View Attachment B — Rules & Legislation Committee, October 12, 2023 (part 1 of 2)

ATTACHMENT B

Executive Summary

The owner of 410 14th Street and the artists and business owners of the Black Arts Movement and Business District are in opposition and are formally appealing the building proposed at 1431 Franklin, who have applied for both residential and commercial permitting, for a project site that is located within an existing listed National Register historic resource and the Downtown Historic District Area of Primary Importance (API). Although it was not acknowledged in in form during this process, the proposed building if approved would be built directly next door to a registered National Resource, 410 14th Street.

Below you will hear a detailed argument of contention that adequately proves the detriment this proposed building will impose if allowed by the council. You will also find a detailed account of the unjust occurrences throughout the permitting process exemplified by the Landmarks Preservation Board and the Oakland Planning Commission. The disregard of the historical status of 410 14th Street, the former Athenian Nile Club and its subsequent retail store fronts, the mismanagement of the protections provided by the designation of the cultural district cited as the Black Arts Movement and Business District by the City of Oakland appointed officials within the Planning Commission and the Landmarks Preservation Board.

Opportunity Zones and Hyper Development

The current wave of downtown high-rise residential development is clear evidence that Oakland has become activated as a location for investors. This actuality is in part due to large sections of Oakland being declared Opportunity Zones. Please discover the definition of an opportunity zone and its benefits to opportunistic developers:

The Opportunity Zones are meant to spur economic development and job creation in distressed communities by providing tax benefits to investors. Investors receive capital-gains tax deferral, reduction in basis for long-term investments and other tax incentives. Investments made by individuals through Qualified Opportunity Funds in these zones would be allowed to defer or eliminate Federal taxes on capital gains. You can get the tax benefits, even if you don’t live, work or have a business in an Opportunity Zone while investments are not administered or overseen by the City of Oakland.

The act of labeling large portions of the City of Oakland, areas mostly historically populated by majority African Americans and other minorities, as Opportunity Zones and incentivizing the removal of the longstanding African American populace by rendering attractive tax breaks to developers, presents the very foundation for aggressive gentrification.

As depicted in the map above, Downtown Oakland’s Black Arts Movement and Business District, a Black cultural district, has been labeled and incentivized for dismemberment by developers such as Tidewater Capital.

BAMBD and its African American business and property owners were not consulted before the district was greenlit.

This development surge is not without damaging consequences to long-standing small businesses and historic properties. Geoffrey’s Inner Circle has operated continuously from 1990 to present. Geoffrey’s Inner Circle has been operating in the historic, registered National Resource Athenian Nile Building at 410 14th Street since 1993. This business, along with many others have suffered from considerable

duress and displacement during the construction of the Atlas Building across the street (4 years of construction, loss of sunlight, loss of revenues etc.), AC Hotel, 1900 Broadway and other recent large projects.

Of particular concern is the proposed building at 1431 Franklin Street which recently received approval from the Oakland Planning Commission on February 15, 2023. During this entire process we have presented our valid concerns regarding this project in both oral and written entreaties.

Non-Conformance Relative to The Permit

Foremost, actuality of Tidewater Capital applying for dual permits in residential and in commercial categories is unprecedented and not the typical way the permitting process is administered. There is no history of this being the accurate way that the permitting process is governed. We would like to formally bring this point into record and dispute the validity of this process. -Lack of Conformance with Conditional Use Permit Criteria The (office and residential) proposal is required to conform to all of the general use permit criteria as described in 17.134.050. Specifically, the proposal does not conform to the following Conditional Use Permit criteria.

1. The proposal does not conform to 17.134.050 (A) which requires “harmony in scale, bulk, coverage, and density; and will result in having a “harmful effect upon desirable neighborhood character; to the generation of traffic and the capacity of surrounding streets; and to any other relevant impact of the development”.

In particular, the impact of the development will continue to exacerbate conditions detrimental to the livelihood of existing small businesses by removing parking, increasing traffic and impacts from extended construction periods.

2. The proposal does not conform to 17.134.050 (C) which requires that the “proposed development will enhance the successful operation of the surrounding area in its basic community functions”.

The proposal is located within the Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).

All development applications are required to be processed in accordance with zoning regulations that include notification of the project within BAMBD and how the proposed project will conform to the goals of the BAMBD. This proposal has not followed the prescribed procedures and has not demonstrated compliance with the BAMBD goals until February 1, 2023. The project was first proposed in December 2021.

3. The proposal does not conform to 17.134.050 (D) Regular Design Review criteria set forth in the regular design review procedure at Section 17.136.050.

See discussion below on Design Review.

The proposal does not conform to 17.134.050 (E) “in all significant respects with the Oakland General Plan and with any other applicable guidelines or criteria, district plan or development control map which has been adopted by the Planning Commission or City Council”.

The proposal fails wholeheartedly to demonstrate consideration of the goals of City Council Resolution 85958, Oakland General Plan, and the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan. These planning documents prescribe in part that proposals in the BAMBD, and quote; “preserve, protect, enhance, perpetuate, and prevent the unnecessary destruction or impairment of properties or physical features of special character or special historic, cultural, educational, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value.”

-Lack of Conformance with Design Review Criteria

4. The proposal does not conform to 17.136.050 (A)(1) which requires “That the proposed design will create a building or set of buildings that are well related to the surrounding area in their setting, scale, bulk, height, materials, and textures”.

The (office and residential) proposal is required to conform to 17.136.050 regular design review criteria.

Regular design review approval may be granted only if the proposal conforms to all of the following general design review criteria, as well as to any and all other applicable design review criteria:

Specifically, the proposal does not conform to the following regular design review criteria.

5. The proposal does not conform to 17.136.050 (A)(2) which requires “That the proposed design will protect, preserve, or enhance desirable neighborhood characteristics.

The proposed design creates negative shadows, eliminates parking, and will not preserve the existing neighborhood character of black-owned, small businesses and the cultural district.

6. The proposal does not conform to 17.136.050 (A)(5) which requires “That the proposed design conforms in all significant respects with the Oakland General Plan and with any applicable design review guidelines or criteria, district plan, or development control map which have been adopted by the Planning Commission or City Council.”

The proposal fails completely to demonstrate consideration of the goals of City Council Resolution 85958, Oakland General Plan, and the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan. These planning documents prescribe in part that proposals in the Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD) and quote; preserve, protect, enhance, perpetuate, and prevent the unnecessary destruction or impairment of properties or physical features of special character or special historic, cultural, educational, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value.”

7. The proposal does not conform to 17.136.050 (B)(1) which requires “That the proposal will help achieve or maintain a group of facilities which are well related to one another and which, when taken together, will result in a well-composed design, with consideration given to site, landscape, bulk, height, arrangement, texture, materials, colors, and appurtenances”.

Despite Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board and Design Review Committee recommendations, a reasonable conclusion can be reached that the proposal introduces a building of such a large scale that it does not result in a well-composed design due to its bulk and height.

8. The proposal does not conform to 17.136.050 (B)(2) which requires “That the proposed design will be of a quality and character which harmonizes with, and serves to protect the value of, private and public investments in the area”.

Small, black-owned businesses in the area are losing their ability to remain viable as new, incentivized development rapidly occurs. The BAMBDs goals are written to protect these institutions. The proposal presented does not even mention the Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD) until 2/1/23, over a year after its initial submission.

Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board Decision Was Disreputable

The Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board (LPAB) identifies historic landmarks in Oakland, conducts design review hearings on historic properties, and advises the Planning Commission and City Council on preservation. In addition, the board reviews projects utilizing the Oakland General Plan Historic Preservation Element (HPE).

In 2022, the LPAB conducted three meetings on the project. During the meeting in September, the LPAB recommended that the project proceed to the next step in the development process. Their recommendations failed to protect a historic property from avoidable impacts. The loss of natural light to the 3rd floor ballroom will have a significant impact on the character and use of the space. Their recommendation for approval also threatens the integrity of the Downtown Oakland Historic District.

Additionally, the LPAB failed to uphold the HPE objectives and policies including policy 3.1 (current General Plan) which is intended to avoid or minimize adverse effects on character-defining elements of historic properties.

The draft 2023 Oakland General Plan Historic Preservation Element refers to the economist James Boyce’ conclusions that identifies in part,
“Four types of political power that wealthier, predominantly White residents have in addition to their greater levels of purchasing power: decision power, agenda power, value power, and event power”.

This means greater influence in determining what decision-makers, both public and private, will or will not do; shaping decision makers’ agendas; shaping others’ preferences; and altering the circumstances others face, respectively.

In particular, event power means that once an action has occurred, such as causing air pollution, chopping down trees, or constructing buildings, the populations without similar event power or adaptive capacity must deal with the consequences of that action, often with limited to no resources.” This is precisely the situation that is facing BAMBD businesses and property owners who are left to overcome deliberate policy decisions that negatively affect their livelihoods such as reduced on-street parking, bicycle lanes and most egregious, large-scale development that is detrimental to their existence.

Design Review Committee (DRC)

The Design Review Committee (DRC) is an official committee of the Oakland Planning Commission tasked with providing design feedback to project developers and staff. The DRC conducted a meeting on September 28, 2022, to review the project. Their comments primarily addressed the superficial aspects of the project yet failed to mitigate the impact of the proposed monolithic slab tower on adjacent properties. Their comments also failed to address the concerns that both a registered Historic National Resource, 410 14th Street, and also registered Historic National Resource district are threatened by the project as designed. Their window, façade treatment, density and other comments do not begin to address the level of effort and commitment the project sponsor is required to extend for a development in the BAMBD.

During this and all other design review meetings, The Black Arts Movement and Business District was never acknowledged nor were design procedures discussed relative to the mission of the cultural district and goals of City Council Resolution 85958 enacted to protect the resources there of. Not once.

Oakland Planning Commission
A streamlined CEQA analysis was issued for the project in December 2022. The analysis reached questionable conclusions specific to the project by relying on program EIRs that did not measure the impacts from the proposed project on specific historic resources. The standard of measurement in the EIR of “Equal or Less Severity of Impact Previously Identified in Program EIRs” fails to account for the local conditions at 410 14th Street and in the project vicinity.

Specifically, Section A. Aesthetics, Shadow, and Wind, concludes that there will be “no adverse effect on a historic building, or cast shadow that would materially impair the historic resources significance”. This conclusion fails to address the impact of loss of natural light to 410 14th Street especially on the 3rd floor ballroom. The CEQA also fails to acknowledge the importance of the cultural resources in the project vicinity and the compliance with goals of the BAMBD is completely missing from the analysis.

Figure 4 on page 89 does not even identify 410 14th Street as an “Individual Other Resource” while accurately designating other surrounding properties as such.

These are critical oversights that cannot be ignored.

The project sponsors have an obligation and an opportunity to create a project that meets their financial goals as well as the preservation goals of the city as defined in the BAMBD, Downtown Oakland Specific Plan, Oakland General Plan Historic Preservation Element, and other relevant documents. A rigorous implementation of the goals and serious discussions by the project sponsor to mitigate impacts from their project could have resulted in a better solution.

It is extremely worrisome that throughout this planning review the applicable measures including meeting the goals of the BAMBD and acknowledgement of 410 14th St. being a registered National Resource have not been included. These measures are meant to protect and preserve existing businesses and historic resources through policies to ensure and encourage cultural institutions not be negatively impacted. The review of this project has not met the standard of care as required by the Zoning Code, Oakland General Plan Historic Preservation Element, or the Downtown Specific Plan. The Planning Commission should not have approved the 1431 Franklin Street application without the project sponsors and planning staff fully complying with the regulations as they are intended to be implemented for this project.

Historical Status of The District

The history of downtown Oakland development began with its roots at the foot of Broadway and grew northward through succeeding decades. The pinnacle of development occurred during the early 20th century around the intersection of 14th and Broadway in an area known today as the Downtown Oakland Historic District. This collection of historic commercial buildings gives downtown its character as an urban center.

After World War 2, Oakland’s changing demographics reflected an increase in the black population and decrease in the white population. Downtown became unattractive to developers of large-scale projects who preferred to invest in suburban locations following the population that abandoned the inner city.

Beginning in the 1950’s-60’s, small, local, black, and other minority-owned businesses have kept downtown vibrant offering an array of diverse goods and services. Recently, institutional investors have “rediscovered” Oakland (Due to these areas being greenlit as Opportunity Zones) resulting in the development of multiple high-rise residential projects. This current trend acknowledges what we owners of small businesses have always known; that downtown Oakland is a unique, distinctive, and creative urban environment. While others fled and avoided Oakland, our businesses stayed, struggled, served the community, and kept the lights on downtown. In 2016, the city council acknowledged the legacy of the congregation of downtown black-owned businesses with the creation of the Black Arts Movement and Business district (City Council Resolution No. 85958 attached).

In 1998 this district was declared a National Resource by California State Parks- Office of Historic Preservation. This actuality was eerily missing from The Landmarks Preservation Advisory Boards website that lists all the historic districts in the City of Oakland (See attached documentation from California State Parks- Office of Historic Preservation) We have serious reservations about our districts status as a National Resource. We have the exact same protections as Old Oakland (notably found on the LPAB’s website) which prevents large development in that district. We currently have multiple large scale developments being built, countless others completed and are arguably correct about the harm Tidewater Capitals proposal can cost yet, the Planning Commission continues to approve these proposals. What is the difference between The Downtown Oakland Historic District and Victorian Row (Old Oakland) that prevents their development and encourages ours?

Historical Status of the Building

In 1980, 410 14th Street was listed as National Resource by California State Parks- Office of Historic Preservation. This status was not acknowledged even once throughout this entire process.

According to the California State Law & Historic Preservation Statutes, Regulations & Administrative Policies Regarding the Preservation & Protection of Cultural & Historical Resources:
-Page 18 section 5029. State Historical Resource Designation; notification of county recorder; effect on title. (a) The commission shall, within 90 days after the approval by the director of the issuance by the commission of an historical resources designation for an individual property, submit to the county recorder for recordation, and the county recorder shall record, a certified resolution establishing the historical resources designation. For historical resources designations.

This proves the city and county was informed of the status 90 days after it was granted. It does not appear on The Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board website that lists all the historic and heritage properties in the City of Oakland (See attached documentation from California State Parks- Office of Historic Preservation)

This is the status listed on the City of Oakland Landmarks Preservation Advisory boards website in relation to 410 14th Street (a corner property listed as its Franklin side address of 1411). This buildings

National Resource status has been hidden from the public by the city in hopes that owner Geoffrey Pete was ignorant to its protected status and therefore be steamrolled by Tidewater Capital, The Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board and the City Planning Commission. The lack of professionalism and dishonesty occurring by the means of the city representatives involved is criminal.

Tidewater Offering $5000.00 for Consulting Fees
The developer has proposed draft agreements to seemingly mitigate our concerns. However, as presented the developers proposals are unsatisfactory regarding our interests. Specifically, we note the following: Compensation for Lamumba Inc. dba Geoffrey’s Inner Circle’s consultants in the matter of the suggested construction of the twenty-seven-story structure is of concern. To be offered $5000.00 in total with the expectation of such a modest amount of money covering the most minimal number of billable hours expected of structural engineers, architects, lawyers, and varying consultants is an unattainable goal. The undertaking of the proposed structure is solely the interest of the developer. As a longstanding Oakland business owner and historical site proprietor it is a necessity to have these types of undertakings supervised by professionals. The offer of $5000.00 could not cover the retainment of services from such professionals. It leaves the property owner, who has zero interest in the development to bear the load of retaining these services for hundreds of thousands of dollars, at cost.

In that same regard, their offer to compensate for insurance only before and during the construction and not after completion as well, is worrisome. We have had many instances of after construction insurance becoming required when embarking on such a task as a high-rise building. The Millennium tower in San Francisco is one of the most currently infamous instances of why this type of coverage is needed. 410 14th Street is an unreinforced brick building, and the huge potential of post-construction losses is concerning. It also is a testament of the character of the developer and their collective respect for Black business, historical property ownership and the interests of the BAMBD cultural district.

Violating the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP)

The below points are clear violations of the DOSP by the Planning Commission

1. DOSP Vision and Equity Goal
The DOSP sets out a central vision for downtown: Downtown Oakland serves as the setting for a remarkable array of lived experiences. It is both home and gathering space to people of all income levels, races, cultures, and ethnicities. It supports a wide spectrum of community assets, serving not only local residents, but also visitors and workers from around the bay area and the globe. Its economy drives social innovation and reflects the cultures, political movements, and people who are its heritage.

To achieve this vision, the DOSP’s overarching equity goal is to reduce racial disparities by shaping a downtown that provides fair and equitable access to the opportunities that permeate throughout Oakland. This includes countering forces that have led to the displacement of people, businesses, cultures, and communities of color.

2. Economic Opportunity
DOSP GOAL: Create opportunities for economic growth and financial security for all Oaklanders. The following zoning amendments will increase economic opportunity in Downtown Oakland:
-Creation of a Downtown Arts and Culture Combining Zone. As described further in Section 5:
-Culture keeping, this combining zone is proposed to be piloted in the Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).
-It establishes regulations that favor the location of arts and culture and their supportive services on the ground floor of buildings. The zone will serve as an economic driver by providing jobs and drawing patrons to the district and its surrounding area.

5. Culture Keeping
DOSP’s GOAL: Encourage diverse voices and forms of expression to flourish. The following zoning amendments will support new and more diverse cultural activities in Downtown Oakland:
-Creation of Arts and Culture Overlay Combining Zone. The intent of the Arts and Culture Combining Zone is to foster a sense of belonging for all Oaklanders, highlight Oakland’s rich history and diverse cultures, celebrate, and strengthen ethnic enclaves, support communities harmed by racial inequities, and increase access to artistic and cultural expression.

In short, their approval of the proposed building at 1431 Franklin was a direct violation of the above listed points of the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan and proved to be the opposite of historical landmark protection and culture and arts preservation. Their approval did not strengthen ethnic enclaves or support communities harmed by racial inequities.

Effects of Drilling Into the Ground Next to an Unreinforced Masonry Building

Built in 1903, 410 14th Street is building constructed of unreinforced masonry. Unreinforced masonry buildings (URMs) are old brick buildings typically built prior to 1945. Because these buildings were not built using modern building codes, they are much more likely to experience damage or collapse. The Proposed building at 1431 Franklin will have to drill deep into the bedrock to secure the foundation of the structure. In drilling within a few feet of 410 14th Street, the possibility of the vibration and rock displacement causing colossal damage is massive.

Damaging this historical building would be an irreversible disservice to the Black Arts Movement and Business District as in an instant we could lose a historical building and registered National Resource along with eleven (11) businesses of which nine (9) are Black owned.

Loss Of Sunlight and Bay Windows in the Main Banquet Hall

Alteration of light and air are not protected by the building code but should be considered in this respect due to the historic and architectural prominence of the windows in the 3rd floor ballroom and the impact on the economic viability of the room and a registered National Resource.

With an emphasis that the room is used for both day and evening events, it is greatly enhanced by the natural light (sunlight and moon light), and the view of the city skyline rendered by the large windows.

This will be completely lost with the development proposal in question (residential or commercial).

The Loss of The Egress, Danger of Exiting Through Tidewater Capital’s Proposed Building

An existing emergency exit access facility currently serves two buildings: 410 and 420 14th St. both of which are live music venues with a combined patron capacity of nearly 3000 people. This egress is attached to and owned by Lamumba Inc dba Geoffrey’s Inner Circle The proposed development is recommending a new exit access facility that serves both 410 and 420 14th Street and enters and exits out of the Tidewater proposed structure.

In the event of a fire or disastrous emergency happening within the proposed building at 1431 Franklin St, how then would we safely and effectively exit the buildings with nearly 3000 patrons who would now have to compete with the innumerable number of tenants and or residents of Tidewaters proposed 27- 42 Story building who would be attempting to exit the structure simultaneously? Lastly, the egress is the property of 410 14th Street as well as the land below. Tidewater Capital is proposing to occupy the property on the 410 14th Street section of the property line, without formal request or permission from the 410 14th Street property owner.

Please see attached map of their design that has zero indication of consideration of the above.

Additionally, would they be proposing to cut a new door to access this emergency exit into a registered National Resource and historical building presenting a new possibility of damage? This was not addressed in their current design (please see attached map of the proposed egress from the applicants’ design)
Proposing that two different buildings with a high patron capacity exit through a third, 27-42 story, residentially occupied building is dangerously unrealistic (as well as a commercially occupied building).

The design presented has not taken this into consideration and in failing to do so has caused the potential of harm to patrons attempting to flee to safety during an emergency to skyrocket.

We Dispute the Findings of the 1431 Franklin Street Residential Project CEQA Analysis

The California Environmental Quality Act - CEQA - was enacted to protect the health and safety of Californians. CEQA law is a hard fight for a lay person, but this CEQA report is deficient. It provides no substantive analysis - such as that provided by an Environmental Impact Report - but is based upon the boilerplate CEQA exemptions that have come before it. This report is inadequate and glosses over important facts. It is dangerously negligent.

One important feature of Geoffrey's Inner Circle, located at 410 14th Street, is its fire escape, which exists on an pre-existing easement. The project applicant - the adjacent landowner - does not have the right to unilaterally dispense with Geoffrey's fire escape or its easement. This property is that of Geoffrey Pete.

The fire escape which exists on this easement was brought to the attention of the Planning Commission at their Design Review Committee Meeting on 9/28/22. As Mr. Geoffrey Pete explained, this fire escape also serves the neighboring nightclub at 420 14th St. In the event of a fire, earthquake or other disaster, it would be used for the potential evacuation of 2000+ legal patrons - many of whom may not be his own. Mr. Geoffrey Pete, in fact, extends an informal easement to accommodate the safe escape of his neighbors.

The 1431 Franklin Street Residential Project CEQA Analysis provides only a clandestine mention of this easement. The term "easement" appears on only one single page of this 402-page report: page 28, Figure IV-8 Ground Floor Plan. The easement previously granted to the property owner of 410 14th Street is hidden within that diagram in fine print. While we have little guarantee that the dimensions of the easement are plotted correctly, we are certain that the rights and intentions assigned to this easement will be violated during the 3-4 year construction period and have no assurance they will maintained after that.

If the 1431 Broadway project applicant wishes to encroach upon that easement, they must reach an agreement with the Oakland Fire Department and Mr. Geoffrey Pete. If not, the lives of the patrons of 410 and 420 Broadway will unjustly be put at risk.

Page 28 ends

looks dangerous.

Geoffrey's Inner Circle, 410 14th Street, is referred to as 1411 Franklin Street on page 56. There it is classified as a historic resource. Pages 92 and 93 of this CEQA report reinforce these crucial omissions its easement and fire escape. On these two pages, the report makes reference to its neighbors:

1411 Franklin Street, Athenian Nile Club Building (1901-1902, Local Register, OCHS Rating B+a1+)

That is somewhat correct. That was Geoffrey's Inner Circle's previous name and address, before Mr.

