Prescott-Oakland Point Neighborhood Upcoming Events

Check out the Prescott-Oakland Point Neighborhood site for the latest neighborhood information and events.

Some recent additions include: new neighborhood market, music, cooking demo, art exhibit and many upcoming social events.

Check it out!

For the Love of Pet

Clearly we take our pets very seriously at the Pacific Cannery Lofts, and we're most excited about our dog washing station, where residents can easily wash and dry their dog without covering their bathroom in dirt and fur or spending $15 to do it at the pet store (which is what you see to the left with my dog Tucker). It also gives a great space to meet other neighbors and dogs.

So naturally we were very excited to come across more pet lovers at Happy Hound Doggy Daycare - a dog paradise located just a few blocks away from the Pacific Cannery. We grabbed some clips of this doggy paradise/chaos, which you can see below:

Putting the Live in Live-Work

At our Pacific Cannery Lofts design meeting, Nancy Holliday talks about public and private space in a live/work environment. Watch her talk about turning the upstairs mezzanine into a functional, comfortable living space...perfect for entrepreneurs and small business owners looking for a dual-use in their home.

Crashing the Design Meeting - the New Urban Flat Model

I crashed the Pacific Cannery Lofts design meeting to get the latest project updates. Our Design Director Thomas Jameson and Creative Director Nancy Holliday are working on the model for our New Urban Flat. The floor plan they are working on is a well designed 1 bedroom + den, 1 bath flat that sits on the main courtyard. Here is a sneak preview of some of their design ideas, which I can't wait to see as a finished home...

More Unburied Treasures at PCL

Among the treasures found at the Old Pacific Coast Canning Co., soon to be the Pacific Cannery Lofts, is a large scale Murphy Cardinal Scale used, I am guessing, to weigh the cans of fruit being loaded onto the trucks for distribution. The Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Company(see wmbedded image of its headquarters in the 1950's) is located in Webb City, Missouri at the base of the Ozarks. Founder William H. Perry started the new company as a result of customer need for a line of special-capacity scales rising out of Americas' construction era boom. The new scale line proved to be so successful that Perry had to resign from Webb in 1956 and devote his full attention to his new and rapidly growing company. And so, Cardinal Scale was born. As a new scale manufacturing entity, Cardinal was in need of its own heavy-duty scale line. With this in mind, Perry began discussions with Sacramento, California's L.R. Murphy Company, a well-known west coast player in the large-capacity scale business. It was L.R. Murphy who pioneered all-steel, large scale design... a major revolution in the weighing industry.

Up until that time, all large-size scales had been laboriously constructed of cast iron in designs that could not easily have been changed. Nor could these scales be easily transported from their sites of manufacture on the east coast.

Steel was readily available to Murphy on the west coast as a result of the construction explosion that began there in the 1930's. He gained a competitive edge with its use, and it was this advantage that made sense as Perry and Murphy began talking about a partnership that could be mutually beneficial.. particularly in terms of product distribution.

In 1958 an agreement was reached, and the two companies began working together, marketing all-steel, welded motor truck and axle-load scales to all parts of the country. The companies were closely associated for 15 years, and then in 1973, Cardinal acquired Murphy Scale and completely integrated the operation, with full-service plants in Webb City, Sacramento and Denver.

Six Degrees of Separation...Loft Style

In researching the history of the Pacific Coast Canning Co. we were able to get our hands on a number of historic items through some local family members of the founder Lew Hing. (Stayed tuned for that amazing story in the days to come!) The piece of note paper seen here is from the Cannery but look closely at the image in the bottom left hand corner. This note paper was printed in San Francisco at the Schmidt Lithograph Co. previously located in the what is now the Clocktower Lofts, developed by Holliday Development in the early 1990s. Do Do Do Do(humming the Twilight Zone song!) For more information on the Clocktower check out the blog entitled Deja Vu All Over Again and the Holliday Development Website Clocktower page.

Biker Bar to be added to PCL

Well sort of.

The green team over at Holliday Development have added another cool feature to the already long list of forward thinking ideas for Pacific Cannery Lofts.

Its called the Velo Lounge and there been nothing like this built for biking commuters,enthusiasts and athletes.

PCL is not only adding bicycle storage for every unit in the project,we are also adding bike repair work benches, repair stands, air fill-up station and private lockers to store your gear and tools.

This is going to be a great place to hang out with other riders work on your ride and meet new people that will hip you to the newest routes in Oakland.

Check out the sketch and come on back for updates.

Ride on!

Dogs (and cats)get their day at PCL

In keeping with the tradition of pet friendly developments the team at Holliday has added pet washing "lounge" to Pacific Cannery Lofts.

This will be a great place to give Scout a wash and dry after a romp in the bay at the nearby Berkeley marina dog park.

Bathtub washings and wet carpet will be replaced with PCL's custom designed Dog washing (or cat if your feline will stand still for a bath) Lounge.

Check out the preliminary sketch and come back for updates as this little project progress'.

Dont froget to B.Y.O.S. (soap)

Time Trials - Downtown Oakland to Pacific Cannery Lofts

Central Station / Pacific Cannery Lofts is at the epicenter of the Bay Area...

