). So whether the purchase price is $395,000 or $405,000, that difference is far over-shadowed in a monthly payment by just a .5% change in interest rates. The chart below illustrates how a change in interest rates can have a significant impact on your monthly payment:
With rates near historical lows, a temporary federal government stimulus package being passed, and an election looming, Dan Kadlec of Time Magazine makes the following conclusion on someone waiting to time the market and facing a potential increase in rates: "If you waited a year to buy, you have saved nothing and spent a year living someplace you'd rather not be."