Geoffrey Pete liberated the building to become the cornerstone of the Black Arts Movement and Business District. But no mention of the easement or fire escape is provided. That is a fatal omission. This puts the health and safety of Californians at risk.

There is no mention of Geoffrey's Inner Circle's elevator door, located directly adjacent to the 1431 Franklin Street Residential Project, nor how access to that door will be maintained, during construction and after. The 1431 Franklin Street Residential Project has no right to impede Geoffrey's methods of ingress and egress.

The term "fire escape" appears only once in this document, following that, pertaining to the project's other nearest neighbor, 1441 Franklin Street. In this case, the CEQA report mentions "a metal fire escape at the center bay has been removed." The methods of ingress and egress from other fire escapes in adjoining buildings must also be questioned, on all sides of the proposed project, including the scary "Emergency Egress" corridor, as previously mentioned.

On page 108, the CEQA report claims:

"The side and rear facades of five of these contributors (1411 Franklin Street, 420 14th Street, 1440 Broadway, 421 15th Street, and 1441 Franklin Street), which date between 1901 and 1929, do not contain any features which are important to the character of the Downtown Historic District and API."

How will the patrons of these buildings escape in case of an emergency? This fire escape is an important feature. The applicant's claim is preposterous.

On page 145, the CEQA report claims:

"The nearest noise-sensitive receptors to the project site are: 1) apartments at 1411 Franklin Street adjacent to the project site to the south"

While Geoffrey's Inner Circle, 410 14th Street, is zoned for both residential and business use, anybody with any reasonable working knowledge would know that this is not an apartment building. The construction noise (and other pollutants) will adversely affect all of the occupants of this building, which is primarily daytime business usage.

On page 153 the CEQA report again inaccurately states 1411 Franklin Street is residential. We would like to see proof of the vibration data presented there, and on page 156.

1411 Franklin Street is referenced again in the Shadow Studies pages 225-242 The shadows created by this 1431 project will directly affect the establishments of their neighbors.

410 14th Street - the current address of Geoffrey's Inner Circle - is not mentioned once in this entire 402-page CEQA document. Geoffrey's is not mentioned once. That omission could be considered racist.

It's like the Athenian Nile Club rolled back into town, in an attempt to reclaim their headquarters.

For these reasons, we encourage the Oakland City Council to reject the 1431 Franklin Street Residential Project CEQA Analysis.

Design Reflects Parking on the First Levels of The Build

Per the applicants design the first five levels of the building will be reserved for parking. The toxins from exhaust are dangerous and undoubtedly there would have to be ventilation for this, although this was not shown in the applicant’s design. Rendering the benefit of the doubt that there will be ventilation, 410 14th Street is a four-story building. That ventilation will unquestionably be expelled directly into our building via the large bay windows that cover the entire side of the buildings wall facing 1431 Franklin Street. The sheer number of fans or effective HVAC systems needed to be able to circumvent that actuality is immeasurable.

Carbon Monoxide is an odorless, tasteless, highly toxic gas. We are a live music facility and this design proposal from the applicant will impose us to unwillingly expose our patrons to high levels of carbon monoxide poisoning.

This refers to the previously mentioned 2023 draft of the Oakland General Plan Historic Preservation Element that spoke of the event power that wealthier, predominantly white residents have and the populations without similar event power or adaptive capacity must deal with the consequences of that action, often with limited to no resources.

LIVE MUSIC VENUE AND TENANT RETAIL SPACE

Transitioning to the topic of residential or commercial space, 410 14th Street has been a live music venue for over thirty years and houses a live jazz venue and comedy club. Having residential housing or commercial workspace built a stone’s throw away from the stage where live entertainment is being performed using state of the art sound equipment will undoubtedly cause ceaseless and relentless complaints to the city from the new tenants of the proposed Tidewater Capital building. This could in turn further strain the city services budget (police etc.) and hinder our business revenues as taxpayers.

410 14th Street houses multiple minority-owned businesses, eleven to be exact. These store fronts are rented at a subsidized and authentic Below Market Rate. The businesses housed here pay a lower rental fee to sustain black owned small businesses in the district at the expense of Geoffrey Pete. The compromise that is possible if the proposed building is approved will affect the entire complex, not just Geoffrey’s Inner Circle
Geoffrey’s Inner Circle is a Community Anchor Business that is the crux of live performance arts. This is a cultural hub and community betterment establishment. To put this business in jeopardy is a direct violation of the DOSP and the mission of the BAMBD.

Proposing Patron Parking on 19th and Franklin

New legislation for bike lanes on 14th Street will remove the vast majority of street parking available for patrons and merchants of this district alike. With the remaining sporadic parking spaces currently being metered by the city at 30-minute intervals, it has become increasingly difficult for customers to park and patronize the businesses housed in this district.

This is in stark contrast to the waterfront loft area with zero parking meters to date and neighboring Chinatown with restrained metered parking at a 2-hour limit. Bike lanes reducing public on-street parking will undoubtedly serve to further hinder the growth and economic capabilities of African American businesses located in this area.

Additionally, the impact on parking in the Black Arts Movement and Business District, which houses 410 14th Street, due to the proposed Tidewater buildings attempts of occupation of one of the last public parking lots in this district is disquieting. We’ve lost the largest parking facility in our district to the Atlas Building. Losing this option to park and patronize this district is deleterious to revenues and viability.

When asked by the Planning Commission if there would be the option of shared parking within the proposed structure at 1431 Franklin St, the developer who presents himself as a culturally competent and community minded individual who is attempting to operate within the borders of a cultural district stated he didn’t want to promise that offer to us and went on to further recommend that patrons of the twelve businesses housed at 410 14th Street park on 19th Street. Five blocks away from their destination during a crime wave of vehicle vandalism that is plaguing the entire city of Oakland, including the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

This level of displacement violates the mission of the Black Arts Movement and Business District and the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP).

Satisfying The Minority Workforce Requirement on New Development

During the most recent Planning Commission meeting on 2/15/2023, the developer grandly stated that they planned on dedicating 20% of the workforce on the proposed building at 1431 Franklin Street to minority unions and workers. The City of Oakland has a minimum requirement of 50% of the workforce being of minority decent. This incorrect percentage was presented to the Planning Commission, and yet they continued on to approve the project with a unanimous vote.

Additionally, and historically minority construction companies, specifically of African American decent, are unilaterally excluded from gaining access to large commercial developments due to a plethora of reasons such as racism and nepotism. Without having the resume to show the prior experience needed to garner these new development contracts, these skilled contractors are often promised these positions during the permitting process to only later be disqualified from the vetting process due to the lack ability to prove commercial construction competency. This is a well-known loophole wealthy developers exploit to achieve their permits, having zero intention of hiring these workers.

Please find below excerpts of a recent article dated 1/2/2023 referencing Black contractor being designed out of commercial construction and their concerns:

Here are our Heroes standing strong and proud in our community – hyper local Black contractors, truckers, etc., fighting to be included in the redevelopment of the city they and their families have called home for generations.
“I’m a contractor, I want to be a contractor. I do an excellent job. In spite of the fact that I’m small, I’m growing every day. But everything is a fight, and it shouldn’t have to be.” LaSonia Mansfield owner of Mansfield Construction Clean-up Co. is a brave woman – brave enough to own her own business in an

industry that’s nearly all owned and controlled by white men, the old boys’ club, and brave enough to turn out at 7:00 a.m. on a cold Dec. 14 morning with other Black contractors and truckers to shut down a construction site on Potrero Hill at 26th & Connecticut to demand a fair share of the work. “We can’t feed our families and we can’t support our community if we’re not working. It’s Christmas time. We should be working too,” declared Keith Smith, owner of Global Team Corp., a trucker since 2005 and one of the Black truckers whose big rigs were blocking the entrance to the Potrero Hill jobsite.

The white contractors and truckers hired by the general contractor, Cahill, were lining up wondering if they’d be going to work.

“We can’t feed our families and we can’t support our community if we’re not working. We should be working too,” exclaimed Keith Smith, a trucker and owner of Global Team Corp. “I’m here supporting my local truckers, my local contractors,” asserted HVYW8 Trucking’s Michael Gregory, who also heads the African American Construction Collective, which organized the shutdown. “This has been a brewing situation. Local contractors have been at the table with Cahill letting them know that when you come into this community, it’s important that you hire Black contractors; it’s important that you hire Black truckers. This is our community, and if we can’t go to work in our community, how can we let others come and funnel the money out of the community?” As depicted, the above issue of White developers not contracting with Black contractors is obviously cyclic and regularly occurs.

Public Art Requirement

During the Oakland Planning Commission meeting on 2/15/23, at the 2 hours 54 minutes time mark, there takes place a discussion of the Public Arts component read by the City Attorney regarding public art.

Michael Branson, City Attorney, reads it as transcribed: "The applicant has proposed and by this condition shall be required to distribute 20 percent of the project's Public Art Requirements to the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts Theater and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (City-owned Arts Facilities or Facilities) to be split equally between the two facilities. It would be the responsibilities of the facilities to obtain City Approval for the capital improvement project and satisfy any City requirements for the for the application of the contributed funds. The remaining portion of the Public Art Requirements shall be met through the means provided in the ordinance."

According to Chapter 15.78 PUBLIC ART REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT.docx:

Chapter 15.78 PUBLIC ART REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT

15.78.070 Contribution Requirements.

C. Alternative Means of Satisfaction of Public Art Requirement.

2. The developer and/or owner may by special application to and approval by the City make a contribution to the City, either in the full amount of the in lieu contribution or a percentage thereof (with the remainder of the in lieu contribution placed into the Public Art Project account), for the purpose of capital improvements to a specified City-owned arts facility or facilities within one-half (1/2) mile of the development.

I. The City Administrator may approve such a contribution if he or she finds that:
1) the city-owned Arts Facility or Facilities are in need of capital improvements --Definition of Capital Improvements- A capital improvement is the addition of a permanent structural change or the restoration of some aspect of a property that will either enhance the property's overall value, prolong its useful life, or adapt it to new uses. 2) the facilities once improved will create greater opportunities for the exhibition of visual or performing arts, and provide enhanced opportunities for city residents and visitors to experience visual or performing arts; and
3) the project will not create unbudgeted costs for the City.

The Planning Commission exceeded its authority by adding this requirement, mere seconds before taking their final vote. The Planning Commission does not have the power to determine how the funds from the Public Art Requirement are disbursed. This is the purpose and within the purview of the Public Art Advisory Committee. The project developer/owner is entitled to make a special application, but approval can only be granted by the City Administrator - not the Planning Commission.

The primary purpose of the Public Art Requirement is to maintain Oakland's art and culture for generations. The City must not imperil the vitality of an adjacent historic privately-owned arts facility (410 14th Street) to transfer funds to City-owned projects which will suffer no similar immediate threat from this project. The Planning Commission cannot add conditions to this project in a manner intended to buy its support.
-Transcribed Language of Randolph Belle at The Planning Commission meeting 2/15/2023 1:50 Randolph Belle reading a statement from Bamidele Agbasegbe-Demerson Chief Curator of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland - AAMLO

[1:50:37]
Hello …. Randolph Belle. I’m actually calling in for Bamidele Demerson, Chief Curator of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, who is having computer problems, and he asked me to read his comments, and they go like this:

Good afternoon, my name is Bamidele Agbasegbe-Demerson. I serve as Chief Curator at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, better known by AAMLO, located at 659 14th Street. AAMLO is a branch of the Oakland Public Library. Tidewater Development Initiative at 1431 Franklin will certainly benefit the African American Museum and Library at Oakland. Supportive funding will underwrite a wide range of dynamic efforts at AAMLO. Such efforts include changing exhibitions, public programs, and educational offerings that provide an understanding and appreciation of African- American culture, history, and aesthetic expression. Unmistakably, these efforts give prominent attention to Blacks, their achievements, and their contributions toward building the great City of Oakland. This is indeed important to Americans of African ancestry, but equally significant, Tidewater’s supportive funding of AAMLO’s installations, speakers, film screenings, poetry, useful programs, children’s story hours, and learning tours, among other efforts, supply all citizens with opportunities to engage and grow in the important task of creating cross-cultural competency. In this way, Tidewater, by way of its development initiative at 1431 Franklin, is therefore helping Oakland realize a goal of creating a vibrantly thriving community that values ethnic diversity, equality, and inclusion. He also asked me to read a part of the letter that you have in your record, in letters of support. In moving forward, this company will support two arts facilities owned and operated by the City of Oakland, more specifically …. [Time alarm] ….Tidewater will allocate ten-percent of its public art budget to capital improvement initiatives at African-American Museum and Library and the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts Theater. Thank you.
[1:53:07]
This is another example of Tidewater not meeting its requirements for the Public Art Requirement section. All the culture related activities Randolph Belle discussed in that clip are just that, activities.

Not an iota of what Mr. Belle inventories are capital improvements. (please refer to Page 16 for the definition of capital improvements) This speaker and the preceding Planning Commissions misuse of power in relation to the Public Art Requirement further underscores the fact that this dialogue was purely a disingenuous attempt to satisfy a requirement needed to streamline the permitting process for Tidewater Capital.

This scheme was fastened together in less than ten days (2/1/2023 BAMBD is first spoken of by the Planning Commission-2/10/2023 when the Planning Commission posted their updated agenda). This is ushered in during that brief time period, after overlooking the existence of BAMBD being a cultural district throughout this entire permitting process, spanning well over multiple years’ time.

The Public Art Requirement and it’s subsequent funding cannot be used for the stated purposes. This verity has been explicitly stated. In addition, this very speech points to a duplicitous agreement that was settled upon in a clandestine fashion in the mere days between the botched 2/1/2023 meeting, where the Planning Commission first acknowledged the fact that the Black Arts Movement and Business District is in fact a cultural district throughout this lengthy process, and the 2/15/2023 favorable decision for Tidewater Capital.

Lastly, Randolph Belle is renowned as a close affiliate of Tidewater Capital and having him read this letter reportedly on the behalf of the Curator of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) must be a conflict of interest in this matter. He is an affiliate Tidewater Capital.

Mural on the Wall is of Significant Importance Culturally

Located on the left wall of the historical building at 1441 Franklin Street is a mural of Derrick Hayes. Mr.

Hayes, now deceased, was a well know and beloved community member and hero. He was a man of humble means but highly respected. Please find an excerpt from an article written about him:

Walking down Franklin Street in Downtown Oakland you’ll see a larger-than-life mural of a man in a baseball cap. With gentle eyes and a wide smile, he looks east over the city, watching over the people passing by. Small businesses line Franklin Street to the left and right. Below the mural is a parking lot, and shiny office buildings tower above. In between lies the portrait of Derrick Hayes, a 59-year-old homeless resident of Oakland who has been selling Street Spirit for almost 20 years.

Hayes—known to many as Brother Hayes—was manning one of his usual posts, outside the Peet’s Coffee on Piedmont Avenue, when he caught the attention of Jerry Smith—the president of a commercial real estate firm that revitalizes historic buildings. Like many of the things that make Hayes a staple of Oakland, the mural’s origin story begins with his contagious spirit. “He had this huge smile, he was unbelievably engaging,” Smith says. “He just seemed like a good person.”
… the moment when he saved two little boys from being run over by a driver who rolled through a stop sign. “How do you go from a gangster to a cry baby?” he asks. “But I did, and I’m glad about it.” This metamorphosis didn’t happen overnight. To explain how he transformed into the person he is today, Hayes recalls an afternoon when he was selling Street Spirit on Piedmont Avenue, and noticed an 11- year-old girl being bothered by an older man. Hayes watched this man follow and then assault the girl— so he stepped in to help. He threw the man to the ground and held him until the police came.

The next morning the girl came back to the same street corner with her mother and asked, “Mommy, when I go back to school, is the bad man going to be there?” Her mother shook her head. The girl looked at Hayes. “When I get back to school, is the good man going to be there?” As Hayes remembers the story, his eyes fill with tears. “Ain’t that something?” He pauses, then says, “I’ve done a lot of bad in my life, but the good things should be accounted for.” -According to the bylaws of the Oakland City Council adopted Resolution 85958 regarding BAMBD:
“…and this designation aligns with Oakland's existing policy codified in the historic preservation element of Oakland's general plan which states a desire to "preserve, protect, enhance, perpetuate, and prevent the unnecessary destruction or impairment of properties or physical features of special character or special historic, cultural, educational, architectural or aesthetic interest or value”.

Under this bylaw, this mural is determined as a special historic, cultural and aesthetic interest and/or value that must be preserved protected and prevented from unnecessary destruction or impairment.

This mural is invaluable to our district and community. The beloved Derrick Hayes’s memorial is a cultural treasure and deserves to be protected.

3-5 Years of Constant Construction Debris, Dust and Zero Street Parking

The proposed building is projected to be completed in three to five years after its proposed beginning.

This translates to road closures which would further exacerbate the parking crisis currently experienced by the Black arts Movement and Business District. Its proposal will limit access for patrons and business owners which has the large potential to offset revenues offset revenues. The constant and ever-present changes to the quality of life due to noise, dust, and debris contamination can prove to be insufferable.

What is being proposed is essentially three years or more, due to these projects rarely being completed on schedule, of constant drilling and machinery. Cranes, oversized load trucks, dump trucks and a multitude of contractors and crews littering the street and hampering entrance to the small businesses accommodated here. The amount of income loss for all businesses located on this historical block and its adjacent streets will be detrimental and insuperable if permitting granted.

As we know from the construction of the Atlas Building across the street, built on the former two-story parking lot that served most downtown businesses and patrons, these construction crews work loudly and insistently for 24 hours a day. This form of noise and space pollution will undoubtedly prove to be harmful to businesses and their patrons. To enact this level of imposition on a National Resource Building and District, a protected cultural district, loyal Oakland business and property owners and taxpayers twice within a five-year period is massively unethical.

The businesses in the Black Arts Movement and Business District current have at least two other massive developments being constructed in our cultural district, and we still haven’t overcome the setbacks we encountered during the Atlas Building’s lengthy construction. The applicant proposed in a recent meeting with the Planning Commission that his contractor crews would not park their personal vehicles on 14th Street or Franklin when construction is taking place. That comment does not mention where his multiple cranes and large building construction equipment will be. It would have to be located on Franklin, therefore claiming more space that personal vehicles. This action has the enormous potential to impede and obstruct the business processes of the longstanding businesses of this district.

This is yet another example of using selective language to achieve their goal, without care or concern for the surrounding neighbors.

Tidewater Capital

Throughout this process Kyle Winkler and Ross Stackhouse, both representatives of Tidewater Capital have been extraordinarily misleading. When the notion of the building was proposed they came to the office of 410 14th Street and spoke with Mr. Pete. They promised to make sure he and his building were well taken care of relative to consultant fees. They extended an offer of a partnership with their proposed building and his legacy performing arts business, 30 years in operation. They offered (verbally) to restore his façade and install a state-of-the-art elevator. They ensured him that they were courteous and trustworthy businessmen with cultural sensitivity.

Although from the onset, Mr. Pete was not in agreeance with the proposed oversized, less than architecturally harmonizing and dangerous structure, he entertained their offers with great professionalism. Once Tidewater representatives felt they had convinced him to comply, they quickly reneged on the offers of the partnership, elevator installation, fair consultant compensation and façade upgrades without an afterthought. Very soon after they delivered a letter from their lawyers stating that the maximum for consultant fees would be $5,000.00 in total.

Please see verbatim language from the Pete Construction and Logistics Agreement from Tidewater’s legal counsel REUBEN, JUNIUS & ROSE, LLP:

Neighbor’s Consultants. Project Sponsor agrees to reimburse Neighbor for the cost of Neighbor’s attorney’s fees in reviewing and negotiating the terms of this Agreement, and for the cost of Neighbor’s architect and engineering and other consultants in reviewing the proposed Project plans and other related Project materials up to the amount of $5,000.

This a far cry from the aforementioned offers. Mr. Pete, of his own volition and expense secured legal counsel, Clinton Killian of Killian and Fannyan APC, who are largely a real estate and probate firm. They were instrumental in negotiations during the beginning of this process.

Again, I must note, when this information was address in the recent city Planning Commission meeting on 2/15/2023, the applicant did rebut, stating that $5,000.00 was a starting figure of negotiations. Once more, this statement was untrue. When the applicant’s counsel addressed Mr. Pete’s counsel they were clearly unwilling to move further to obtain an more respectable agreement.

During this time the Planning Commission meetings for the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board and The City Planning Commissions Design Review were well underway. Mr. Pete and other were vocal in their objection to this proposal and its lack of seamlessness into the Black Arts Movement and Business District, as well as his concerns for his registered National Resource, historic building.

The emails sent thereafter, originating from Tidewater Capital, were nothing more that a mere formality to present a landscape where Geoffrey Pete is painted as unresponsive and unsympathetic to city and business processes. This could not be further from the truth. What dialog can occur when Tidewater Capital has taken a position of a stoic intimidator?
During this time, Kyle Winkler and Ross Stackhouse embarked on what can only be described as an underhanded payola campaign. Tidewater Capital representatives approached African American business owners, and institutions such as the Oakland Black Chamber of Commerce and many others offering donations for endorsements. They constantly approached Mr. Pete’s personal tenants of 410 14th Street and rendered checks of $1,000.00 and $2,000.00 to ensure their support of the 1431 Franklin Street proposal. Joyce Gordon Gallery is among these tenants whom Kyle Winkler of Tidewater Capital would regularly disturb with the goal of phishing for supporters of his proposal in the Black community.

This ideal of ‘culture for purchase” behavior is additionally shown in their late efforts to include the African-American Museum and Library and the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in their contributions ten days after being informed of this being the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

Before 2/1/2023 they had conducted this entire permitting process without knowledge of our cultural district’s existence (established in 2016).

Tidewater Capital has zero interest in the betterment, advancement and preservation of the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

Their singular orientation is achieving the construction of their gentrification. By any means necessary.

The Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD)

The 1431 Franklin Street project is located in the Downtown Historic District Area of Primary Importance, the Downtown Oakland Historic District - a registered National Resource - and the Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD). Geoffrey's Inner Circle Club, located at 410 14th St. (formerly the Athenian Nile Club Building, previously addressed as 1411 Franklin) is a significant cornerstone of the Black Arts Movement and Business District, through its transformation in 1993 until this current day. It maintains the safety and vibrancy of 14th and Franklin and promotes the daily activity of the other black and minority-owned businesses that operate there today. Surrounded by a sea of vacant street-level storefronts, it thrives and survives as a 100% Oakland community, embodying Love Life, the City's official motto.