But really how connected is Pacific Cannery Lofts to the surrounding metropolitan areas? "Time Trials" is a series that will test the transit time between Pacific Cannery Lofts and surrounding Bay Area destinations.

From: Oakland City Hall / Downtown Oakland
To: Pacific Cannery Lofts
Mode of Transportation: 1994 Acura Integra
Transit Time: ...

Pacific Cannery Lofts - Progress in the Field

Working through the details with the team in the construction office. From left to right: John Thompson of David Baker Architects, Bill Brandenburg of Cannon Constructors and Thomas Jameson of Holliday Development


Walking the main courtyard with Ken Kuhn of Cannon Constructors

East Bay MUD installing the water service to the building

Laying rebar for the 15 Grove Town Homes

Filming Activity in Prescott Oakland Point

Tonight (Wednesday, November 14th) at 7:30 pm at the James Moore Theatre-Oakland Museum of California, you will have the opportunity to watch the premiere screening of two films produced and directed by Harold Lawrence featuring Internationally-acclaimed Oakland artist Bruce Beasley and Award-winning Journalist/Publisher Paul Cobb.

If you miss this opportunity, you will get a second chance to watch the broadcast on KTOP/Cable Channel 10, the City of Oakland’s government channel during December 2007.

For more information, click here.

Also

According to Ami Zins, Film Coordinator with the Oakland Film Office, Saturday, Nov. 3rd filming activity I witnessed on Central Station Parkway (Frontage Rd.) was a car commercial being produced by Bing Productions, a UK premier production company.

They could not divulge what car company but did state they will continue to film and finish probably Friday, Nov. 16th.

Looking for acting opportunity, check this out!

The Oakland Film Office is proud to announce LOCAL FOCUS!

Local Focus is a filmmakers’ salon and screening series featuring short films and music videos by local filmmakers. Local Focus will be held bi-monthly at the Oakland Metro Operahouse at 201 Broadway near Jack London Square.

The evening is an opportunity for local filmmakers to share their works with others in and outside of the industry, and to benefit by lively discussion and networking opportunities!

For more information go to Prescott Oakland Point Neigborhood

Pacific Cannery Lofts - Building Transformation

Time to play catch-up - here is a quick summary of the construction progress over the last year and a half:

How we started

Demolition of the non-historic buildings


Opening up the walls for some natural light


Cutting out three massive courtyards to let the sun in


Framing the perimeter


Constructing the garage


Framing the units


Turning the units white


More updates to follow...

De Ja Vu All Over Again

Fifteen years ago the Bay Area housing market was mired in a serious funk after 8 record setting years of rising prices in the late 80's....sound familiar?

In the midst of all the negative headlines and bargain hunters, however, there was one neighborhood (San Francisco’s South of Market) and one building (The Clocktower) that completely bucked this negative trend. In fact in 1992/3, the Clocktower's 128 units accounted for 50% of ALL of the condominium sales in SF! (See Channel 2 news story 9/17/93).



The building's success was a by-product of it's unique live/work format...it attracted people with an entrepreneurial spirit....people that enjoyed being around other creative and interesting folks...people that weren't willing to wait for the "downturn" to be over... people who wanted to get on with their plans and invest in something exciting and rewarding….their selves, their future, & their businesses.

And the result for those people? Not only did they become a part of an exciting community, but the lofts that they bought then for $265,000 now sell for around $1 million. One original buyer recently blogged on another site: “I lived in the Clocktower from 1993 until 1996 in one of the lofts in the actual Clocktower building and I wish that I had never left….It was a great place to live, and there was a real feeling of community. I was very happy there.”

Every major change in the economy opens the door to new ideas and new thinking. I think we are again at the crossroads of a new economy in the Bay Area....it is time for a new dynamic live/work building. I hope you continue to watch our progress at Pacific Cannery Lofts as the next such community begins to take shape.

Discovering Prescott-Oakland Point Cont'd

The second piece NovoMetro wrote about the Prescott neighborhood is on the Trapeze & Circus school located just 2 blocks from the Pacific Cannery Lofts. The school draws students from all throughout the Bay Area and is a popular spot for birthday parties.

http://novometro.com/news_details.php?news_id=2414

The New Face of Raimondi Park

Ernie Raimondi Park, located immediately across the street from Central Station, just broke ground on a full redevelopment plan. The newly renovated park will include 2 multi-purpose playing fields striped for soccer and football, a baseball diamond, a tot lot and older play structure, picnic area, quiet garden, and an artificially surfaced putting green. A walking/running pathway will encircle the baseball diamond.

The Raimondi’s were a local family, of which the mother, Josephine, worked at the Pacific Cannery. Ernie and his brother Bill were both baseball players, and at one time were playing together for the hometown Oakland Oaks. Ernie served in the military during World War II, and in 1945 he died from wounds received on the battlefields in Europe. To honor Ernie Raimondi and the inspiration he still brings to the city, Ernie Raimondi Park was opened and dedicated on June 27th, 1947. It seemed only natural to honor Ernie Raimondi by creating a new baseball diamond, which Charlie Tye said would “perpetuate his name and give the kids a chance to know of Raimondi's love of the game of baseball."