The importance of these districts is expressed in official city documents such as Zoning Regulations, the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan, the Oakland General Plan, and City Council Resolution 85958, which created the BAMBD. Due to the heightened importance of this location, the 1431 Franklin Street application must be held to the highest standards that these city regulations require. Oakland's general plan states the desire to "preserve, protect, enhance, perpetuate, and prevent the unnecessary destruction or impairment of properties or physical features of special character or special historic, cultural, educational, architectural or aesthetic interest or value." This appeal addresses all of these desires. This location is the heart of Oakland.

On January 7, 2016, the Oakland City Council adopted Resolution 85958, which designated The Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD) as a cultural district on the 14th Street corridor. This designation is intended to support a critical mass of arts and entertainment establishments in the area, and to promote and celebrate the significant current and historical black leaders, arts, political movements, enterprises, and culture in the area. The resolution also calls for the City's Downtown Specific Plan to include the BAMBD.

On January 8, 2021, the Planning Commission issued a Zoning Code Bulletin which provides specific direction on the implementation of the Black Arts Movement and Business District, the City's first formally adopted cultural district. The bulletin states that the goals of the BAMBD are to be considered in the review of development applications by:
- Providing applicants with a copy of Council Resolution 85958

- Encouraging applicants to ensure their proposal is consistent with the goals of the BAMBD

- Ensuring consistency with draft policies in the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan related to BAMBD, through architectural design and detailing, through consideration regarding future commercial tenants; and other strategies the city deems appropriate

- Encouraging applicants to consult with nearby business owners in the BAMBD

In addition to the partial list of requirements above, the Zoning Code Bulletin concludes by stating "conformance with the BAMBD goals should be included in any project narrative describing the project, for example in public notices (including newspaper notices and yellow project information signs) and staff reports." This was never done.

The Planning Commission Has Consistently Ignored the Existence of the BAMBD

The Planning Commission and the project applicants have consistently ignored the Black Arts Movement and Business District, through every project narrative of any description. The Planning Commission has approved multiple permits for high-rise buildings to be developed within this district. Not one of their notices have indicated that this is a cultural district. The established guidelines have been consistently ignored.

The BAMBD conditions and even the existence of this district was not listed in any document provided by the Planning Commission prior to their decision on February 15, 2023. The BAMBD was never mentioned any single occasion or listed on any notice or sign.

On September 28, 2022, the Oakland Planning Commission was informed of the project's location within the Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD) and Resolution 85958 at their Design Review Committee hearing. This information was clearly provided by Tina Muriel during the Public Hearing, along with its significance and relevance to the project application. It is not the duty of members of the public to provide this knowledge. Once again, it was ignored.

Prior to the Planning Commission meeting on February 1, 2023, the prescribed policies for processing planning applications in the BAMBD had not been met. The owner of 410 14th Street informed the commission once again. Finally, this was recognized, but the requirements were not fully understood, which prompted the project applicant to ask for a continuance of the hearing. The Planning Commission granted this continuance, and the hearing was postponed to February 15.

The Planning Commission Has Failed to Adhere to the Requirements of the BAMBD During this time, the project applicant responded with a letter from its legal team, which was attached to its documentation as Supplement-Report-to-Item-4-PLN20125.pdf. This February 6, 2023 letter from Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP fails to substantiate the project applicant's compliance with the aims of the BAMBD. Much of this letter is boilerplate, merely a copy-and-paste of City documentation. Some of the information it purports is erroneous and misleading.

This letter also to points to the "solution" it would propose at the February 15 hearing: diverting a portion of the project's mandatory Public Art fee to the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts Theater and the African American Museum and Library of Oakland. As noted, prior in this appeal, the Planning Commission does not have the jurisdiction to approve this diversion of City funds. Nonetheless, this diversion was approved and attached in the project's Conditions of Approval. This was the only additional condition that was attached. Every other issue expressed by the appellant and concerned members of the public was ignored.

Following the decision issued on February 15, the appellant made multiple requests to receive the Planning Commission's Decision Letter, Findings for Approval and Conditions of Approval. These documents must be referenced before an appeal can be filed. These documents were finally supplied on February 22, a full week after the decision, near the end of the 10-day window in which an appeal must be filed.

Once again, within this entire 67-page package, the Black Arts Movement and Business District is not mentioned once. There is not one single reference to the BAMBD. The word "Black" appears zero times, and "African American" mentioned only once, in reference to the museum designated to receive improperly diverted funds. This is shameful.

Adherence to Resolution 85958 Requires Additional Scrutiny

In addition to upholding our appeal, we request that the City Council conducts an additional review to ensure that future projects within the Black Arts Movement and Business District adhere to the requirements of Council Resolution 85958.

Our letters and testimony have documented in detail how this application falls short of meeting city planning requirements. We have revealed how the review process completely ignored policy direction to address the BAMBD goals in the project noticing and narrative. The Planning Commission's approval of this application eviscerates the spirit of the Resolution 85958. Its decision renders mute the efforts of countless city staff, elected officials and citizens who invested tirelessly to create and maintain a district where cultural institutions would thrive.

The appellants and other members of the public have asked the planning department and planning commissioners to hold a meeting to discuss how it can better serve the Black community, a community rapidly being displaced from the city due to a plethora of less than qualifying reasons. These requests have not been granted. We were told the Planning Commissioners had no time to do so. The status of our district was continuously dismissed, nor is it listed in city districting maps. The Planning Commission acknowledged at its February 1, 2023 meeting that it had no idea that this was a Black Cultural district. The fact that the Commission either did not know and/or disregarded the status of the district has harmed our district significantly and the potential benefits which the designation of the district was intended to create for the Black community in the city of Oakland. The entire approval process was conducted without consideration of the cultural district status as well as the National Resource status of the historical building located at 410 14th Street.

We respectfully request that future projects proposed within this district begin with expert testimony on the appropriate overall design of a district intended to promote Black culture and business. We ask that Planning staff and Commissioners display full knowledge of the status of this cultural district and provide this information to future project applicants. We must inquire if 400-foot towers of high-end housing and/or office space enhance the cultural aspects of the Black Arts Movement and Business District. We ask for necessary amenities for the public, such the replacement of lost public parking. We request a review with local residents and business owners to address how the Planning Commission and future developers will act in a culturally competent manner in a diverse city like Oakland.

PROTECTIONS UNDER THE BAMBD STATUS

Oakland City Council adopted Resolution 85958 calls for the City’s Downtown Specific Plan to include the BAMBD, and to consider policies that animate the public space, rejuvenate the streetscape, improve local business viability, improve public safety, and bring diverse people together in celebration of this Cultural District.

Types of Planning Bureau Actions of Interest in the BAMBD The following actions should consider the goals of the BAMBD (outlined above). Further, conformance with the BAMBD goals should be included in any project narrative describing the project, for example in public notices (including newspaper notices and yellow project information signs) and staff reports.

1. Temporary uses and pop-up activities;

2. Conditional Use Permits/Variances;

3. Design Review.

The Black community is inclusive of multiple distinct communities of color including but not limited to African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, and Africans; and
WHEREAS, there exists a congregation both historical and contemporary of Black owned businesses and artistic or cultural spaces focused on Black expression in the 14th Street corridor on or within four blocks of 14th Street from Lake Merritt to 1-880 defined as from Oak Street to Frontage Road; and

WHEREAS, a congregation of Black owned businesses and artistic or cultural spaces focused on Black expression currently exists in the 14th Street corridor and includes but is not limited to the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, Joyce Gordon's gallery, Geoffrey's Inner Circle Club, the Oakland POST Newspaper Group, OCCUR, Oakland African-American Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Cultural Center, Bissap Baobab, The Hatch, Venue Nightclub, U'NEXT Barber Shop, Unique Braids, Imagine Affairs Lounge, Quick Bite, Crossburger, Feelmore, A City Obsession, New Karibbean City, Uncle Willie's BBQ, Black Arts Movement co-founder Marvin X's Academy of da Corner, and the Betti Ono Gallery; and

WHEREAS, public or historical buildings and public art in the 14th Street corridor exemplify the historical legacy of the Black community in Oakland including but not limited to the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, the Oakland Main Library, the Ebony Museum, the 16th Street Train Station, the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse, the Calvin Simmons Theater, the C.L.

Dellums Apartments, the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building, the Byron Rumford Post Office, the Lionel J. Wilson Building, the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, and the bust of John B.

Williams; and this designation aligns with Oakland's existing policy codified in the historic preservation element of Oakland's general plan which states a desire to "preserve, protect, enhance, perpetuate, and prevent the unnecessary destruction or impairment of properties or physical features of special character or special historic, cultural, educational, architectural or aesthetic interest or value"; and WHEREAS, the designation of the Black Arts Movement and Business District is captured by the historic preservation element of Oakland's general plan

Closing Remarks

In closing, small businesses in Downtown Oakland should not be caused to suffer revenue losses and possible liquidation at the expense of ushering in larger, richer yet, less than culturally connected new development proposals.

What is the benefit of being registered as a National Resource building such as 410 14th Street, a National Resource District such as The Downtown Oakland Historic District, labeled a Downtown Historic District Area of Primary Importance and have Oakland City Council adopt Resolution 85958 designating this area The Black Arts Movement and Business District only to have to spend countless hours arguing the protections granted by the above statuses, pay high legal counsel fees and over $5,200.00 in appeal fees to ensure those very statuses and rights aren’t demolished by well moneyed, opportunistic developers who are incentivized to monopolize us due to our areas being greenlit as Opportunity Zones.

What this really is, is an opportunity for a mutually beneficial outcome between the City of Oakland and protected areas. An opportunity that cannot occur when the existence of historical businesses, districts and structures are not afforded the consideration due them.

Page 1 ends

City of Oakland Website
https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/designated-opportunity-zones

Pages 3-6, Conditional Use Permit Criteria
Oakland, California - Planning Code Chapters 17.134 - 17.136 -CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT PROCEDURE City Of Oakland Website
https://library.municode.com/ca/oakland/codes/planning_code?nodeId=TIT17PL_CH17.134COUSPEPR

Page 6 ends

City of Oakland Website
https://www.oaklandca.gov/documents/historic-preservation-element-for-the-general-plan

Page 9 ends

Oakland Ca
National Resource District - The Downtown Oakland Historic District (attached)

Page 10 ends

410 14th Street Oakland Ca 94612
National Resource Building Documentation (attached)

Page 10 ends

California State Parks- Office of Historic Preservation Website https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1077
Historic Preservation Chapter 3 - Identifying Historic Properties (Attached)

California State Law & Historic Preservation Statutes, Regulations & Administrative Policies Regarding the Preservation & Protection of Cultural & Historical Resources Manual (Attached)

Page 10 ends

City of Oakland website
http://gisapps1.mapoakland.com/planmap/planmap.html?apn=008%20062100900

Page 10 ends

Pete Construction and Logistics Agreement from REUBEN, JUNIUS & ROSE, LLP Number 11, Page 6 (attached)

Pages 11-12 and Page 19 Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP) City of Oakland Website
https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/downtown-oakland-specific-plan

Page 13 ends

Regarding Egress (attached)

Page 15 ends

Page 16 ends

Chapter_15.78___PUBLIC_ART_REQUIREMENTS_FOR_PRIVATE_DEVELOPMENT.docx City of Oakland Website
https://library.municode.com/ca/oakland/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT15BUCO_CH15.78PUA

RREPRDE

Page 16 ends

Investopedia Website
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalimprovement.asp

Pages 22-24 Black Contractors
Black contractors: ‘We want to put our community to work’- January 2, 2023 The Bayview Newspaper
https://sfbayview.com/2023/01/black-contractors-we-want-to-put-our-community-to-work/

Pages 25-26 Article on Derrick Hayes
The Street Spirit
https://thestreetspirit.org/2019/10/01/derrick-hayes-street-spirit-vendor-community-member/

Page 29 ends

Black Arts Movement and Business District Resolution

Page 3 ends

Page 27 ends

Pete Construction and Logistics Agreement from REUBEN, JUNIUS & ROSE, LLP Number 11, Page 6 (attached)

Page 28 ends

Killian and Fannyan APC
https://www.killfannlaw.com/

Page 24 ends

City of Oakland Website
https://www.oaklandca.gov/meeting/planning-commission-meeting-13-3

Page 25 ends

Lack of Acknowledgement of Cultural District Status (attached)

UU-51996
NFS Form 10-900 OMB No
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

REGISTRATION FORM
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See ins of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box tit Dy"tii'lt'iYug-the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items. 1 . Name of Property
historic name Downtown Oakland Historic District
other names/site number

2. Location
street & number 1100-1637 Broadway plus cross streets; 11 blocks around 14th St.S Broadway not for publication __
city or town ___Oakland____________________________ vicinity __ state California code CA county _AJLameQ_a_ code 001 zip code 94612 3~! State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this y nomination / __ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets / __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant __ nationally __ statewide / X locally.J(^~ ^ee continuation sheet for additional comments.) Signa-fctH?e/ of ce^tifyZng official
California Office of Historic Preservation
Dat«
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property
comments )
meets / __ does not meei the National Register criteria. ( __ See continuation sheet for additional Signature of commenting or other official Date

4. National Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
__ See continuation sheet,
determined eligible for the
National Register
__ See continuation sheet,
determined not eligible for the
National Register
removed from the National Register
other (explain): ______________
r\
Signature of Keeper Date of Action
b
USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Downtown Oakland Historic District Alameda County CA

5. Classification
Ownership of Property (Check as many as apply)
X private
X public-local
__ public-State
__ public-Federal
Category of Property (Check only one box)
__ building(s)
X district
__ site
__ structure
__ object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
43 13 buildings
1 ____ sites
____ ____ structures
1 ____ objects
45 13 Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) ___N/A_______________________________________

6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
COMMERCE/TRADE/business
COMMERCE/TRADE/f inaneial institution
COMMERCE/TRADE/professional________
COMMERCE/TRADE/specialty store
COMMERCE/TRADE/department store
GOVERNMENT/city hall_________
LANDSCAPE/park
LANDSCAPE/street furniture__________
RECREATION/CULTURE/theaters, clubs
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
COMMERCE/TRADE/business
COMMERCE/TRADE/financial institution
COMMERCE/TRADE/professional______
COMMERCE/TRADE/specialty store
COMMERCE/TRADE/department store
GOVERNMENT/city hall___________
LANDSCAPE/park
LANDSCAPE/street furniture

7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from
instructions)
Late 19tn and 20th century revivals
Beaux Arts
Late Gothic Revival
Late 19th-Earlv 20th C. American Movements
Chicago
Commercial Style
Modern Movement
Moderne
Art Deco
International Style
Other
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
foundation CONCRETE__________
walls BRICK

CONCRETE
roof
other

ASPHALT

TERRA COTTA
GLASS
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) b
USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form 3
Downtown Oakland Historic District Alameda County CA

8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing) X A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
___ B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

X C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or
possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. ___ D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria1 Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.) ___ A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes. ___ B removed from its original location.
___ C a birthplace or a grave.
___ D a cemetery.
___ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
___ F a commemorative property.
___ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.

Areas Of Significance (Enter categories from instructions)

COMMERCE

ARCHITECTURE

COMMUNITY PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
POLITICS/GOVERNMENT_____________
Period of Significance 1900-1948
Significant Dates N/A
Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A____________________
Architect/Builder Multiple; see continuation pages
Reed (Walter) & Corlett (Wm. )
Dickey, Charles W.

Mathews, Walter J.

Knowles, William
Diqqs, Maury I.

Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)

9. Ma}or Bibliographical References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS)
__ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. __ previously listed in the National Register
X previously determined eligible by the National Register __ designated a National Historic Landmark
__ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # ________ __ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ________ Primary Location of Additional Data
__ State Historic Preservation Office X Local government ]^2 Other State agency __ University
__ Federal agency __ Other
Name of repository: Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, Community and Economic Development Agency, City of Oakland
b
USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Downtown Oakland Historic District Alameda County CA

10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 26 approx.

UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
1 10. 564325 4184545 3 10 564180 4183880
2 10 564500 4184050 4 10 564080 4184260
__ See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)

11. Form Prepared By
name/title Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey____________________ organization City of Oakland, Community and Economic Development Agency date 1/23/98 street & number 1330 Broadway, Suite 310____________________ telephone (510) 238-3941 city or town_____Oakland_____________________ state CA___ zip code 94612________ Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:

Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.

A sketch map for districts and properties with large acreage or numerous resources, Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property. 4 Additional items .
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner ""
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) " ~~" "~ "" " """"""" name
street & number______________________________ telephone city or town______________________________ state____ zip code Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).

Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service. P.O. Box 37127, Washington. DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 61024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 5 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state

7. Narrative Description
The Downtown Oakland Historic District occupies a roughly L-shaped area of 11 whole or partial city blocks centered on the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway. It includes City Hall and its plaza and a series of early 20th century 7- to 24-story skyscrapers along Broadway between llth and 17th Streets. Boundaries are defined partly by natural transition to different eras and uses (mainly to the north and east) and partly by late 20th century redevelopment (to the southwest, west and southeast). The district contains 56 buildings, 1 public plaza, 1 fountain, and 6 vacant lots. Forty-five resources contribute to the district's significance: 43 buildings, City Hall Plaza (Frank Ogawa Plaza) and Latham Memorial Fountain. Four properties are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and as many as 19 others may be individually eligible. There are only 13 noncontributors (3 post-1948, 10 remodeled). In addition to the many individually notable buildings, the pattern of skyscrapers spaced among lower buildings creates a still-distinctive downtown Oakland skyline.

Downtown Oakland developed historically with most of its banks and tall office buildings on the east side of Broadway, and major retail - furniture, clothing and department stores - on the west side. Most of the early large-scale retail section has been replaced by the City Center redevelopment southwest of 14th and Broadway (outside the district), and the present district is predominantly defined by its early 20th century office skyscrapers. Tall buildings occur at intervals, one or two per block, punctuating the surrounding low- to medium- rise small office and specialty retail buildings. Along Broadway, Franklin Street, and the flatiron corners west of Broadway, the skyscrapers are located with remarkable regularity on the southwest-facing corners of blocks, providing natural light to the offices inside and enhancing the play of light and shade on the exteriors of the buildings.

Almost all the district's buildings are built to the front and side lot lines with no setbacks. Most are three stories or over; only two slender towers (both 1922-23 additions to older buildings) and the 18-story International Style 1330 Broadway (1956-59) are higher than 15. Most of the tall buildings are fairly narrow, half to a third of a block on each frontage. At least half the tall buildings are designed as free-standing towers, fully finished and ornamented on all sides. Two of the skyscrapers - City Hall and the Tribune Tower - are widely recognized symbols of Oakland for their distinctive silhouettes on the skyline as well as for their historical importance.

The majority of contributing buildings in the district date from 1901 to 1929 and display a general unity of design: brick and masonry surfaces, two- or three-part vertical composition, neoclassical ornament, projecting terra cotta or metal cornices, and Chicago-style window treatment. There is a great deal of fine terra cotta, by N. Clark & Son of Alameda and Gladding McBean of Lincoln, California. Buildings vary in their proportions of stone, brick, and terra cotta surfacing; in construction (brick, steel frame, reinforced nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 61024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 6 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
concrete) and in the contrast between three-part skyscraper composition and smaller buildings with high glass base and brick or terra cotta top. Cornices occur in a wide, flat, modillion style as well as a narrower, corbeled, mainly 1920s version. Cream-colored brick predominates on the 1910s buildings, dark brown on the 1920s. Ornamentation is derived from Renaissance, Romanesque, and other historic sources. The Federal Realty (Cathedral) Building at 1605-15 Broadway (B.C. McDougall, 1913-14), and the East Bay Water Company and Roos Brothers buildings at 512 16th Street and 1500-20 Broadway (William Knowles, 1919 and 1922-23) are fine examples of terra cotta Gothic. The Financial Center Building at 401 14th Street (Reed and Corlett, 1928) retains the composition and materials of the historicist skyscraper but substitutes Art Deco motifs in its terra cotta base and capital. The office buildings typically had elaborate lobbies and banking halls. Outstanding examples of these semi-public interiors survive at the Financial Center Building, the Federal Realty Building, the Realty Syndicate Building at 1420-40 Broadway, and the First Trust and Savings Building at 1540-50 San Pablo Avenue.

Interspersed between the large commercial and financial buildings are smaller store and loft buildings dating mostly from the early 1920s, including several fine examples of the high glass base type (especially on the 400 block of 15th Street and the 1600 blocks of Broadway and Telegraph). There are a number of Art Deco remodelings and new buildings - four from 1928-29 and two later. The 1929 remodeling of the Elks Hall at 420 14th Street and the two 1928-29 banks at 364 14th Street and 369 13th Street have Moderne sculptural concrete and tile treatments that are found in greater numbers in Oakland's Uptown Art Deco district. Tile facades from 1935-48 are found at 1220-40 and 1450 Broadway, one new building and one representative of the characteristic downtown pattern of storefront and facade modernization.

Two notable later buildings within the district are the late Moderne Anglo- California Bank by Milton Pflueger at 393 13th Street (1950) and the 18-story blue-glass International style First Interstate Bank Building at 1330 Broadway (1956-59), a corner skyscraper that remains compatible with the scale and rhythm of the district. Because they are less than 50 years old these buildings (as well as two facade remodelings similar to the Pflueger bank) are not now considered district contributors, but they represent a continuation of the district's historic patterns.

A few buildings in the district predate the large-scale development of Downtown and represent the setting in which the skyscrapers developed. These include a small 1903 hotel at 415-17 15th Street, a commercial building at 1631 Telegraph Avenue that may date back to 1892, and the 1901 Athenian Club at 400-08 14th Street, as well as five others modernized in the 1920s or after and no longer recognizable as 19th century buildings (1308-12, 1621-23, 1625- 29, and 1633 Broadway; 1522-34 San Pablo Avenue). Multi-story hotels - with or without ground floor commercial space - ring the east and west edges of the district and mark the transition to apartment and neighborhood commercial areas. Three early hotels, built when the pattern was still evolving, are within the district boundaries and are considered contributors. nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 61024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 7 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
Theaters and clubs, once numerous, have all but vanished from the district.

The Athenian Club and Elks Hall buildings survive on 14th Street, the former still operating as a (new) private club. There were at least a dozen downtown stage and movie theaters as late as the 1950s; none still operates. The Dufwin Theater, just outside the district at 511-23 17th Street, closed in the early 1980s and has been totally remodeled for offices; an earlier remodeling turned the Pantages Theater (400-16 12th Street) into the Oakland Tribune printing plant in 1946. The main commercial space of 1224-40 Broadway was occupied by the Lux Theater from about 1947 to 1986, but is once again a retail store. The largest gap in the district, on the 1400 block of Franklin Street, is the site of the 1903 Ye Liberty Playhouse, and the First Interstate Bank Building (1330 Broadway) replaced the 1892 Macdonough Theater: both of these were stage theaters that later became movie houses.

Redevelopment of the blocks southwest of 14th and Broadway eliminated most of the major retail portion of downtown, beginning in the late 1960s. The two surviving big department store buildings in the district are Kahn's/Liberty House at 1501 Broadway and Roos Bros, at 1500 Broadway. Both have been remodeled for other uses. A greater proportion of downtown's ground floor businesses than in the past are services and conveniences for office workers, such as small lunch restaurants and copy shops. The office buildings have on the whole retained their original use, now often as relatively unmodernized and inexpensive space. Several bank spaces have been converted to retail or offices, as banks moved uptown to new quarters in the 1970s and after.

The Tribune complex (401-17 13th Street, 400-16 12th Street) has been vacant since the newspaper moved to Jack London Square in 1992. Since the 1989 earthquake, there have been many closed buildings and retail vacancies. Before the earthquake, office conversion of rehabilitated older buildings was becoming an important trend, and this trend appears to be resuming, with the Broadway Building (1401-19 Broadway) incorporated into the new City office complex and a mixed-use project proposed for the Tribune property.* The Downtown district is clearly recognizable in early aerial views and from the freeways today, by its series of equally-spaced, cornice-topped towers, extending two or three blocks in each direction from 14th Street and Broadway.

The pattern of recurring tall buildings unifies the district across occasional vacant lots and the change in the street grid where Telegraph and San Pablo Avenues cut diagonally into the west side of Broadway. The intersection of these radial streets from the north reflects the fact that the early 20th century downtown lies at the north edge of the original town plat of Oakland.

Major traffic and transit nodes developed at these junctions: 14th Street, Broadway, and San Pablo Avenue at City Hall Plaza, and Broadway and Telegraph Avenue at Latham Square. Both these intersections are distinguished by outstanding early flatiron buildings (the Broadway and Cathedral Buildings, 1401-19 and 1605-15 Broadway; photos #1 and 2).

Distinctive clusters of buildings embody the district's various themes and give it coherence at pedestrian level. Narrow 16th Street between San Pablo and Telegraph Avenues, noted historically as a "canyon" between tall buildings nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 61024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 8 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
(photo #3), is one of number of prominent view corridors. The five small 1920s high-base loft buildings on the gore behind the Cathedral Building (1600 block of Broadway and Telegraph; photo #4), and a more diverse group of small buildings facing them across Telegraph Avenue, lead into another "canyon of commerce" between the tall Cathedral Building and Latham Square Building at the 16th Street gore (photos #5 and 6). A contrasting streetscape is the 400 block of 15th Street (photo #7) , low-rise mostly 1920s store buildings linking Broadway with the 1920s financial district along Franklin Street (photo #8).

The two flatiron buildings, the Broadway and Cathedral Buildings, distinguish the view north on Broadway from below 14th Street (photo #9). From llth and Broadway north, the chain of southwest-facing skyscrapers is still strong.

Looking north in front of City Hall, the 11-story First Trust and Savings Bank, Plaza Building, and Kahn's Department Store, all built in 1913-14, frame the City Hall Plaza (photo #10).

The central downtown skyline is seen to advantage along Broadway (photos #11, 12, 13), looking south on San Pablo or Telegraph Avenue from 17th Street, west on 14th Street from Webster or Franklin (photo #14), and north on Franklin from llth Street (photo #15). Vistas outward provide a sense of the natural boundaries of the district: tall buildings occur at wider intervals to the east and west, and later styles appear to the north and south in Uptown and the redevelopment area.

Integrity of the district - individual buildings as well as streetscapes - is very high. Most of the 13 noncontributing buildings are post-1948 remodelings, which at least retain their historic scale and placement despite incongruous surfaces. They include several of the small commercial buildings: 1625-29 Broadway, 1635 Telegraph Avenue, and 409-11, 425, and 422-30 15th Street. Some noncontributing buildings are believed to retain their original designs under the new surfaces, and such buildings are considered potential contributors if restored. Of the 43 buildings that currently contribute, most have had some remodeling of ground floor commercial spaces, but upper stories are generally intact. There are also some remarkably intact storefronts and lobbies. Common alterations include reshaped and resurfaced storefronts, changed entries, new windows, paint on brick .or tile or stone surfaces, removal of cornices and other ornament, and ephemeral alterations like signs and awnings. Although some buildings, including the very important 1100, 1300, and 1501 Broadway, are still closed in the aftermath of the earthquake, the condition of most buildings in the district appears excellent to good.

The present Downtown district boundary encompasses the concentration of tall, Beaux Arts-influenced, early 20th century office and institutional buildings centered on City Hall and the Broadway skyscraper group, and their supporting neighbors. The south and west boundaries, along llth and 12th Streets, along Broadway from llth to 14th, and behind City Hall, are created by the Chinatown and City Center redevelopments, cleared sites, and new city, state, and university office buildings. Many of the demolitions were due to the 1989 earthquake. Boundaries were drawn at vacant lots (the southeast edge), extensive remodeling (e.g. Broadway north of Roos Bros.), and new construction nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
OMB No. 61024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
(the various redevelopment sites, the Merchants parking structure west of Franklin between 13th and 14th Streets). The north and east boundaries more closely approximate the gradual historic demarcations by architectural style, scale, and use. The northern boundary along Broadway and Telegraph is fixed at 17th Street by new and remodeled buildings at the prominent gore and southwest-facing corners, and also by a perceptible change of scale and uses in the Uptown district. On the east, the district boundary is drawn to include the financial strip along Franklin Street and exclude the surrounding neighborhood of hotels and smaller-scale commercial development.

Four buildings in the district are listed individually on the National Register (as of January 1998):
1100-10 Broadway, Security Bank & Trust-Key System Building; 1501-39 Broadway, Kahn's Department Store-The Rotunda;
1605-15 Broadway, Federal Realty-Cathedral Building;
1 City Hall Plaza, Oakland City Hall.

Nine district contributors are currently designated as Oakland City Landmarks:
1100-10 Broadway, Security Bank & Trust-Key System Building; 1500-20 Broadway, Roos Bros. Department Store;
1601 Broadway, Latham Memorial Fountain;
1605-15 Broadway, Federal Realty-Cathedral Building;
1 City Hall Plaza, Oakland City Hall;
401-17 13th Street, Oakland Tribune Tower;
380-98 14th Street, Alameda County Title Insurance Company Building; 401-15 14th Street, Financial Center Building;
401-03 15th Street, Oakland Title Insurance & Guaranty Co. Building.

Another 19 are on the Oakland Landmarks Board's Preservation Study List. [Individual building descriptions that follow are keyed by number to the district sketch map, attached.]
nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 10 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
Individual Properties

1. 1100-10 BROADWAY/436-46 11TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Security Bank& Trust-Key System building APN 002 0051 014 02 Beaux Arts skyscraper
1911-12 add 1924 eq 1989 (permit 23633, plans reviewed) architect: Meyer & Reed; Bank of builder: P.J. Walker; Bank of Italy Italy (1924) (1924)
1100-10 BROADWAY/436-46 11TH STREET, the Security Bank and Trust Company building, is a seven story steel-frame and brick Beaux Arts bank and office building on a corner lot, with a small matching two-story 1924 addition to the north. Above the first story, the building plan is a broad U-shape, opening onto llth Street. The one-story base is surfaced with artificial stone labeled "plaster" on the blueprints; the four-story shaft is cream-colored pressed brick with terra cotta trim and spandrel panels; the two-story capital is clad in terra cotta with a wide metal cornice. The corners are rounded. Though taller than its historic neighbors, the building is ornamented only on the two street facades; the off-street sides are common brick. The two-story base is articulated by a giant order of flat piers culminating in a frieze of swags.

The shaft has brick piers framing double-hung windows, and the capital has round arched window bays framed by an ornate pilaster order. The monumental entry and ground floor windows have been remodeled. The building has been vacant since the 1989 earthquake.

This is the southernmost of the series of southwest-facing skyscrapers admired by Hegemann, and represents the post-1906 building and financial boom. It marked the line between the "old" downtown around 9th and 10th Streets and the rapidly developing one around 14th and Broadway. The Security Bank and Trust Company was founded in 1903, headed by H.C. Capwell. In 1917 the Bank of Italy absorbed Security Bank, and in 1924 built the two-story addition. Jn 1929 the Bank of Italy became Bank of America, and after absorbing the Oakland Bank, moved into the Oakland Bank building at 1200 Broadway. Later the Key System transit company and its successor the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District occupied 1100 Broadway, from 1943 into the 1960s. The building is a fine example of its type, by.an important San Francisco firm, and is individually listed on the National Register.

2. 1200-12 BROADWAY/448 12TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Oakland Bank of Savings building APN 002 0051 005 00
Beaux Arts office building
1907-08 add 1909&22 (permit 7724, plans reviewed)
architect: Charles W. Dickey; Reed & builder: Mahoney Brothers; P.J.

Corlett (1922) Walker
1200-12 BROADWAY/448 12TH STREET, the Oakland Bank of Savings building, is an eight-story Beaux Arts bank and office building at the southwest-facing corner of Broadway and 12th Street (1907-09), with an 18-story tower addition to the north at 1210-12 Broadway (1922-23). Both sections are of steel frame and nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 11 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA__________________
county and state
brick construction, clad in light gray granite at the bases, brown brick on the shafts, and brown brick and terra cotta on the capitals, with elaborate cornices and Renaissance and Baroque ornamentation. The corner building was built as six stories, and expanded to eight stories two years later, with a rich terra cotta entablature on the added top. The shaft consists of brick walls with undifferentiated piers and spandrels. The newer tower has a three-story granite base with a central monumental entry, a simple ten-story shaft, and an elaborate capital and cornice. Its frieze is actually a grille in front of the 17th floor windows. Some of the upper floor windows have been replaced with plain aluminum sash, and doors and windows on Broadway remodeled.

The Oakland Bank of Savings, described in 1911 as the oldest and largest bank in Alameda County, was organized in 1867 by A.C. Henry and moved to the present corner in 1871. In December 1929 it was absorbed by the Bank of America, which continued to operate here into the 1990s. Charles W. Dickey, designer of the 1907 structure, was a major Oakland architect who also designed Kahn's Department Store (1501-39 Broadway) in the district. Walter Reed joined with Dickey for the second phase of the Oakland Bank Building, and thirteen years later, Reed and his then partner, William Corlett, designed the tower addition. Reed & Corlett designed six other buildings in the present district, the largest number by any single firm. The six-story 1907 building was Oakland's second steel-frame "skyscraper," and epitomized Oakland's rapid post-earthquake growth. When finished in 1923, the 225' tower was the second tallest building in Oakland (after City Hall) and an important symbol of Oakland's rapidly expanding metropolitan ambitions.

3. 1224-40 BROADWAY/427-49 13TH ST
Charles Jurgens Co.-Lux Theater building
Art Deco commercial building
1935-36
architect: H.A. Minton; Cantin &
Cantin (1948)

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 002 0051 001 00
(permit A57565, plans reviewed)
builder: F.A. Muller
1224-40 BROADWAY/427-49 13TH ST is a two-story Art Deco store and loft building at the southeast corner of Broadway and 13th Street, rectangular in pl*an, of concrete clad in tan architectural terra cotta. There are massive piers with faceted surfaces between tripartite bays, and decorative horizontal bands with zig-zag sunbursts and other geometric Art Deco motifs above and below windows and at the top of the parapet. The 1948 Camera Corner storefront is notable for its large enameled metal sign with giant Deco lettering.

This building for the Charles Jurgens Company replaced the Jurgens Block, a three-story building constructed c.1880 by Charles Jurgens, a German immigrant who invested widely in real estate and was also closely involved in downtown Oakland development as director of several banks and president of the Oakland Hotel Company. The building is notable as part of the Art Deco theme in the district, more common as remodelings than as new construction like this building. From 1947 to 1986 its largest Broadway storefront was occupied by the Lux Theater, with a streamlined facade and marquee by A.A. Cantin. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 12 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state

4. 1300-04 BROADWAY/430-48 13TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Union Savings Bank-Easton Building APN 002 0053 007 00
Beaux Arts derivative skyscraper
1903-05 eq 1989 (dated by Edwards Transcript of Records) architect: Walter J. Mathews builder: Childs Pearson & Co.et al; Colusa Sandstone Company
1300-04 BROADWAY/430-48 13TH STREET is an 11-story Beaux Arts bank and office building (stores and offices since the 1920s), located at the northeast corner of Broadway and 13th Street. It is rectangular in plan, steel frame with a Colusa sandstone exterior (now painted). The three-part vertical composition has a two-story base, six-story shaft, and three-story capital. The shaft has paired windows set in a smooth wall, in simple molded frames and deep reveals.

The capital has a giant order of paired Corinthian pilasters separating arched bays, and a wide cornice with some ornament removed. The ground floor has been completely remodeled with tile and aluminum storefronts. The 13th Street lobby is partially intact with light marble walls and a hanging iron chandelier.

This building was damaged in the 1989 earthquake, and the upper floors have been closed ever since.

This building is extremely significant as Oakland's first skyscraper and first steel-frame structure, predating the 1906 earthquake, by an important early Oakland architect. The Union Savings Bank was established in 1869 by A.C.

Henry, just two years after the first bank in Alameda County. The 1903 building was admired for its steel frame "cast in this city" and stonework from a Colusa quarry; the building was built by "Oakland mechanics." It was one of Oakland's most photographed buildings. After the Union Bank was absorbed by the Central Bank in 1914, the ground floor was remodeled for commercial use.

5. 1308-12 BROADWAY NONCONTRIBUTOR
DeLauer's-Kay Jewelers-Oregon Block APN 002 0053 008.00 Art Deco remodeled as late 20th century commercial building 1937 inc 1889 rem 1964-65 (permit A68814, plans not listed) architect: Edward T. Foulkes; Arthur builder: Wilbur C. Cone; Hayward Peter Lenz Concrete Const.Co
1308-12 BROADWAY is a two-story brick store building (visually high one story) on an interior lot between two tall buildings. Its present upper facade consists of six textured stucco panels framed in anodized aluminum, above a transom strip and plate glass storefront windows. There are two retail stores on the ground floor. The original structure dates from 1889, the north half of the Oregon Block whose south half was demolished in 1903 for the Union Savings Bank Building at 1300-04 Broadway. A 1937 black glazed tile Art Deco facade designed by Edward T. Foulkes was covered or replaced with the present modern commercial front in 1965 after a fire. If the black glazed tile facade still exists and if the building were restored to its 1937 appearance, it could be a contributor to the Downtown District, representing the theme of Depression-era Art Deco remodelings.
nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 13 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state

6. 1330 BROADWAY/417-29 14TH ST NONCONTRIBUTOR
First Western Building & Garage APN 002 0053 001 00
International style skyscraper - store and office building 1956-59 (permit B66378, plans listed)
architect: Stone Mulloy Marraccini; & builder: Swinerton & Walberg Patterson
1330-40 BROADWAY/417-29 14TH STREET/420 13TH STREET is an 18-story, T-plan steel-frame International style office tower faced with blue-gray aluminum panels ("skyzure blue") and blue tinted glass in bright aluminium mullions.

The upper stories float above a projecting glass-walled second story (originally a bank), which in turn floats above a retail ground floor. Both "floating" effects are the result of recessed intermediate sections. The stem of the T faces south, with a 21-story elevator tower and a 9-story garage wing fronting on 13th Street, all faced in a bluish gray concrete aggregate.

Escalators lead from a large lobby on Broadway and a secondary entrance on 14th Street to the second floor former banking hall; interior marble and terrazzo walls and floors and black granite columns are partially intact.

The architectural firm, Stone, Mulloy, Marraccini and Patterson or SMMP, was a major designer of hospitals and other large projects. The building is a direct reflection of the landmark Lever House (1952: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) in New York City, and one of the earliest examples of the International Style in the Bay Area. As such it may become individually eligible for the National Register and a district contributor when fifty years old. It occupies the site of the 1892 Macdonough Theater, and continues the pattern of well-spaced corner skyscrapers, compatible with the district in use, scale, and siting.

7. 1400-16 BROADWAY/424-48 14TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Central Bank building APN 008 0621 Oil 00
Beaux Arts derivative office building -
1925-26 rem 1959 (permit A 34, plans reviewed)
architect: Kelham & Mathews builder: Dinwiddie Construction Co 1400-16 BROADWAY/424-48 14TH STREET, the Central National Bank building, is a 16-story (or 15-story and mezzanine) steel-frame and reinforced concrete Beaux Arts skyscraper, rectangular in plan, on a southwest-facing corner lot. It was designed for a bank in its base and mezzanine levels, with offices above. The building is clad in brown brick with glazed brown terra cotta trim.

Ornamentation is early Italian Renaissance, with Romanesque references in the round arches. The original base had giant arched entrances on each facade, high arched windows on the ground level, rusticated terra cotta walls, and bronze window and door frames. The base has been completely remodeled with flat red marble and tan terra cotta panels (further ground floor remodeling is anticipated, as of late 1997). The ten-story shaft, with bays of paired windows and recessed spandrel panels, is framed above and below by arcaded transitional stories with engaged columns. The two-story capital has arched bays of paired arched windows, below a tall, shallow, corbelled cornice. Of several fine interior public spaces, only the 14th Street lobby remains intact, with a high ceiling and richly ornamented surfaces. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 14 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA__________________
county and state
The Central Bank occupied this corner from 1893, soon after its founding, in a five-story brick building known as the Central Block. It bought up a number of smaller banks - including Union Bank, of 1300 Broadway, in 1914 - and required larger quarters by 1925. The 1925 building was designed by two prominent Oakland architects of two generations, Beaux Arts-trained George Kelham and pioneer Oakland architect Walter Mathews. In style, the building echoes the Holland Building at 380-98 14th Street (McCall & Davis, 1923-24), with its dark brick, double arches, and corbeled cornice. It is one of a number of major downtown Oakland banking and institutional buildings dating from the real estate and financial boom of the 1920s, and continues the pattern of corner skyscrapers which Mathews's Union Bank (1300 Broadway) initiated. 1401-19 BROADWAY/1402 SAN PABLO DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
First National Bank of Oakland building APN 008 0619 007 00 Beaux Arts derivative office building
1907-08 eq 1989 (permit 7980, plans missing)
architect: Llewellyn B. Dutton builder: Thompson Starrett Company 1401-19 BROADWAY/1402-14 SAN PABLO, the First National Bank of Oakland building (commonly known as the Broadway Building), is an eight-story and basement Beaux Arts Classical flatiron bank and office building occupying the prominent gore corner of Broadway and San Pablo Avenue. It is reinforced concrete with rusticated white terra cotta cladding, in a three-part vertical composition with articulated end bays. The design is at least partly inspired by New York's 1902 Flatiron Building. The high base of the building originally had giant columns and monumental entries but has been entirely remodeled except for the richly sculptured clock and figures above the corner entrance, which was originally flanked by columns. The transitional second level has paired windows with transoms set in a deeply rusticated wall. The shaft has paired windows in a more lightly rusticated wall. The capital story has paired arched windows set within larger arches. The top story is a band cf small square windows and panels treated as a frieze below the wide modiLlion cornice and corner crest. Closed since the 1989 earthquake, the building is now (late 1997) being rehabilitated for city offices (see also #58, 2 Frank Ogawa Plaza).

The First National Bank.of Oakland was founded in 1874 and was located at 10th and Broadway until it occupied the present structure in 1908 - part of a general northward move of Oakland'sbusiness and financial district. In addition to the bank, the building was to house a luxurious basement restaurant and upper-floor medical and dental offices. Architect Llewellyn B. •- Dutton originally came to San Francisco to open a western office for Daniel H.

Burnham & Co., architects of the New York Flatiron Building. In Oakland he also designed another early skyscraper, the First Trust and Savings Bank building at 1540-50 San Pablo Avenue (1913-14). Located at the most important intersection in the city and across from City Hall, the flatiron Broadway Building is a handsome and distinctive example of its style and type, and an image deeply associated with the city.
nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 15 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state

9. 1420-44 BROADWAY DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Realty Syndicate Blg-YeLiberty Playhouse APN 008 0621 008 06 Beaux Arts derivative office building
1910-11 inc 1903-04 (permit 21510, plans missing)
architect: William L. Woollett; D. builder: Galloway & Markwart; P.J.

Franklin Oliver Walker
1420-44 BROADWAY, the Realty Syndicate Building, is a Beaux Arts derivative office building, steel frame with brick curtain walls and concrete floors. It is 10 stories, rectangular in plan, on an interior lot. It is in a three-part vertical composition with a two-story rusticated stone base, a seven-story brick-clad shaft with terra cotta sills, and a one-story polychrome terra cotta capital. A horizontal organization of bays in the pattern 2-1-2-1-2 is carried through the full height of the building. The cornice is copper.

Ornamental references are to Renaissance and Baroque architecture. The upper facade is unaltered. On the ground floor one of two monumental entries has been removed, and all storefronts have been remodeled. The remaining entry leads to a richly decorated barrel-vaulted corridor with green marble walls and iron framed showcase windows and a marble-walled elevator lobby.

The base incorporates the front of Ye Liberty Playhouse, a two-story theater and office building built in 1903-04 that extended behind the present footprint of this building to Franklin Street and was demolished in 1961. The original office occupant and developer was Borax Smith's Realty Syndicate, Oakland's leading real estate, development, and transit firm from 1895, headquartered in this building until its demise around 1931. Until 1925 this was the skyscraper on the 1400 block of Broadway.

10. 1450-60 BROADWAY/429-49 15TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Anglo California Bank-Mazor Bros. bldg. APN 008 0621 001 00 Classic Moderne originally Beaux Arts derivative commercial building 1947-48 inc 1920-21 (permit B16691, plans reviewed)
architect: H.H. Winner; Bernard J. builder: Stolte Inc.; Barrett & Joseph Hilp (1920-21)
1450-60 BROADWAY/429-49 15TH STREET, the Anglo-California National Bank Building, is a Classic (or WPA) Moderne commercial building on a southeast corner lot. It is reinforced concrete, rectangular in plan, in a two-part vertical composition with a two-story base and a two-story upper section with metal-framed windows grouped vertically in tall, narrow, recessed bays. The building is almost square, 13 bays wide on 15th Street, 12 bays on Broadway, clad in white terra cotta panels with a baseboard of dark green marble. It is an updated classical banking temple with ornamentation stripped and stylized in the Moderne manner. The two-story piers between bays are fluted like giant pilasters, with their capitals and entablature reduced to horizontal lines in the terra cotta and undersized round medallions. The vestigial cornice is a vertically articulated band with the same round medallions. Decorated panels at the ends of the parapet depict human figures with astronomical inatruments.

The building was designed to house retail space at the ground level and an nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
11 12
Section Page 16 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA____________
county and state
upper level banking hall, "to avoid breaking the continuity of retail business in the heart of Oakland's downtown shopping district." It is the result of a one-story addition and complete remodeling of a 1920-21 Beaux Arts clothing store building for Anglo-California National Bank. Architect H.H. Winner had designed San Francisco offices for Anglo-California Bank as early as 1911.

This building is part of Oakland's rich collection of Moderne and Art Deco commercial buildings, a strong secondary theme downtown. 1500-20 BROADWAY/448 15TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Roos Brothers store building APN 008 0622 005 01 S
early 20th century - Gothic Revival commercial building 1922-23 (permit 74900, plans reviewed)
architect: William Knowles builder: William Knowles
1500-20 BROADWAY, the Roos Brothers building, is a four-story early 20th century commercial building with Gothic ornament, rectangular in plan, on a corner lot. It is reinforced concrete clad in glazed pink terra cotta.

Ornament on the upper stories is Gothic with thin ribbed terra cotta pilasters, piers, and mullions that culminate in finials against the parapet wall, and spandrel panels with decorative tracery and ogee arches in relief.

Upper stories have tripartite Chicago-type windows. The building was designed originally as a department store with one store occupying the main corner ground floor space and all of the upper floors, and two smaller stores occupying separate ground floor spaces at the north end on Broadway. Ground floor storefronts have been totally remodeled with brown tile facing and new doors and windows. The upper floors are now joined internally with 1530-32 Broadway next door, and the upstairs entry is through that building.

The original occupant was Roos Brothers clothing store, and the building is an excellent example of a daylight department store building of the 1920s. Its Gothic terra cotta ornament was a favored style of its architect William Knowles, whose other buildings in the district at 512 16th Street*and 416-20 15th Street use similar vocabulary.

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0619 004 01
1501-39 BROADWAY/501-11 16TH ST
Kahn's Department Store building
Be'aux Arts derivative commercial building
1913-14 add 1923-24 . (permit 28389, plans reviewed)
architect: Charles W. Dickey; E.W. builder: R.C. Kahn; McDonald and Cannon Kahn (1923)
1501-39 BROADWAY, Kahn's Department Store, currently known as The Rotunda, is a four-story plus basement and mezzanine Beaux Arts derivative commercial building with a six story corner addition, on an irregular L-shaped site fronting on Broadway, 16th Street, and San Pablo Avenue. Construction is steel frame and reinforced concrete. It has a giant central steel-framed glass dome on top of the main roof, approximately 100' across, with a cylindrical cupola on top; inside is a four-story open rotunda. Both sections of the building are clad in light brown brick with terra cotta trim and are essentially simple skeletal structures. The original is somewhat more elaborate, in a two-part vertical composition with elaborate cast stone entry arches in the end bays. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a 0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section Page 17
13 14
Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
An elaborate frieze separates the base and the upper levels, which have Chicago-type windows set off by giant piers and decorative spandrels, the end ones with small inlaid marble panels. On top is a frieze with inlaid marble panels, and a galvanized iron cornice on modillion blocks. The addition's windows are divided in two rather than three, and it has an attic story with a narrow cornice with foliated cresting. The ground floor has been repeatedly remodeled, most recently quasi-reconstructed with plate glass windows, black granite base, and prism glass transom, in a rehabilitation project that stopped in 1988.

Kahn's was founded in 1879 by one of Oakland's prominent early Jewish merchant families, and operated in the 12th and Washington Street retail district before moving this store, which adopted features of Parisian department stores and aimed at attracting elegant trade away from San Francisco to Oakland.

After 1960 the business was known as Rhodes, and then as Liberty House, which closed in 1984. Architect Charles Dickey was one of Oakland's leading early 20th century architects, designer of the Claremont Hotel, schools, and libraries as well as commercial and residential buildings. His other works in the Downtown district include 1200 Broadway (1907-09). The Kahn's building is individually listed on the National Register.
1601 BROADWAY/GORE TELEGRAPH
Latham(James/Henrietta)Memorial Fountain
Beaux Arts fountain
1913
architect: Raphael Charles Peyre

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0640 PUB 01
(dated by newspaper report)
builder: Gorham & Company
1601 BROADWAY, the Latham Memorial Fountain, is located on a sliver of land known as Latham Square at the gore of Broadway and Telegraph Avenue. It has a total height of about 15' and is constructed of unpolished pink granite and cast bronze. Its slightly tapered granite shaft has four semicircular granite basins on each side, set about three feet above ground for horses-to drink.

There are also four smaller basins at ground level for dogs. Between the basins are cast bronze flowers and foliage, with small animals amid the vegetation. The shaft supports a cast bronze group of three children who hold a .large shell-like basin. On the shaft are granite lion and dog heads with water spouts, bronze lettering "Erected to the memory of James H. Latham and Henrietta Marshall Latham ... under the auspices of the Oakland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals...," and a circular bronze plaque that depicts the story of Baalam (in 1913 workmen's dress) and the ass. The fountain has not run since the 1940s; at times the basins have been planted with flowers. Erected by arrangement with Mayor Frank Mott, promoter of the City Beautiful movement, it is one of the few public monuments in the area.

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0640 017 00
1605-15 BROADWAY/1606 TELEGRAPH
Federal Realty Co.-Pierce building
Beaux Arts - Gothic Revival office building
1913-14 (permit 31619, plans reviewed)
architect: Benjamin Geer McDougall builder: Carlston & Snyder 1605-15 BROADWAY, the Federal Realty Building, now commonly known as the nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 18 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
Cathedral Building, is a Gothic ornamented flatiron skyscraper of steel-frame and reinforced concrete construction located on the narrow gore of Broadway and Telegraph Avenue. The building is 14 stories (7 at the narrow end), clad in terra cotta and cast concrete decorative panels. The extensive decoration at the top two floors is hollow sheet metal. The facade is composed of bay windows piled continuously, forming tall vertical columns up to the tenth story. Colossal two-story basket arches and colonettes outline the eleventh and twelfth story windows which are flush with the building. The Gothic ornament is especially lavish at the thirteenth and fourteenth floors. The tall steep roof is covered in silver-painted slate, with a decorated parapet.

Ornate entries to the office lobby are located at the north end of each facade. Next to the one on Telegraph is the name "Benjamin Geer McDougall, Architect." The small ornate lobby retains a barrel vaulted ceiling, bronze elevator doors, and marble walls.

The building was built for J.F. Carlston and Andrew Jackson Snyder, the latter a major 19th century Oakland real estate developer. It was one of several downtown Oakland office skyscrapers built in the early 1910s at the same time as City Hall, and formed one end of the "16th Street Canyon." Its Gothic design, by an architect of statewide prominence, shows the influence of New York's Woolworth Building; it was in turn widely admired and imitated. This building is individually listed on the National Register.

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0640 016 00

15. 1617-19 BROADWAY/1618 TELEGRAPH
Moyles (Mary)-Kappenman (Charlotte)bldg.

Beaux Arts derivative commercial building
1928 (permit A35177, plans reviewed)
architect: H.G. Brelin; T. Ronneberg builder: W.C. Cone (Eng.)
1617-19 BROADWAY/1618-20 TELEGRAPH AVENUE is a small two-story brick and tile Beaux Arts derivative store building on a double frontage lot immediately behind the Federal Realty (Cathedral) Building, the southernmost qf a group of five. Both street elevations are essentially the same. The tall ground floor, framed in black and green marble, has a single storefront which has been remodeled with aluminum frame display windows. The upper portion of the building is clad in tan pressed brick with four rectangular wood frame windows below a Romanesque corbelled cornice and a parapet wall with terra cotta relief panels with shields and garlands.

The store space was occupied by Loeb and Velasco Jewelers from at least 1930 into the 1990s. The building appears to be one of the many small speculative real estate ventures developed in downtown Oakland in the 1920s, and is typical of them in its brick and tile construction and historicist styling. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 19 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state

16. 1621-23 BROADWAY/1624 TELEGRAPH DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Ferine (N.P.)-Gilmour (Wm.G.) building APN 008 0640 015 00 Beaux Arts derivative - glass front commercial store and office building 1924 inc 1877-78 (permit 91527, plans not listed)
architect: Reed & Corlett builder: William G. Gilmour
1621-23 BROADWAY/1624-26 TELEGRAPH AVENUE is a small three-story Beaux Arts derivative brick store and office building on a double-ended lot with matching enframed window wall facades clad in pinkish-gray terra cotta. The two upper floors are divided into three sections with slender modified Corinthian pilasters. Other classical motifs occur on the elaborate frieze and end piers.

It is a semi-twin of 1633 Broadway, and like it, is a 1920s remodeling of a Victorian commercial building by prominent Oakland architects Reed & Corlett.

Walter Reed was also the developer of 1633 Broadway, and he and Corlett designed or redesigned a row of three buildings (1621-3, 1625-9, and 1633 Broadway) in this block behind the Federal Realty Building in 1923-24, typical of small scale speculative commercial infill in the district in the 1920s.

17. 1625-29 BROADWAY/1630 TELEGRAPH NONCONTRIBUTOR
Steinbeck (H.C.W.) building APN 008 0640 014 00
Beaux Arts derivative remodeled as Moderne commercial building 1924 inc 1877 rem 1955 (permit 90721, plans not listed) architect: Reed & Corlett; A. Lewis builder: F.A. Muller Koue
1625-29 BROADWAY/1630-32 TELEGRAPH AVENUE is a three-story brick and concrete commercial building on a double-ended lot on the gore block behind the Federal Realty Building. Its metal-edged facades are entirely covered with bands of vertically-grooved aluminum siding alternating with bands of windows in sliding casement sash. The modernized facades were applied in 1955, designed by Oakland architect A. Lewis Koue. Its previous appearance was similar to the small Beaux Arts derivative commercial buildings on either side of it, and like them, it was apparently a 1923-24 terra cotta-clad remodeling by Reed and Corlett of a Victorian commercial building. It represents the small-scale speculative commercial development going on in downtown Oakland in the 1920s, as well as more recent modernizations. If restored to its 1920s appearance, it might become a contributor to the district.

18. 1633 BROADWAY/1636 TELEGRAPH DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Reed (Walter D.) building APN 008 0640 013 00
Beaux Arts derivative commercial building
1923 inc 1877 (permit 78268, plans not listed)
architect: Reed & Corlett builder: F.A. Muller
1633 BROADWAY/1636 TELEGRAPH AVENUE is a small two-story and mezzanine Beaux Arts derivative commercial building, one of a row of five on double-frontage lots behind the Federal Realty Building. Its matching stuccoed brick facades have extensive glass surfaces and are in a two-part vertical composition with a tall enframed first floor and mezzanine base and a second floor with nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
19 20
Section Page 20 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
Corinthian colonettes between the windows. Other ornament includes rope moldings and a panel flanked by two griffins. Parapet detailing appears to have been removed. The ground floor has been remodeled with aluminum storefront windows.

The building is a semi-twin of 1621-23 Broadway, like it a remodeling of a Victorian building. The owner was Walter Reed of Reed and Corlett; it is one of several examples of speculative development by architects downtown during the 1920s. The building is one of several early 20th century small commercial structures in the district using the high base convention with extensive glazed surfaces and historicist terra cotta ornament.
1635-37 BROADWAY/451-57 17TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Bercovich (B. & H.) store building APN 008 0640 012 00
glass front commercial - Beaux Arts derivative store and office building 1922-23 (permit 75170, plans reviewed)
architect: Leonard H. Thomas builder: F.A. Muller
1635-37 BROADWAY/451-57 17TH ST/1642-44 TELEGRAPH is a three story Beaux Arts derivative glass-front brick store and office building on a three-frontage lot at the wide end of the Broadway-Telegraph gore block behind the Federal Realty Building. It has a cast iron framed two story high glass base and a third floor surfaced with light brown pressed brick with cream terra cotta and sheet metal trim. The transomed Chicago style windows are divided by brick piers with terra cotta cartouches at the tops, and there is a sheet metal cornice above a brick and terra cotta frieze. A freestanding metal and glass Art Deco clock along the Broadway curb is associated with a former jewelry store occupant. The ground floor has been partly remodeled, but retains some green and black marble splash panels.

The building is one of the best examples in downtown Oakland of the high glass base commercial structure, and one of a number of small Chicago-influenced commerical buildings that constitute an important element in the district.

CITY HALL PLAZA/14TH/SAN PABLO
City Hall Plaza-Memorial Plaza
eafly 20th century park
1911-14 inc 1868 rem 1954&97
architect: unknown

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 003 0067 002 00
(dated by secondary sources)
builder: unknown
CITY HALL PLAZA, recently renamed Frank Ogawa Plaza, is a triangular public open space in front of City Hall, bounded by 14th Street and the former lines of San Pablo Avenue and City Hall Plaza (the former 1400 block of Washington Street). Its focal point is a wide-spreading California live oak known as the Jack London Oak, planted by London's widow in 1917. Major alterations are underway in connection with the new City Administration complex: San Pablo Avenue and City Hall Plaza are being closed as streets and absorbed into an enlarged plaza connecting City Hall and the new building at 2 Frank Ogawa Plaza.

The land between 14th, 15th, and Clay Streets and San Pablo Avenue was nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 21 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_____________
county and state
surveyed as City Hall Tract and purchased by the city in 1868, and a city hall constructed just east of the present building. When the present city hall was completed in 1914, Washington Street was cut through in front of it and the present shape of the plaza was created as an open space setting off City Hall.

The plaza was renamed Memorial Plaza in 1922 as a World War I memorial, and in 1995 was named Frank Ogawa Plaza in memory of Frank Ogawa, City Council member for 27 years and the first Asian-American elected to a major public office.

Pictures of the plaza over the years show ever-changing monuments, landscaping, and structures, while the presence of the municipal open space makes a continuing contribution to the civic aspect of the district.

21. 1 CITY HALL PLAZA/14TH/15TH STS
Oakland City Hall
Beaux Arts civic building - skyscraper
1911-14 eq 1989
architect: Palmer & Hornbostel

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 003 0067 001 00 E
(permit 29722, plans not listed)
builder: 27 subcontractors;
Gladding McBean (terra c)
1 CITY HALL PLAZA, Oakland City Hall, is a Beaux Arts steel-frame skyscraper clad in white granite and richly detailed cream-colored terra cotta. It has a three-story ceremonial base that fronts the entire city block from 14th to 15th Street facing City Hall Plaza, a narrower nine-story office tower shaft, and a multi-stage penthouse, clock tower, and cupola. The base is a giant order with composite pilasters flanking three-story arched bays and a monumental entry portico with fluted columns. Ornament at the base includes a pierced terra cotta rail with eagles over the entry columns, a paneled terra cotta frieze showing California grapes, olives, and figs, and freestanding terra cotta light standards draped with grapes, pinecones, and acanthus. The shaft has paired office windows, and rectangular slit windows at its top floor, originally the city jail. The interior has a vaulted vestibule and rotunda with a grand staircase in marble and terra cotta. Other notable interior spaces are the City Council Chamber, with silver gilt columns and barrel vaulted ceiling, and the wood paneled mayor's office.

This city hall replaced an 1877 woodframe building on the same block. The design, by the eminent New York firm of Palmer & Hornbostel, was chosen in a nationwide competition following a 1909 bond issue promoted by Progressive Mayor and City Beautiful advocate Frank Mott. It is said to be the first skyscraper city hall in the country, symbolically uniting the ceremonial and business sides of government. When new it housed all the functions of Oakland's municipal government, including the city jail in the top floor of the tower. The building was extensively rehabilitated and restored in 1991-95 following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, including the world's first base isolation retrofit of a historic structure. It is individually listed on the National Register.
nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 22 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state

22. 1301-15 FRANKLIN ST/400-12 13TH ST NONCONTRIBUTOR
Richfield Oil Co. building APN 002 0053 003 01
.Beaux Arts derivative office building
1924-25 rem 1980c (permit 96800, plans missing)
architect: H.H. Winner builder: Herbert Yerxa; Gladding McBean (terra c)
1301-15 FRANKLIN ST/400-12 13TH ST is a five-story Beaux Arts derivative store and office building, heavily remodeled, on a corner lot. The structure is steel frame with brick curtain walls, in a two-part vertical composition with a ground floor base and skeletally articulated four story shaft. Ornamentation was Romanesque/Baroque but much of it has been obscured or removed. The granite base and brick shaft have been painted and the metal cornice enclosed.

Windows have been altered from paired double-hung to pairs of fixed tinted glass with the center mullion painted out. Spandrel panels of stucco have been added. Ground floor storefronts are all remodeled, as is the office entry.

The original major office occupant of this building, from 1925 at least into the 1940s, was Richfield Oil, which operated an Oakland waterfront terminal for the distribution of petroleum products to the Bay Area and interior valleys. The building's massing and skeletal articulation are intact, and if other features were restored or exposed it could become a contributor.

23. 1437-45 FRANKLIN ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Graneton (William)-Brownell Building APN 008 0621 007 00 Beaux Arts derivative commercial building
1924 (permit 88540, plans not listed)
architect: Schirmer-Bugbee Company builder: Cahill Brothers; Gladding McBean (terra c)
1437-45 FRANKLIN ST is a four story Beaux Arts store and office building of reinforced concrete construction on an interior lot. The somewhat*Venetian facade is designed in a three-part vertical composition with a two story shaft and a fourth floor capital. The ground floor, which has been remodeled, has two tall recessed storefront bays flanking a recessed upper floor entry. The three upper floors are clad in variegated red pressed brick with mottled terra cotta quoins and other -trim. The shaft has three two-story semicircular arched bays with tripartite Chicago-type windows and diamond pattern brickwork on the spandrels. The top floor has three groups of three arched windows separated by twisted engaged columns, and a dark red tile roof.

Architects William Schirmer and Arthur Bugbee were an Oakland firm best known for period revival residential work. Occupants of this speculative building included (c. 1930) the Press Club and the Fifty-Fifty Club. A distinguished design of polychrome brick and terra cotta, the building harmonizes well with the arcaded Oakland Title Insurance building next door. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 23 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_________________
county and state

24. 1503-17 FRANKLIN ST/400-14 15TH ST NONCONTRIBUTOR
Hawley Investment Co. building APN 008 0622 002 00
early 20th century remodeled as mid-20th century store building 1915 rem 1964 (permit 38816, plans reviewed)
architect: Charles W. Dickey builder: Hawley Investment Company 1503-17 FRANKLIN ST/400-14 15TH ST is a one story and mezzanine brick commercial building on a corner lot, totally remodeled. This building has been entirely refaced, its original cornice and tile pent roof have been removed, and the upper level covered with stucco panels. Both storefronts on Franklin and seven of the eight on 15th Street have been much remodeled. One storefront, 402 15th Street, has a black tile base and recessed door that may be original, and 1517 Franklin is a Streamlined Moderne bar with a neon sign and blue glass. Originally this building was part of the pattern of small-scale speculative commercial development in downtown Oakland in the 1910s and 20s, and the work of a major Oakland architect.

25. 1522-34 SAN PABLO AV NONCONTRIBUTOR
Lurie Co.-Gariot building-Nucleus House APN 008 0619 009 01 Moderne store building
1938 inc 1877-78 rem 1970etc (permit A70931, plans not listed) architect: W.D. Peugh builder: Cahill Bros.
1522-34 SAN PABLO AV is a one story frame and brick Moderne commercial building on a interior lot, consisting originally of 6 storefronts, all remodeled. Sanborn maps and the 1938 permit ("removed second story... new fronts") imply that this is a much-altered 19th century building. Its present appearance originated in 1938: a streamlined facade with a long, low stepped parapet, salmon-colored enamel facing and horizontal stripes above transom level. It is a small-scale example of the Depression-era practice of updating commercial buildings. The right third of the building is now faced with a 1970 metal screen above and rough white stucco formed to imitate stone 'below, and the middle half of the enameled metal parapet has been painted.

26. 1540-50 SAN PABLO AV/521-63 16TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR First Trust & Savings-American Bank bldg APN 008 0619 001 01 Beaux Arts bank building - office building
1913-14 add 1952 (permit 32453, plans reviewed)
architect: Llewellyn B. Dutton builder: P.J. Walker Company 1540-50 SAN PABLO AV is an eleven-story steel frame and reinforced concrete Beaux Arts bank and office building with Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation, on a five-sided corner lot. It has five bays on the San Pablo Avenue side and eight bays on 16th Street. The facades are in a two-part vertical composition with a two-story base and nine-story shaft. Surfaces are clad with Manti stone which has since been stuccoed and painted. The 4' base is gray granite. Doors and windows on the bottom and top floors are set in a semicircular arcade decorated with Renaissance motifs. Windows are paired double-hung. The broad galvanized iron cornice has scrolled and foliated cresting with lion heads. A three-story reinforced concrete Moderne style annex was added on the 16th nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 24
28 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA________________
county and state
Street side in 1952. Inside, the banking room has heavily veined marble wainscot and an elaborate cross-vaulted plaster ceiling with California historical scenes and names in a field of arabesque decoration.

First Trust and Savings Bank was part of the business empire of Philip E.

Bowles, along with the First National Bank at 1401 Broadway (the Broadway Buildin); both buildings were by the same architect. These banks merged into the American Bank in the early 1920s, and became American Trust Company in 1927. From the 1930s to the 1950s this building housed the Oakland Bank of Commerce. An important early Oakland skyscraper, built at the same time as City Hall across the plaza, it forms one wall of the 16th Street "canyon" and illustrated the 1916 Architect and Engineer article on "The Bank in the Skyscraper."

27. 1600-06 SAN PABLO AV/532-38 16TH ST
Heald-Dixon Business College building
Chicago style commercial building
1906 add 1918-19 rem 1944
architect: Charles F. Mau; E.W.

Cannon

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0620 010 00
(permit 4681, plans not listed)
builder: Veitch Bros.
1600-06 SAN PABLO AV/532-38 16TH ST is a six story steel frame and brick Chicago-influenced store and office building - now apartments - on a corner lot, the bottom four floors built in 1906 and the top two floors added in 1918. The facades are in a three-part vertical composition: an extensively remodeled ground floor base, a four-story painted common brick shaft, and a two-story glazed brick capital. On San Pablo Avenue, wide brick piers divide the facade into three asymmetrical bays, a four-window corner bay and two with three windows. The five-bay 16th Street side is angled along a bend in the street. All windows are double-hung wood sash, multi-paned in the upper two stories. There is a projecting sheet metal modillion cornice. The building was converted to wartime apartments by the Home Owners Loan Corporation in 1944, and rehabilitated as the Adcock-Joyner Apartments in 1994.

The original upper-floor occupant was Heald-Dixon Business College.

German-born Charles Mau was an important turn of the century Oakland architect. This building is among Oakland's earliest Chicago-influenced commercial structures, and part of the 16th Street "canyon."

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0620 005 00
1601-15 TELEGRAPH AV/500-08 16TH ST
Latham Square Building
Chicago style - Beaux Arts office building
1925-26 rem 1950ff (permit A 9000, plans missing)
architect: Maury I. Diggs builder: Maury I. Diggs
1601-15 TELEGRAPH AV, the Latham Square Building, is a 14 story office building on a rectangular corner lot. It is in a U-shaped plan above the second story, with the opening toward Telegraph Avenue. There is a two-story penthouse at the back of the U, and two floors of underground parking.

Structure is steel frame with reinforced concrete, with brown brick cladding, It is in three-part vertical composition with a two-story base, eleven-story nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
UMb WO. 1U24-UU1B (B-»t>)
Section Page 25 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
shaft, and two-story capital. The base, originally pink glazed terra cotta, is now beige limestone tile; the shaft is brown brick with alternating combed and pitted finishes; the capital is terra cotta. Tripartite Chicago-like metal-frame windows with transoms are set back in deep reveals. The capital has paired arches, pilasters, and a slightly projecting cornice above a highly decorated frieze.
»
This Chicago- and Beaux Arts-influenced building represents the mid-1920s wave of skyscraper construction in downtown Oakland. Oakland architect Maury Diggs acted as designer, builder, and co-developer of the building, which was designed for Owl Drug Company in the main ground floor space and professional offices above.

29. 1621-29 TELEGRAPH AV
Sullivan (D.J.) building
Beaux Arts derivative loft building
1924
architect: John J. Donovan

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0620 004 00
(permit 96000, plans reviewed)
builder: Barrett & Hilp
1621-29 TELEGRAPH AV is a five story terra cotta-clad concrete store and loft building, forming a transition in scale between the 14-story Latham Square Building to the south and a two-story shop building to the north. The enframed skeletal facade, five windows wide, is composed of a two-story high base and three-story shaft. The base is framed by a terra cotta frieze and pilasters, and has been remodeled on the ground floor. The shaft has terra cotta pilasters below a frieze of swags and medallions, molded cornice, and elevated urns at each end.

This is a particularly fine example of the high-base loft building type common in downtown Oakland in the 1920s, by a prominent architect best known for schools and other civic and institutional buildings.

30. 1631 TELEGRAPH AV DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Sexton (Charles)-Favre (J.) building APN 008 0620 003 .00 19th century - Mediterranean commercial building
1892-93 rem 1937etc (dated by Edwards Transcript of Records) architect: Howard Burns (1893) builder: Burpee & Libbey; Unit-Bilt Fixture Co('37)
1631 TELEGRAPH AV is a two-story stuccoed brick Mediterranean style commercial building on a interior lot. The upper facade has an arcade of twisted Corinthian columns and deep-set leaded glass windows with fanlights, below a single-paneled frieze and tiled pent roof. The high base has been totally remodeled, with a late 20th century plate glass and aluminum storefront and sheet-metal paneling over the wide transom level. It is not clear whether the present design is the original 1892-93 facade or an undocumented 1920s remodeling. This small-scale brick commerical building is consistent with the speculative development occurring in this part of downtown in the 1920s. nrcon.frm
b
NPS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 26 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state

31. 1635 TELEGRAPH AV NONCONTRIBUTOR
Columbia Outfitting Company building APN 008 0620 002 00 Beaux Arts derivative remodeled as mid-20th century store building 1922 rem 1951&65 (permit 68700, plans reviewed)
architect: Mel Schwartz; John B. builder: Cress & Troback i Anthony
1635 TELEGRAPH AV is a two story and basement reinforced concrete building on an interior lot. The original three-bay facade with elaborate cast concrete frieze and cornice has been entirely covered or removed. The upper facade is entirely covered with flat white stucco panels. This surface projects well beyond the original plane of the building, suggesting that some of the original may survive behind it. The shopfront area is recessed, with green terrazzo pavement and overhanging polygonal show windows (1951).

Original plans show a two-part facade with an almost Baroque cast cement frieze and the legend "Columbia Outfitting Company" - which sold men's suits, overcoats, and hats here at least through 1932. If restored to its original appearance, the building might become a contributor to the Downtown District.

32. 1645 TELEGRAPH AV/501-09 17TH ST
Cahill (J.R.) & Sbarbaro building
Chicago style loft building
1922
architect: John Cahill
33 DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0620 001 00
(permit 66351, plans listed)
builder: Cahill Brothers
1645 TELEGRAPH AV/501-09 17TH ST is a three-story concrete Chicago style store and loft building on a corner lot, surfaced in dark brown brick, two bays wide on Telegraph Avenue and eight bays wide on 17th Street. The high base has been totally remodeled with stucco and a metal and terrazzo corner shopfront. The two loft stories have recessed Chicago style windows, brick pilasters, recessed spandrels, brick frieze with diamond insets, brick parapet, and a simple cornice molding with brick dentils.

Built by and for James Cahill and Company, dealers in wall paper and paints, this building represents the high-base and loft style common in downtown Oakland in the 1920s.
1401-15 WEBSTER ST/350-56 14TH ST
Bradley (Mary J.) store building
early 20th century - commercial building
1916 rem 1928
architect: Charles W. Dickey

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0624 038 00
(permit 42180, plans reviewed)
builder: listed as owner
1401-15 WEBSTER ST is an early 20th century brick commercial building on a corner lot. It is a low two stories (originally one story and mezzanine), rectangular plan, with a straight parapet, molded cornice with dentils, ten storefronts, and a band of upper floor metal sash windows. Exterior walls are brown brick, with simple decorative brickwork in the frieze. Plans describe it as "brick, steel, and mill construction." Visible alterations new windows, nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section Page 27 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
ground floor alteration including new brick surfaces, and awnings. Original plans show eight narrow storefronts on Webster Street and two on 14th Street, and a tall transom level now converted to a second story.

Historically this building reflects small-scale speculative development in downtown Oakland. It is an early example of the decorative brick commercial style that became popular in the 1920s, by one of Oakland's most prominent early 20th century architects.

34. 380-88 12TH ST
Marks (Martin E.) building
Beaux Arts derivative store building
1912
architect: unknown

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 002 0057 007 00
(permit 29579, plans not listed)
builder: Martin E. Marks (owner)
380-88 12TH ST is a one-story brick Beaux Arts derivative store building on an interior lot. The enframed window-wall facade has three storefront bays (extensively remodeled), with an elaborate stepped and crenellated brick parapet, the central section of which is embellished with a gray cast plaster shield and garland. Smaller plaster garlands decorate the faces of the end piers. A metal cornice with console brackets above a patterned red and beige pressed brick frieze extends across the top of the storefronts.

This unusually embellished small commercial building was owned and built by the same Marks family that owned and operated the St. Mark Hotel next door.

35. 390-96 12TH ST/1200 FRANKLIN
St. Mark Hotel
Beaux Arts derivative hotel building
1907
architect: Benjamin Geer McDougall;
John B. Leonard

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 002 0057 008 00
(permit 6743, plans not listed)
builder: Lindgren Hicks Company
390-96 12TH ST/1200 FRANKLIN is an eight-story Beaux Arts stucco-faced reinforced concrete hotel on a corner lot. It has a one-story base, plain six-story shaft, and ornate one-story capital with arched windows, pilasters, and modillion cornice. Above the rectangular base, the plan is U-shaped around a,one-story skylit lobby, creating a pair of slender towers facing 12th Street. Windows are paired at the end bays on Franklin Street; elsewhere they are single. The building has been renovated as 100 senior apartments. Windows are now tinted glass casements in anodized aluminum sash. The ground floor is faced with new brick in deep arches. The lobby is largely intact, with coffered ceilings, Ionic columns and pilasters, hexagonal tile floor, and a large multi-paned rectangular skylight.

Benjamin Geer McDougall was one of California's leading early 20th century architects, and also designed the Federal Realty (Cathedral) Building at 1605-15 Broadway. John B. Leonard, engineer for the St. Mark Hotel, was an early and innovative user of reinforced concrete construction. In 1911 the St.

Mark was described as "the largest and most prominent of the commercial hotels in Oakland," having hosted President Taft in 1909. Its height and its Beaux nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 28
36 37
Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_________________
county and state
Arts design relate it to the early commercial skyscrapers in the Downtown district.
400-16 12TH ST/1201-11 FRANKLN DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Pantages-Hippodrome Theater building APN 002 0051 004 00 Beaux Arts derivative theater and store building
1912 rem 1946ff (permit 25378, plans not listed)
architect: O'Brien & Werner builder: S. Kulchar Company 400-16 12TH ST/1201-11 FRANKLIN is a three-story steel frame and concrete former theater, office, and commercial building on a corner lot. The building is faced with scored stucco, with a modillion cornice, Tuscan pilasters, and entablature on the ground floor, and paneling at the west end where the theater entry was located. Set back on the roof is a two-story penthouse housing the auditorium and fly tower of the theater. On the street fronts windows are punched out in regular rows, many of them now covered over.

The theater in this mixed use building opened as the Pantages vaudeville house, and was subsequebtly known as the Lurie, Hippodrome, Premier, Roosevelt, and Downtown. Architects O'Brien & Werner were especially known for Masonic temples and auditoriums. The Tribune Publishing Company bought the building in 1927 to expand its printing plant from next door into the office areas, and then occupied the theater space in 1946. The Tribune vacated its downtown buildings in 1992.
363-69 13TH ST
Central Building & Loan Association bldg
Art Deco bank building
1929
architect: William E. Schirmer

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 002 0057 003 01
(permit A37857, plans reviewed)
builder: Charles W. Heyer
363-69 13TH ST is a tall, narrow one story steel-frame reinforced concrete Art Deco bank building on an interior lot. The facade is designed as a massive vault, penetrated by a tall deeply recesssed entry with a semicircular compound arched top. Surface materials are cast concrete slabs with a polished black granite base. The stepped top has at its center a large square bas-relief panel depicting heroic male figures trading or doing business, and a.vertically grooved frieze. The original Art Deco entry doors and tall multi—paned window in the arch have been replaced with an aluminum window and new entry doors. "Central Building and Loan Association" in incised Deco letters below the frieze has been plastered over.

Central Building and Loan was an Alameda-based firm, founded in 1909. Its Oakland branch building, by an important Oakland architect of the Period Revival and Art Deco era, is an outstanding example of Deco design adapted to a financial institution. It is similar in size and vocabulary to the Income Securities Building a block away at 360-64 14th Street. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 29 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
38 39
371-75 13TH ST
Hotel St. George
Colonial Revival - Mansard hotel building

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 002 0057 002 00
1906-08
architect: Walter J. Mathews
(permit 5575, plans reviewed)
builder: Walter J. Mathews
371-75 13TH ST is a six-story mansard roofed brick masonry hotel and store building with simple Classical ornamentation, on an interior lot. The facade is four bays wide, in a three-part vertical composition with a commercial ground floor base, a three-story, stucco-surfaced shaft, a one-story capital, and a one-story attic with a sheet metal mansard roof with four pedimented dormers. Windows are set singly in slightly recessed molded bays. A molded belt course and modillion block cornice articulate the capital. The ground floor storefront has been altered; wood clerestory windows remain on the left side above the entry and lobby window of the residential hotel.

This building was developed by capitalist and wine merchant Charles Jurgens as a "lodging house," perhaps originally for earthquake refugees, and also housed Jurgens's business headquarters. The mansard top story, a rarity in Oakland, appears to have been added in 1907-08. It is an unusual design by Oakland's prolific and influential early architect Walter Mathews. 393 13TH ST/1228 FRANKLIN
Crocker Bank building
Moderne bank building
1950-52
architect: Milton Pflueger

NONCONTRIBUTOR
APN 002 0057 001 00
(permit B34598, plans )
builder: Dinwiddie Construction
393 13TH ST/1228 FRANKLIN ST is a high two-story concrete late Moderne bank and office building clad in tan glazed tile and red granite. It has a red granite base about 7 feet high. Tall red granite posts and lintel frame the central five of the seven bays on 13th Street, creating a monumental entry.

Windows on both stories are in fixed aluminum sash, small square ones on the top floor aligned above tall strips on the ground floor. Inside, the main banking hall is two stories tall, floored and faced with marble. The building was most recently used, unaltered, as a YWCA child care center.

Architect Milton Pflueger was the brother and sometime partner of the more renowned Timothy Pflueger (d.1946). This building is a fine example of a distinctive late Moderne style of institutional architecture applied to an updated banking temple. It occupies the site of a small classical Farmers and Merchants Bank.

40. 401-17 13TH ST/1219 FRANKLIN DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Breuner Co.-Oakland Tribune building APN 002 0051 002 00 Beaux Arts derivative - Renaissance revival office building 1906 add 1922-23 (permit 2997, plans reviewed)
architect: Edward T. Foulkes; builder: Lindgren Hicks Company D.Franklin Oliver
nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 30 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
401-17 13TH ST/1219 FRANKLIN is a rectangular six-story corner building originally designed as a furniture store (1906), later converted into the Oakland Tribune office. It is connected on 13th Street to a slender rectangular 24-story office tower (1922), integrated with it into a unified design. The corner building is of reinforced concrete construction throughout; the tower is of steel-frame construction with reinforced concrete floors and curtain walls. Both buildings are clad above the first floor with variegated orange-brown pressed brick with pinkish-cream terra cotta, and have sheet metal and concrete trim. Ornamentation is Renaissance/Baroque and Spanish Colonial. The tower shares the base and transitional story of the corner building, with a twelve-story shaft and two-story capital below a two-stage, five-story clock tower with a tall chateau style roof. The roof is sheathed with vertically-ribbed copper, giving it a distinctive green color. The building is currently vacant, the Tribune having moved out in 1992; a mixed-use adaptive reuse project is proposed.

Architecturally the 1906 Breuner's building is significant as a locally early example of reinforced concrete construction, designed by architect D. Franklin Oliver. The 1922 tower, designed by Edward T. Foulkes, is significant for its combination of utilitarian office design and a romantic eclectic top. The elaborate marquee over the sidewalk is one of few surviving examples. The complex housed a major Oakland institution, the Knowland family's powerful Tribune newspaper, for three-quarters of a century. The tower, part of the 1920s wave of skyscraper construction, is a prominent visual symbol of Oakland with its distinctive shape, illuminated clock and "Tribune" sign, and may be considered the signature building of the Oakland skyline. 414-16 13TH ST
Perry (Raymond A.) building
Beaux Arts derivative office building
1910-11
architect: Meyer & Reed

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 002 0053 005 00
(permit 21857, plans reviewed)
builder: P.J. Walker
414-16 13TH ST is a narrow seven story steel frame and brick curtain wall store and office building on a interior lot. The facade is three bays wide, with a ground floor commercial base, a transitional second story, a four-story shaft, and a one-story capital. The upper floors are clad in rough surfaced vatiegated red pressed brick, patterned in the the spandrels, frieze, and top-story piers with square white marble panels and gray cement borders. A wide sheet metal cornice extends across the top, with long scrolled-end modillion blocks. The ground floor has been totally remodeled and the original paired, double-hung upper windows have been replaced.

This was one of downtown Oakland's early tall buildings, by two of the Bay Area's most prominent early 20th century architects, Frederick H. Meyer and Walter D. Reed (also the designers of 1100 Boroadway). It is distinctive as an early office-tower development by a private investor, attorney R.A. Perry, and not by a bank.
nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 7 Page 31 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA____________
county and state

42. 360-64 14TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Income Securities Building APN 008 0624 039 00
Art Deco office building
1928 (permit A33466, plans reviewed)
architect: Frederick H. Reimers; John builder: Charles W. Heyer Stoll (artist)
360-64 14TH ST is a six-story Art Deco bank and office building on an interior lot. The structure is steel frame with reinforced concrete floors and brick curtain walls. The facade is three bays wide, with a ground floor base and a five-story shaft, clad with rendered concrete slabs. There is a polished gray granite base about 6' feet high. The bays are framed on both levels by angularly fluted piers. Ground floor entries have deep reveals, inward-slanted tops, and paired copper doors. Three cast stone bas-relief spandrel panels at the base of the upper bays depict "General Activities," "Architecture," and "Commerce and Shipping." Windows are vertically separated by concrete spandrels with geometric motifs, and piers are capped with a stylized eagle motif on the parapet. The exterior is unaltered except for a canopy across the ground floor.

The design by Oakland architect Frederick Reimers and San Francisco artist John Stoll was widely noted for its innovative "sculptural conception" and probably influenced the nearby Central Building and Loan building (369 13th Street, 1929). It is part of the strong Art Deco theme in the district.

43. 380-98 14TH ST/1400-4 FRANKLIN DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Alameda County Title Insurance building APN 008 0624 041 00 Beaux Arts derivative office building
1923 (permit 81200, plans reviewed)
architect: McCall & Davis builder: Dinwiddie Construction Co 380-98 14TH ST is a seven-story Beaux Arts store and office building of steel frame and reinforced concrete construction, with a first floor bas.e, a transitional second story, and a five-story shaft with articulated end bays.

The lower part is clad in rusticated mottled beige terra cotta; the shaft is clad with variegated dark orange-brown combed pressed brick. Ornamentation is Romanesque and early Renaissance. The shaft has tall slightly recessed arched bays of paired windows, with straight-headed end bays. The semicircular bay arches enclose paired semicircular arched windows on the top floor, below a narrow corbeled galvanized iron cornice. The storefront at 386 14th Street has a deep blue glazed tile base and wood-paneled inset art-glass show windows.

Most of the ground floor is intact; some windows have been replaced. Plans indicate that the structure was designed to hold five additional stories.

The Alameda County Title Insurance Company was formed in 1920 as a merger of two earlier title abstract firms. Its new building was an early representative of the "financial center" developing along Franklin Street. It was apparently an admired and influential building in its time; many of its features were adopted by the architects of 1400 Broadway two years later. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 32 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state

44. 400-08 14TH ST/1401-11FRANKLIN DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Athenian-Nile Club building APN 008 0621 009 00
Beaux Arts derivative - Colonial Revival commercial building - meeting hall 1901-02 (dated by assessor's block books)
architect: Walter J. Mathews builder: unknown
400-08 14TH ST is a four-story stuccoed brick turn-of-the-century store and hall building on a corner lot, with stores in the ground floor base and club rooms in the upper three floors. The upper floors have a cylindrical corner bay and slightly projecting end bays. Most of the second and third floor windows are arranged in groups, with panels substituting for some of the windows. All the upper floor windows have deeply recessed double-hung wood sash, most with twelve-light upper sash. The window heights decrease toward the top floor. A cornice and pent roof wrap around the top of the corner bay, forming a low pitched conical roof with ball finial, echoing the canopy roof over the hall entry on 14th Street. Some of the ground floor storefronts retain glazed wood entry doors and greenish-black marble splash panels.

One of the earliest surviving buildings in the Downtown district, this building for 90 years housed the Athenian-Nile Club, an exclusive men's club patterned after the Bohemian Club, whose members included many of downtown's business, financial, and political elite, among them its architect Walter Mathews. Since 1993 it has been occupied by a new social club, Geoffrey's Inner Circle.

45. 401-15 14TH ST/1319-27FRANKLIN
Financial Center Building
Art Deco office building
1928-29
architect: Reed & Corlett
(permit A35730, plans reviewed)
builder: Dinwiddie Construction
401-15 14TH ST is an Art Deco office building, fifteen stories with penthouse and mezzanine, on a corner lot. It has a two-story base, a transitional third story, a nine-story shaft, and a three story capital. The capital is slightly set back, and the decorated penthouse more so. Ornamentation is stylized in the Art Deco manner, with Churrigueresque and Mayan influence. Articulation is strongly vertical, with heavy full height piers separating narrow recessed bays of paired upper floor windows. The structure is steel frame with reinforced concrete floors and brick curtain walls, clad in variegated brown pressed brick with terra cotta base and trim. The terra cotta has been sandblasted on the bottom three floors. Ornament includes "FCB" monograms, stylized terra cotta eagles at the second floor, and an elaborate crenellated parapet. The main entry is on Fourteenth Street, with an elaborate outer vestibule and marble-walled interior lobby. Store windows are set in elaborate bronze architraves and have green-veined black marble splash panels.

The Financial Center Building was designed by the prominent Oakland firm of Reed & Corlett for a partnership including Oakland Tribune owner Joseph Knowland. Its name and location were "carefully chosen to appeal to firms having a financial slant to their business." It is an outstanding and unique nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 33 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
combination of the brown brick and terra cotta characteristic of the district's earlier Beaux Arts office buildings and the stylized ornament and ziggurat form of Art Deco skyscrapers.

46. 412-20 14TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Elks Hall-Scheeline (Louis) building APN 008 0621 010 00 Art Deco originally Colonial Revival commercial building 1929 inc 1902-03 (permit A39056, plans reviewed)
architect: Russell G. DeLappe builder: Russell G. DeLappe 412-20 14TH ST is a four-story brick commerical building on an interior lot, with four store spaces in the ground floor base and a lodge hall in the three-story upper section. The stuccoed and tiled Art Deco facade is divided into six bays by fluted piers with ornate pointed arch caps projecting above the parapet. The wider bays are further divided by minor pinnacled piers. The window and spandrel heights decrease toward the top floor. The spandrels in the narrow bays are clad with light gold terra cotta tiles with a triangular arch pattern of blue and green tiles. The ground floor storefronts have been remodeled.

This is a 1929 remodeling of a 1902 building whose facade was clad with pressed brick and had curved bay windows, a modillion cornice, and a balustraded center parapet. It is a good example of the Art Deco remodelings that became an important pattern in downtown Oakland in the Depression era.

47. 401-03 15TH ST/1447-59FRANKLIN DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Oakland Title Insurance Co. building APN 008 0621 006 00 Beaux Arts derivative - Renaissance revival office building 1921-22 (permit 64100, plans listed)
architect: Maury I. Diggs builder: F.A. Muller
401-03 15TH ST is a high two-story reinforced concrete store and office building in a modified temple composition, clad in elaborate mottled grayish beige terra cotta with richly polychromed details derived from Ita.lian Renaissance sources. Each of the two tall stories has a mezzanine. Full-height arches enclose recessed windows on all four levels, with tripartite Chicago-type windows on the first mezzanine, second, and second mezzanine floors. The ground floor corner end bays of each elevation have pedimented entries with figures representing Mercury and Artemis seated on top, the initials "OTI&GCo." and polychrome cornucopias. The bracketed and pinnacled Gothic cornice has polychrome frieze and fascia panels.

Plans indicate that the structure was designed to support a future third floor. It was one of the first buildings in the expansion of downtown Oakland's financial and real estate center east of Broadway to Franklin Street in the 1920s, by prominent Oakland architect Maury Diggs (also designer and developer of the Latham Square Building, 1601 Telegraph). Its terra cotta "jewel box" design recalls banking temples of the era, and anchors the row of small 1920s real estate and commercial buldings on 15th Street between Franklin and Broadway.
nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section Page 34 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_________________
county and state
48 49
50 405-07 15TH ST
Wiener (Louis) building
Beaux Arts derivative store building
1922
architect: Maury I. Diggs

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0621 005 00
(permit 70400, plans reviewed)
builder: Maury I. Diggs
405-07 15TH ST is a small one story single-bay enframed window-wall store building of brick construction on an interior lot. The piers and lintel framing the bay are surfaced in light brown pressed brick, with a painted galvanized iron cornice and plain brick parapet. Slightly recessed bronze entry doors are located at the left of the storefront, which is framed with polished marble, richly veined purple, maroon, white, and dark green. The clerestory, the full width of the bay, consists of five windows set in wood frames. Originally two storefronts (per plans and c.1935 Sanborn map), the building was altered to its present single marble-trimmed storefront at an unknown date.

This building is part of a distinctive group of low-rise commercial buildings along 15th Street within the downtown district, associated with the spread of financial offices east of Broadway. Architect Maury Diggs also designed the Oakland Title Insurance building next door.
409-11 15TH ST NONCONTRIBUTOR
Pioneer Investors-Porter (F.F.) building APN 008 0621 004 00 Moderne originally Mediterranean commercial building
1949-50 inc 1922 (permit B29724, plans reviewed)
architect: William E. Schirmer; builder: unknown; Paulson & Marini Charles W. McCall (1922)
409-11 15TH ST is a tall, narrow 2-story and mezzanine reinforced concrete Moderne commercial building on a interior lot. The lower half of the facade is divided into three tall glazed openings separated by polished beige terrazzo surfaced piers. The upper facade consists of a single long, horizontal, sharp- edged window surrounded by plain pinkish gray terrazzo slabs. The stuccoed side wall shows brick underneath, and the outline of a former arched window.

The present facade is a 1949 remodeling by William E. Schirmer of a 1922 brick and terra cotta building with an arcaded loggia and Spanish tile roof designed by Charles McCall for F.F. Porter Real Estate and the Oakland Real Estate Board. Schirmer's earlier buildings in the district include the Mediterranean 1437-45 Franklin Street and the Art Deco 363-69 13th Street. The new facade is a late example of the theme of Moderne remodelings in the district. 415-17 15TH ST
The Majestic (furnished rooms)
Colonial Revival hotel building
1903
architect: Frederick Soderberg

DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0621 003 00
(dated by Edwards Transcript of Records)
builder: Henry Drath
415-17 15TH ST, now called the Ferns Hotel, is a small four-story wood-frame nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86;
Section Page 35 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
hotel with a ground floor store space on an interior lot. The upper floors are surfaced with narrow flush wood siding, with a pair of two-story polygonal bays on the second and third floor shaft. Each third floor bay has an arched front window with molded hood and keystone, small circular windows above the side rectangular windows, and a flat roof with molded and dentiled cornice.

The three-part windows on the top floor, above the bays, have small square paned upper sash. There is a molded cornice and paneled parapet. The storefront has been modernized. The hotel entry vestibule has a polychrome tile floor and open stairway with turned balustrade and fluted newel post.

The building is a rare and well-preserved example of a small wood-frame residential hotel in downtown Oakland and is the oldest building on this block, predating the spread of the financial center east of Broadway and illustrating the evolution of the district. It has been known variously as The Majestic (1905-30), the Rose (1933), and the Ferns (1934-present). In the 1920s the storefront was occupied by Fred T. Wood Real Estate.

51. 416-20 15TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Surety Mortgage-Capwell Co. building APN 008 0622 003 00 Beaux Arts derivative - Gothic Revival store building
1922 inc 1913 (dated by terra cotta job list)
architect: William Knowles; Charles builder: unknown; Surety Mortgage W. Dickey Co.(1913)
416-20 15TH ST is a one-story brick store building on an interior lot, in a three-bay enframed window wall composition with an elaborately decorated parapet. The upper wall is surfaced with yellow pressed brick with a reddish brick diamond pattern and beige terra cotta trim. Wide crenels over each bay are filled in with terra cotta panels with a Gothic "S" motif, and the molded terra cotta coping is capped with scrolled elements. Two storefronts retain early deeply-recessed entries with black and gold edged glass, parquet floored show windows, and marble base. Storefronts have been framed with molded aluminum. The center transom has a series of pointed arched panes' within a wide segmental arch; the other two are covered. The present facade is apparently a 1922 alteration of a totally different 1913 Mediterranean style building.

Tfiis building is one of several small speculative commerical real estate ventures in downtown Oakland by department store owner H.C. Capwell in the 1920s, including the neighboring 426-30 15th Street (1924). The Gothic ornament is typical of architectWilliam Knowles who later in 1922 designed the Gothic-ornamented Roos Brothers store on the same block at 1500 Broadway.

52. 419-23 15TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
Foulkes (Edward T.) Building APN 008 0621 002 00
Beaux Arts derivative store and office building
1924 (permit 96966, plans reviewed)
architect: Edward T. Foulkes builder: Edward T. Foulkes

4.19-21 15TH ST is a small two-story steel frame and reinforced concrete nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 36 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
building on an interior lot with an unusual marble front and metal classical ornament. It is a single-bay enframed window wall, originally designed for two stores on each level. The ground floor has been remodeled; the second floor retains its polished green-veined black marble surfaces and bronzed metal trim, framing an elongated Palladian window with a marble tympanum panel, pilasters, and slender urns. The facade terminates with a bronzed festoon band, a slightly projecting marble cornice, and a scrolled center parapet with bronzed urn finial.

The front of the building originally contained a two-story vestibule open to the street with glass showcases at both levels; it was designed to support up to four additional floors. Architect Edward Foulkes, best known for the Tribune Tower, appears to have built this store as a speculation, reflecting the lucrative real estate market in 1920s downtown Oakland.

53. 422-30 15TH ST NONCONTRIBUTOR
Capwell (B.C.)-Barber (Edgar H.)building APN 008 0622 004 00 Beaux Arts derivative remodeled as Moderne store building 1924 rem 1958-59 (permit 94603, plans reviewed)
architect: Reed & Corlett builder: F.A. Muller; Burnham Constuction(1958)
422-30 15TH ST is a three-story reinforced concrete commerical building on an interior lot. As remodeled in 1958, it has a sharp-edged rectangular late-streamlined stucco, metal, and flagstone facade. The building is three bays wide, with banks of three-part aluminum-sash windows on the upper floors, and one small and one large storefront. The 3-by-3 structure is the only visible vestige of the original facade, which had elaborate Beaux Arts terra cotta surfaces, and bands of three-part windows on the mezzanine and upper story. The wood sash and turned mullions have have been replaced, but it is likely that part of the terra cotta survives under the newer surfaces.

This building was constructed as a "department store for B.C. CapWell Co.," leading Oakland dry goods business whose main store was then located on Clay Street west of City Hall in the now-vanished retail quadrant of downtown. It is no longer compatible with the historic character of the downtown district, but if restored could contribute as a representative of Reed & Corlett's work and patterns of 1920s downtown development.

54. 425 15TH ST
The Hub building
remodeled as Moderne store building
1919 rem 1960
architect: Hamilton Murdock

NONCONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0621 008 04
(permit 52344, plans reviewed)
builder: H.M. Frostholm
425 15TH ST is a small one story and mezzanine brick building on an interior lot with a single-bay enframed window wall composition. The facade has been totally remodeled to a sleek late Moderne. Polished black granite slabs cover or replace the original red pressed brick on the bay framing; the clerestory is covered or replaced with five rough stucco surfaced slabs. The original nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 37 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
also had a galvanized iron cornice and suspended canopy.

The building was a small-scale speculative commercial development by Oakland's leading real estate firm, the Realty Syndicate. On the same block of 15th Street are similar small income buildings erected by merchant-developer H.C.

Capwell and prominent downtown architect Edward Foulkes. The original surface brick may survive under the present facade, allowing a possibility that the building could be restored and become contributory to the district.

55. 500-08 15TH ST/FRANK OGAWA PLZ DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR Plaza Building APN 003 0065 007 00
Beaux Arts derivative - glass front commercial commercial building 1913 (permit 31798, plans reviewed)
architect: O'Brien & Werner builder: William J. Baccus
500-08 15TH ST is a six-story and mezzanine steel frame and brick curtain wall store and office building on a corner lot, with Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation. The building is trapezoidal in plan, with unelaborated back walls and a wedge-shaped corner. It has a high first and second floor base, red brick three-story shaft, and top floor capital. The two-story base was originally almost entirely glass, with very thin cast iron framing, but has been partially remodeled. The ground floor storefronts retain black marble bases and recessed entries with mosaic tile floors. Second floor windows have high transoms, formerly prism glass. The third to fifth story red brick shaft has herringbone brick spandrels with tile insets, and small terra cotta cartouches above the fifth floor windows. The capital has terra cotta panels on the piers, and an elaborate galvanized iron entablature and cornice.

Remodeling and restoration are taking place in connection with the neighboring City Administration Complex.

The Plaza Building was developed by Charles Heeseman, a successful Oakland clothier who had recently sold his business to concentrate on real* estate investments in the post-earthquake boom. It is an outstanding example of its type by a prominent San Francisco architectural firm, part of a cluster of early 1910s buildings developed around the 1911-14 City Hall.

56. 512 16TH ST DISTRICT CONTRIBUTOR
East Bay Water Company building APN 008 0620 006 00
Beaux Arts derivative - Gothic Revival office building
1919 (permit 52700, plans reviewed)
architect: William Knowles builder: William Knowles
512 16TH ST is a four-story reinforced concrete office building, clad in buff terra cotta with skeletal articulation and rich stylized Gothic ornament. The L-shaped plan has a light court on the left above a ramped driveway to a basement garage. The three upper stories have windows framed by molded basket-handle arches with embellished spandrels, piers with decorative elements including gargoyles, and a balustrade with flowing Gothic tracery panels and volute buttresses. The remodeled ground floor originally had an ogee-arched main entry in the center bay and show windows in the flanking nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
0MB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
Section Page 38 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
bays. Windows were originally Chicago-style with decorated vertical mullions.

This building for East Bay Water Company was part of a pattern of development of large, imposing downtown headquarters in the 1910s and 20s by the Realty Syndicate, Oakland Tribune, Pacific Telephone, Pacific Gas and Electric, and numerous banks. Architect William Knowles was particularly noted for designs in the Gothic mode, a style first established in downtown Oakland by B.C.

McDougall's 1913-14 Federal Realty Building at 1605-15 Broadway.

57. 516-20 16TH ST NONCONTRIBUTOR
Kessler & Kessler-The Vauban building APN 008 0620 007 00 Moderne originally Beaux Arts derivative office building 1953-54 inc 1922-23 (permit B50000, plans not listed)
architect: Cecil Moyer; Reed & builder: A.S. Holmes & Son Corlett (1922)
516-20 16TH ST is a small two-story brick and concrete store and office building on an interior lot. As remodeled in 1953, it has an asymmetrical late Moderne shadow-box facade with tall plate glass windows on the second story and an angled ground-floor storefront, framed by smooth, sharp-edged, rectangular expanses of red brick veneer in stack bond above and on the left side, and a narrow pier surfaced with gray spatter-finish enameled metal on the right. The trapezoidal inset entry is paved with pink and charcoal terrazzo. The east side wall, exposed over a neighboring driveway, is tan brick with the remains of an original 1922 terra cotta cornice molding.

Originally built as a restaurant and remodeled as law offices, this is one of the more interesting of a number of late Moderne remodelings downtown.

58. 2 FRANK OGAWA PLAZA/BROADWAY/15THST
City Administration Building
postmodern office building
1997
architect: Fentress Bradburn & Assoc

NONCONTRIBUTOR
APN 008 0619 008 00
(dated by field observation)
builder: Hensel Phelps Const
Company
2 FRANK OGAWA PLAZA is a steel frame Postmodern office building on a double frontage lot extending from Broadway to the former line of San Pablo Avenue on Fr"ank Ogawa (City Hall) Plaza. It is 7 stories on the south, 5 stories on the north, clad in concrete.and stone panels, an irregular trapezoidal plan with a rounded bay at the northwest corner. It is internally connected to the Broadway Building (1401-19 Broadway), part of the City Administration Complex.

Its floor heights match the Broadway Building, and it has Postmodern cornices of pipes and metal brackets alluding to and aligned with the cornices of the Broadway Building.

This building occupies the site of three earthquake-damaged and demolished buildings on the 1400 blocks of Broadway and San Pablo Avenue between the Broadway Building and the Rotunda (Kahn's Department Store). It is one of two new City office buildings constructed north and east of City Hall in 1997. nrcon.frm
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 39 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______
county and state

8. Narrative Statement of Significance
The Downtown Oakland Historic District appears eligible for the National Register under Criterion C, architecture, and Criterion A, patterns of history, with a period of significance of 1900-1948. The district is an architecturally, historically, and functionally distinct area within central Oakland: the financial, business, and civic core that achieved prominence after the turn of the century and symbolized Oakland's transformation from a suburban town to a major California city.

Under Criterion C, the district is significant as a well-preserved example of the downtown commercial architecture of a larger American city in the first half of the twentieth century. The greatest number of its buildings, and the buildings that most strongly define its character, were built between 1903 and 1929, and represent the introduction into Oakland of the steel frame skyscraper, Beaux Arts-influenced architecture, and the City Beautiful movement. These urbane, ambitious buildings display a general unity of style and scale, and represent the work of many of the better-known Bay Area commercial architects of the period. In their siting and relation to each other, with 7- to 24-story skyscrapers punctuating lower construction, they represent an urban design termed "ideal" by City Beautiful planner Werner Hegemann in 1915, and gave Oakland a distinctive and much-photographed skyline that symbolized the city's prominence.

Under Criterion A, the district represents the financial and institutional core of Oakland's early 20th century central business district. Its development was one of a series of distinct stages whereby Oakland's commercial center moved north along Broadway from its original waterfront location in the 1850s, to Uptown (around 20th Street) in the 1930s and after.

Downtown's primary period of growth from 1903 to 1929 spans two boom periods for Oakland, the decade including the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Progressive era of the early 1910s, and the intense real estate and financial activity in the 1920s. Its further evolution encompasses the Depression with efforts at economic recovery through building modernization, and the postwar prosperity of the late 1940s and 1950s. Large scale redevelopment from the late 1960s may be considered to end the district's prominence as a traditional downtown.

The 14th and Broadway district developed as an office and financial center, in contrast to the 1870s center (the Old Oakland district) typified by hotels and real estate offices, and the later Uptown district with its movie palaces and department stores. Downtown's cluster of distinguished early 20th century skyscrapers, including the Beaux Arts highrise City Hall, permanently established it as the city's center in both function and image, and as "downtown" for the entire outlying East Bay area. Although redevelopment has replaced the retail section southwest of 14th and Broadway, the imagery and integrity of the remaining district remain strong.
nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 40 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA________
county and state
The early downtown skyscrapers, the character-defining buildings of the district, are collectively and individually Oakland's most prominent buildings. Along with City Hall and their low- and mid-rise neighbors, these "Broadway giants" established the business center and the skyline. They were designed by prominent architects for influential owners and occupants, and almost every one has ties to notable patterns and names in Oakland history.

They represent a distinct and important period of Oakland's growth, from about 1903 to 1929, associated with the Key System and Realty Syndicate, the Progressive and City Beautiful movements, and mayors Frank Mott and John Davie. They also represent a distinct era in Bay Area building construction and design.

The original Oakland mapped in 1850 by Julius Kellersberger for Horace Carpentier and his fellow squatters extended east and west about seven blocks on either side of Broadway, and north from the waterfront to 14th Street.

Blocks were 200' by 300'; Broadway was 110' wide, the other streets 80'.

Broadway, and the grid, ended at 14th Street. Beyond 14th Street the land "remained for many years in an agricultural state, and its streets were later developed with reference to the purely accidental lines of the two country roads (San Pablo and Telegraph) leading to town" (Werner Hegemann, Report on a City Plan for the Municipalities of Oakland and Berkeley, 1915, p.5). Intime this "accident" made the convergence at 14th and Broadway the transportation hub of Oakland and the site of two handsome flatiron buildings.

In the 1850s and early 60s, Oakland's commercial center was mostly south of 4th Street near the water. Completion of the Oakland and San Francisco Railroad along 7th Street in 1863 drew development northward, as did Oakland's residential growth (population 1,543 in 1860, 10,500 in 1870, 67,000 by 1900) with the intentionally-named Broadway as its commercial strip. Oakland in the late 19th century was the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad and a manufacturing center for building materials and food and textiles, as well as a residential suburb for San Francisco commuters. •
As early as 1893 the president of the Oakland Board of Trade reported that "for many years Broadway, a magnificent street extending from the harbor line on*the south to the foothills on the north, has been the main business artery of the city. Business houses have grown up along the thoroughfare until now some thirty blocks are quite solid... the mercantile district may be said to occupy the area between Seventh, Fourteenth, Washington and Franklin Street..." (M.J. Keller, Album of Oakland..., 1893). Part of this 19th century mercantile section survives as the Old Oakland district along Broadway, 9th, and Washington Streets, and gives some idea of the setting into which the early skyscrapers were placed. Within the present Downtown district a few buildings from this earlier layer survive, most of them old brick buildings much remodeled. In 1924 the Oakland newspapers recorded a concerted effort to rid the downtown area of "old wooden shacks" and rebuild in masonry. The only woodframe building now in the district is the small 1903 Ferns Hotel at 415-17 15th Street.
nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 41 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
Oakland's City Hall has been located at the junction of 14th, San Pablo, and Broadway since the 1870s. By about 1880 the library and main post office were also at that crossroads. From 1868 to 1873 the College of California (predecessor of the University of California at Berkeley) occupied the four city blocks southeast of 14th and Franklin Streets. Thus the downtown area was a -civic and institutional center before it became a business and financial one. It was a natural focal point because of the radial streets converging from the north. In Hegemann's view (1915), this street pattern meant that "the entire northwestern section of the huge East Bay area is opened up in a remarkable way," creating the potential for a "powerful business center, strong enough to compete at every point with... San Francisco." Charles Mulford Robinson's 1906 "Plan of Civic Improvement" proposed enhancing the area with new street openings and a vista linking the City Hall and the post office at 17th Street and Broadway (no longer extant) and creating suitable sites for sculptures and "another public, or semi-public building." Mayor Frank Mott's 1909 inaugural address, urging the construction of a new City Hall on the old site, noted that "the present day idea as to a City Hall is that it should be within the business district and as accessible as possible to the public," and 14th, Broadway, and San Pablo by then promised to "meet the requirements for many years to come."
Downtown Oakland's prominence by the turn of the century owed a great deal to the growth of electric streetcar lines in the 1890s, linking formerly isolated Oakland suburbs from Golden Gate and Temescal on the north to Fruitvale, Melrose, and Elmhurst on the south. In Beth Bagwell's vivid description (Oakland, the Story of a City, 1982, pp.159-60):

As the town grew, and partly in response to the streetcar routes, "downtown" crept north up Broadway until by the 1890s, Fourteenth and Broadway was the most important intersection... Now, not just Oaklanders, but also residents of Berkeley, Alameda, Fruit \iale, and other communities thought of downtown Oakland as the place to go ... to shop for clothing, to go to a restaurant, ... or to meet friends. If they chose to go on to San Francisco to do these things, they still passed through downtown Oakland en route to the ferry. "Downtown" in -* Oakland meant, just as it meant in other cities at that time, a lively concentrated district rich in experience day or evening, ... for virtually all errands and business took place there.

Oakland's rapid growth in the first decade of the 20th century has often been attributed to the "earthquake boom" - the influx of businesses and residents displaced from San Francisco by the 1906 earthquake and fire. But Oakland's physical and political infrastructure was already well developed and prepared for the new arrivals. In 1903 Francis Marion Smith (Borax Smith) completed consolidation of the East Bay's street railways into the Key System, a full- fledged competitor to the Southern Pacific's interurban transit system, complete with its own transbay ferries. Smith also established the Realty Syndicate, which bought up vast areas of the Oakland hills and claimed to have developed nearly a hundred residential tracts between 1895 and 1911. The Realty Syndicate remained Oakland's leading development firm until the Crash nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 42 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
of 1929. Its headquarters building still stands in the heart of downtown Oakland at 1420-40 Broadway. In 1905 Progressive Mayor Frank K. Mott took office, beginning a decade of ambitious public improvements - civic buildings, parks, harbor improvements, utilities, police and fire services. Mott presided over the 1906 earthquake relief, record years of residential development in 1907-08, and the annexation of close to 40 square miles of north and east Oakland in 1909. Mott's administration also commissioned studies by famed city planners Charles Mulford Robinson in 1906 and Werner Hegemann in 1915.

In 1903-04, the Union Savings Bank revolutionized architecture in downtown Oakland by erecting at 1300 Broadway "Oakland's only skyscraper, the largest office building in Alameda County... an ornament to the City... ahead of any other edifice in Oakland" (Oakland Herald, 12/22/04, p.12). The 11-story steel-frame building designed by Walter Mathews was the first of a series of southwest-facing corner skyscrapers along Broadway that came to define the skyline of downtown Oakland: 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1401, 1420, 1605, and 1700 Broadway, and 1540 San Pablo Avenue. The Union Bank was designed with lightwells and blank walls on its north side: the pattern of freestanding towers was not yet established. The building's 50' x 100' base replaced one half of the 2-story, pre-1889 Oregon Block. The north half of the Victorian building remains, much remodeled, at 1308-12 Broadway, an extreme example of the way downtown's new buildings grew up among the old.

Before 1903 Oakland's largest buildings were brick blocks, two to five stories at the highest, with boxy shape, large footprint, open horizontal interior spaces. Buildings of this type made up the retail quadrant that no longer exists, along Washington Street southwest of 14th and Broadway. The district contains a few 20th century buildings of this general type, mainly large single-use commercial and loft buildings. Examples include the Athenian-Nile Club (400-08 14th Street, 1901-02, Walter J. Mathews), the Breuner furniture store which later became the Oakland Tribune offices (401 13th Street, 1906), and the Kahn's (1501-39 Broadway, 1913-14) and Roos Bros. (1500 Broadway, 1922-23) department stores.

Eighteen of the contributing buildings in the district date from the "earthquake boom" decade, 1906-15, concentrated in 1906-07 (6 buildings) and 1910-13 (11 buildings including City Hall and its neighbors). Henry Lafler in the Oakland Observer of April 8, 1916, reviewed "Ten Years of Progress in Oakland - 1906-1915":

Ten years ago... the tallest and most imposing buildings in the business center were churches... one beheld the lone bulk of the Union Savings Bank Building in the midst of half a dozen spires... and frame structures mostly of the vintage of the seventies or earlier... The Oakland Bank of Savings... three-story quarters were badly damaged by the earthquake; a new six-story steel and brick building [1200 Broadway, C.W. Dickey] ... commenced in September, 1907...; the Hotel St. Mark [opened] on December 31, 1907 [390-96 12th Street, B.C. McDougall]...; 1907 was by far the biggest year in home building that Oakland ever had... Nineteen-nine saw the beginning of the concentration of the nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 43 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
retail district in the vicinity of Fourteenth and Clay. In this year Taft and Pennoyer moved into their new building [1401-27 Clay, demolished], the first modern merchandising establishment in Oakland...

In the two years 1912 and 1913 Oakland's building permits amounted to 18 millions of dollars, and this is a record that has never been even i approached either right after the fire or in recent years... During 1913 more seven-story buildings were in course of construction at one time than there were previously in Oakland....

Another article in the same issue elaborated on the northward expansion of the retail district following Taft and Pennoyer's then-innovative move. Clay Street and especially Washington Street, paralleling Broadway to the west, were the primary shopping streets. This 19th and early 20th century retail district of three, four, and five-story brick loft-type buildings southwest of 14th and Broadway was removed by redevelopment in the 1960s and after, and is now the site of the City Center commercial complex, the Convention Center, and new highrise office buildings.

Outside the retail quadrant, most of downtown's 1906-1915 buildings originated as banks and office buildings in the central core, and hotels on the east and west edges. These were the first buildings in Oakland to use steel frame construction to exceed earlier feasible building heights. Their footprints are typically smaller than those of big 19th century commercial buildings. Built in a fairly short span of time, they have a strong stylistic unity. Along with the 13-story City Hall (1911-14) they established a new and distinctive Oakland skyline, and permanently established the area along Broadway from about llth to 17th Street as the city's center in both function and image.

Physically these buildings are tall (8 to 14 stories), slender, prominently sited on choice corner lots. They are of steel frame or concrete construction, with classical ornament, three-part vertical composition, prominent metal or terra cotta cornices, light-colored brick or terra cotta exteriors{ skeletal articulation emphasizing a grid of windows, glass-fronted commercial ground floors, monumental office entries, and often a marble-paneled elevator lobby.

They show the influence of the American Renaissance and City Beautiful movements in their lighter colors and massing, and classical rather than Victorian Gothic or Romanesque ornamentation. Where earlier brick blocks, at most four or five stories, had added height with ornamental cupolas and towers, these buildings were themselves the towers. White terra cotta and pale buff pressed brick became popular as facade materials, contrasting with the buildings' red common brick off-street sides. A ground floor bank might be distinguished from other commercial spaces by the absence of tall display windows, and by an imposing vault- or temple-like entry. Some of the bank and lobby interiors were extremely opulent.

These buildings were designed by prominent architects, often from San Francisco, including Walter Mathews (3 buildings in the district), Charles Dickey (5 buildings), Frederick Meyer (2), Walter Reed (2), Benjamin Geer McDougall (2), O'Brien & Werner (2), and Llewellyn B. Dutton (2). Mathews, son of pioneer California architect Julius Mathews, was Oakland's leading late nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 44 . Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
19th century architect, known for the Romanesque First Unitarian Church and many Victorian business blocks. Meyer was a prominent City Beautiful exponent who served on the San Francisco Civic Center Commission in 1913-15. Dutton, who designed two important downtown Oakland bank buildings, came to California in 1903 for Daniel Burnham & Co.; his First National Bank (1401 Broadway,

19.07, now known as the Broadway Building) is a miniature of Burnham's Flatiron Building in New York. John Donovan served as supervising architect for Palmer & Hornbostel of New York on the construction of City Hall (1911-14) and stayed to become Oakland City Architect, designing notable schools and civic buildings. All these firms and individuals brought big city architecture to turn of the century Oakland.

The proliferation of early highrises was exciting to contemporaries:
completion of the 16th Street "canyon" - from San Pablo Avenue opposite City Hall to Telegraph Avenue and the Federal Realty Building - was a highlight of 1914 ("Canyon Completed - May Be On City Seal": Oakland Tribune). A mixture of heights was perpetuated as department and furniture stores erected new four and five story buildings, and six to eight story hotels and smaller office buildings were built on the fringes of the district. In 1915 city planner Werner Hegemann was extremely impressed with the "almost ideal spacing between skyscrapers" along Broadway and the tall buildings "architecturally developed on all four sides." He warned that "If nothing is done to make this state of things permanent the building of new skyscrapers will produce unsatisfactory conditions in regard to light and air, as bad as in San Francisco if not New York" (Report on a City Plan..., pp.98-100).

In Oakland's first skyscraper decade, banks were the main developers of the new building type: they had funds available, and at least as important, drew prestige and publicity from the tall, modern, prominent buildings known by the name of the bank. Their names were on the corner skyscrapers: Security Bank & Trust, Oakland Bank of Savings, Union Bank, Central Bank, First National Bank, First Trust and Savings Bank. The Union Bank Building in particular, as Oakland's first skyscraper, was widely published on postcards and promotional material. An Architect and Engineer article in April 1916, "The Bank in the Skyscraper," elaborated:
.,*
The value of the tall piles we know as skyscrapers is no longer questioned. Bearing the name of the banks occupying the first or the first two stories, these inspiring structures, piercing the very clouds, bring to those institutions an enviable prestige.... The advantage of a high-priced, prominent corner lot upon which to build a bank is generally appreciated. The cost, however, frequently ... practically precludes a... single story, highly ornamental bank building, which receives no income whatever from its investment.... An office building properly executed and in a desirable location is bound to pay a splendid return. This is particularly true in medium sized cities like Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland and Stockton...

The article was illustrated with a picture of Dutton's First Trust and Savings building, 1540-50 San Pablo Avenue. A fairly close-knit group of Oakland nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 45 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
financiers controlled these banks, which merged and regrouped over the years:

H.C. Capwell, Charles Jurgens, Volney D. Moody, Philip E. Bowles, A.J. Snyder, A.C. Henry, and others.

There were also a few prominent early high-rise office buildings not associated with banks, developed by businesses and individual investors: the Realty Syndicate's headquarters at 1420-40 Broadway, 19th century capitalist A.J. Snyder's Federal Realty Building at 1605-15 Broadway, attorney R.A.

Perry's building at 414-16 13th Street, and clothier Charles Heeseman's Plaza Building at 500-08 15th Street, all before 1915. (Another example, the Thomson building, on the southwest-facing corner at 1700 Broadway, is now totally remodeled and not included in the district.) By the late 1910s and 20s other corporations and utilities were establishing headquarters in the downtown center: the East Bay Water Company (512 16th Street, 1919) and Oakland Tribune (401-17 13th Street, occupied 1918) within the district, as well as Pacific Telephone (1519 Franklin, 1918, demolished) and Pacific Gas and Electric (1625 Clay, 1922) outside the present district.

The second wave of downtown construction, between 1922 and 1929, continued Hegemann's ideal of freestanding towers by using contrasting infill, both higher and lower. In 1922-23 tower additions of 24 and 18 stories were made to the Tribune (401-17 13th Street) and Oakland Bank (1200 Broadway) buildings.

In 1925-26 a new 15-story Central Bank replaced the 5-story one at 1400 Broadway, surpassing the 10-story Realty Syndicate building (1420-40 Broadway) as that block's tall building. A second row of tall financial, medical, and telephone company office buildings, some in newer Art Deco and Period Revival styles, went up along Franklin Street parallel to Broadway. The last of the early downtown skyscrapers, built in 1928-29 at 401-15 14th Street at Franklin, was Reed & Corlett's 17-story Art Deco Financial Center Building. 4 The 1920s also introduced small two- and three- story speculative commercial buildings into the central district in large numbers, helping to perpetuate the distinctively punctuated skyline. These include two clusters of small buildings along the 400 block of 15th Street and behind the Cathedral Building on-the 1600 blocks of Broadway and Telegraph, among them some fine examples of two-part composition, terra cotta and brick above a high glass base. They represent a pattern of small-scale speculative building, and architects Reed and Foulkes each built at least one as personal investments. These small buildings typically housed specialized retail and services: clothing, shoes, jewelry, luggage, florists, confectioners, cafes, opticians. They differed from their counterparts in Oakland's neighborhood commercial areas in some ways: as a group they were more uniformly of masonry, being inside the Fire Limits, and were generally more sophisticated in construction techniques; they had more Beaux Arts or high Art Deco ornament and less quasi-vernacular decorative brickwork; they were probably more often built speculatively; and the upper floors were commercial or offices rather than residential.

The design of the 1920s buildings in the district remained mainly historicist, in brick and terra cotta. Variations from the classical patterns of 1906-15 nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 46 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state
include the narrow corbeled cornices of the new dark brown brick skyscrapers at 380-98 14th Street (Charles McCall's Alameda County Title building, 1923- 24) and 1400 Broadway (George Kelham and Walter Mathews' Central Bank, 1925- 26) and the Gothic terra cotta facades of William Knowles's 512 16th Street, 416-20 15th Street, and 1500 Broadway, all built between 1919 and 1922. By far the most prolific architects in the district between 1921 and 1929 were the firm of Walter Reed and William Corlett (8 extant buildings); others of importance were Maury I. Diggs (3 buildings), Edward T. Foulkes (3), William Knowles (3), and Schirmer & Bugbee (2).

A group of Art Deco buildings from 1928-29 concludes the period of most active development of downtown Oakland, as well as setting the style for the small amount of remodeling and new construction that took place in the next 20 years. This group includes Reed & Corlett's Financial Center skyscraper (401- 15 14th Street), a striking brick and terra cotta combination of historicist and Deco styles, F.H. Reimers's Income Securities Building at 360-64 14th Street, a smaller bank building by W.E. Schirmer at 369 13th Street, and the tile resurfacing of the 1902 Elks Hall at 412-20 14th Street.

Advertisements, directory listings, and other records indicate that many of Oakland's early professionals - medical, legal, financial, architectural - worked in these downtown office towers. Information on the original and later occupants of the rental floors of the early downtown office buildings is somewhat piecemeal. A 1936 reverse directory shows mostly attorneys in 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1401 Broadway, medical offices in 1605-19 Broadway (the Cathedral Building), real estate and insurance in 1400 Broadway, medical and insurance offices in 1601 Telegraph (the Latham Square Building), and so on.

The only concentrations of offices anywhere else in the city were the "Pill Hill" area off upper Broadway, a popular location for medical offices after about 1928, and the Fruitvale commercial district with two late-1920s multi story medical office buildings and a cluster of branch banks. „ •
The Financial Center Building (401-15 14th Street at Franklin, 1928-29) was marketed as "in the heart of the group of large banks, stock and bond houses and other organizations which form the financial district of this city." This su-barea along Franklin Street developed mainly after the openings of 17th Street east of Broadway.and 15th Street east of Franklin in the early 1920s.

True to the real estate and stock market booms of the 1920s, new buildings in the "financial district" were developed by title companies and building and loan associations: Oakland Title Insurance and Guaranty Co.(401-03 15th Street, 1921-22), Alameda County Title Insurance Company (380-98 14th Street, 1923-24), Central Building and Loan Association (363-69 13th Street, 1929), Income Securities Building (360-64 14th Street, 1928). These and the smaller real estate and financial businesses reflected the industrial and residential growth of Oakland in the 1920s.

The Crash of 1929 coincides with the end of historic downtown Oakland's most rapid physical growth, though contemporary observers saw it slowing earlier.

The 1928 Mayor's Message noted a slacking of new construction, and Ann Orr (Observer, August 13, 1932) attributed Uptown's recent success as a luxury nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 8 Page 47 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA_______________
county and state
shopping and entertainment district to "ten years or more" of downtown lethargy. Orr added that Downtown was beginning to fight back with "rehabilitations of old, favored spots. The Abrahamson store putting on a gallant new front, green tile, pristine, inviting..." Edward T. Foulkes showed this (now demolished) building in an article on "Modernization" in the September 1934 Architect and Engineer, with other examples of the Oakland Downtown Property Owners' two year old "modernization and rehabilitation campaign." Most of these projects were in the retail area southwest of 14th and Broadway, and in time contributed to making that area a target for redevelopment. In the present district, new facades exemplifying this Depression-era pattern include a zig-zag black tile front on 1308-12 Broadway (Foulkes, 1937, now covered over by yet another layer), while 1224-40 Broadway (1935) is a new building in similar style.

The economic revival after World War II brought one distinguished late WPA- Moderne building to the district, the Anglo-California Bank at 1450-60 Broadway (1947-48), which pioneered the use of a second floor banking hall to preserve valuable ground floor retail space. Just 50 years old at the time of this nomination, this is the most recent building considered to contribute to the district. The next generation of downtown buildings and remodelings, in later Moderne and International styles, include some interesting examples: 393 13th Street, 1950-52, Milton Pflueger's sleek Crocker Bank clad in beige terra cotta and red granite; 516-20 16th Street, an angular 1953 resurfacing of a 1922 building; and the First Western Bank building at 1330 Broadway, 1956-59, a blue glass scaled-down version of Lever House designed by Stone, Mulloy, Marraccini & Patterson, one of the first International Style buildings in the Bay Area.

A trend of the 1930s that helped insure downtown's survival in its early 20th century form was the shift of civic center development to the Lake Merritt area near the 1913-15 Municipal Auditorium. Ambitious civic center, plans were laid around the lake, not around City Hall. A new main post office^was built at 13th and Alice Streets in 1930, the county courthouse on Fallen Street in 1935-36, and a new main library at 125 14th Street opposite the lake in 1951.

Downtown continued its historic pattern of uses into the 1960s: City Hall at the center, banks and offices east of Broadway, department and furniture stores southwest of 14th and Broadway, movie theaters and banks along Broadway, hotels on the periphery. After about 1960 Downtown was affected by the move of the financial center north to the vicinity of the Kaiser Building.

In the early 1960s a "Washington Mall" project, consisting mainly of street beautification, was an early revitalization effort in the retail section. In the 1970s the City Center and Chinatown redevelopment projects created the Downtown district's sharp southern boundaries, and the 1989 earthquake and 1995 demolitions for new city and state office buildings further contracted its edges, but the core remains remarkably intact.
nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 9 Page 48 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA______________
county and state

9. Major Bibliographical References
Sanborn maps, 1889-1901, 1902-11, 1912-35, 1912-51, 1953-70s City and County tax rolls and block books, 1864-1967
City directories and telephone books, 1869-1990
Kelts Geographical Directory, Oakland, 1936
Building and alteration permits, plans and specifications, City of Oakland Building Services Division
Edwards Transcript of Records, Alameda County, 1880s-1910 Alameda County Miscellaneous Records, completion notices, 1898-1905 Gladding McBean and N. Clark & Son terra cotta job lists, manuscripts at Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey
Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Library, biographical and subject indexes (obituaries, clippings, pamphlets) and photo collection Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, research files and inventory forms on Central District properties, 1979-95; architect and builder files; context statement on unreinforced masonry buildings, 1995 Architect and Engineer of California, "The Bank in the Skyscraper," v. 45, no. 1 (April 1916)
Bagwell, Beth, Oakland; The Storv of a City, Novato, 1982 «•
Baker, Joseph E., Past and Present of Alameda County/ Chicago, 1914 Blake, Evarts J., Greater Oakland, Oakland, 1911
Coamy, Peter T., Beginnings of Oakland, A.U.C., Oakland Public Library, 1961 Corbett, Michael, et al., Splendid Survivors; San Francisco's Downtown Architectural Heritage, San Francisco, 1979
Dykstra, John B., "A History of the Physical Development of... Oakland... 1850-1930," M.C.P. thesis, U.C, Berkeley,1967
Elliott, W.W., Oakland and Surroundings, Oakland, 1885
Ford, Robert S., Red Trains in the East Bay, 1977
Glover, Eli S., Illustrated Directory of Oakland, California, 1896 nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 9 Page 49 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA _________
county and state
Harland Bartholomew & Associates, A Proposed Plan for a System of Major Traffic Highways, Oakland, California, for the Manor Highway and Traffic Committee of One Hundred, St. Louis, 1927
Hegemann, Werner, Report on a City Plan for the Municipalities of Oakland and , Berkeley . . . , Oakland, 1915
Hinkel, Edgar J., and William McCann, Oakland, 1852-1938..., WPA & Oakland Public Library, 1939
Jones, Mark M. , Alameda County, California, U.S.A., Board of Supervisors, 1915 Keller, M.J., Album of Oakland, California, Oakland, Pacific Press, 1893 Lafler, Henry A., "Ten Years of Progress in Oakland - 1906-1915," The Observer. April 8, 1916, pp. 3-12
Mott, Frank K. , "Third Inaugural Message of Frank K. Mott, Mayor," Oakland, April 5, 1909
Oakland Tribune, Illustrated Editions, 1898 (Alameda County Illustrated), Dec. 31, 1900, Jan. 17, 1912
Oakland Tribune Year Books, 1919-1949
Orr, Ann, "Places and Personalities, " The Observer, August 13, 1932, pp. 8-9 Robinson, Charles Mulford, "A Plan for Civic Improvement for...Oakland," 1906 Scott, Mel, The San Francisco Bay Area, Berkeley, 1959
4 Thompson & West, Historical Atlas of Alameda County, 1878 (reprinted 1978) Walker, Jim, Key System Album, Glendale, 1978
Weber, David, Oakland, Hub of the West, Tulsa, 1981
Wood, M.W., History of Alameda County, Oakland, 1883
nrnomfrm.dtO
b
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

CONTINUATION SHEET
Section 10 Page 50 Downtown Oakland Historic District
name of property
Alameda County CA________''
county and state

10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description:

The boundary of the nominated district is shown on the accompanying map.

In Assessor's Map Book 2 it includes all of Block 53 and portions of Blocks 51 and 57; in Map Book 3, portions of Blocks 65 and 67; and in Map Book 8, all of Blocks 619 and 621, and portions of Blocks 620, 622, 624, and 640.

Approximate boundaries, clockwise from City Hall, are San Pablo Avenue, 17th Street, Broadway, 15th Street, Franklin Street, 14th Street, Webster Street, 12th Street, Broadway from llth to 14th Street, and back to City Hall.

Boundary Justification:

The district represents the most intact, solid core of Oakland's early 20th century downtown civic, financial, and commercial center, around the historic hub of 14th Street and Broadway. It includes City Hall and the concentration of tall, mostly 1900-29 Beaux Arts-influenced buildings in and near the central skyscraper group along Broadway. The south and west boundaries, along llth and 12th Streets, along Broadway from llth to 14th, and behind City Hall, are created by the Chinatown and City Center redevelopments, cleared sites, and new city, state, and university office buildings. Boundaries were drawn at vacant lots (the southeast edge), extensive remodeling (e.g. Broadway north of Roos Bros.), and new construction (the various redevelopment sites, the Merchants parking structure west of Franklin between 13th and 14th Streets).

The north and east boundaries more closely approximate the gradual* historic demarcations by architectural style, scale, and use. The northern boundary along Broadway and Telegraph is fixed at 17th Street by new and remodeled buildings at the prominent gore and southwest-facing corners, and also by a perceptible change of scale and uses in the Uptown luxury shopping and entertainment district. On the east, the boundary is drawn to include the financial strip along Franklin Street and exclude the neighborhood of hotels and smaller-scale commercial development east of Franklin and Webster. nrnomfrm.dtO
b
Sketch Map: Page 51

DOWNTOWN OAKLAND

HISTORIC DISTRICT
17th Street 1

COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
JANUARY 1998
District Uomulnry
Illlllllll District Contributor
Non-Contributor

SKETCH MAP
b
b
b
... II
•n
b
b
b
b
^^^—^^^^fa
fN
b
b
.a!
I '<\
K \f(
n
b
b
b
b
"i
:-
rill
Ml
b
b
b
a
b
'fir
b
b
Tin
III!
CTT •
U
:sr ««*••
b
b
Sir
•I II I
•III
• ill
'"l
111
•'in,,
t"
b
b
\\
21-
hiIT
m m
rn
b
b
fUmi-tmLH
III!
II II
b
b
I
b
b
C| ill LL| Bj L£| U
•IB) Hi
Hi
•4"»} ui| H| H| • yi
H| ill Hi til «(
b
b
t (f;. 1985 City of Oakland
State of California - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HABS
UTM:

Ser. No.

HAER

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
NR ~ SHL __ Loe __
Al0/564630/4184490 Bl0/564360/4)83840
Cl0/564155/4183 940 Dl0/563850/4184540

1. Common name: Downtown District

2. Historic name:

Downtown

3. Street or rural address: Multiple- see continuation pages Cit Oakland 94612 Alameda ------------------ Zip _______ County _____________ _

4. Parcel number: Multiple - see continuation pages

5. Present Owner: -----~-u_L_:t_i_p_l_e ______________ Address: ____________ _ City _______________ Zip ____ Ownership is: Public ___ x __ Private ___ x ___ _

6. Present Use: ___ c_o_mm __ e_r_c_i_a_i ________ Original use: ____ c_o_mm_e_r_c_i_a_i __________ _

DESCRIPTION
7a. Architectural style: p redominant ly : early 20th century commercial/derived from Beaux Arts 7b. Briefly describe the present physical description of the site or structure and describe any major alterations from its original condition:

The Oakland Downtown district occupies a roughly L-shaped area of 17 city blocks (or parts of blocks) centering on the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway, the City Hall and its plaza, and a series of early 20th century 7 to 18-story skyscrapers along Broadway between 11th and 17th Streets. Boundaries are defined partly by natural transition to residential and secondary or contrasting commercial areas (mainl y to the north and east) and partly by large-scale redevelopment since 1980 (to the south and southeast, preempting the earlier more gradual transition to the Old Oakland and Chinato wn areas). The district includes 96 buildings, 2 public plazas , and 11 vacant lots. About 7 2 buildings contribute to the district's signif icance,as do City Hall Plaza and Latham Memorial Square. Thirty s ites and buildings appear to be individually eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places while twenty-four are too new or too remodel ed to be considered district contributors. The buildings in the district constitute a well-preserved sample of the commercial architecture of larger Ameri can cities in the first q uarter of the twentieth century. They are notable both as individual examples and,despite Attach Photo(s) Here
AT09FA-01
11111111 IIIIII Ill 11111111111111111111111
(see continuation page 4)

8. Construction date:

Estimated Factual ...,P_r_e __ d_,o,...,,m-
i nan tly H9~-

9. Arch itect ....a1Y.cau;r..Ji..co.1.1i..i.:1 $:,..._ ____ _

10. Various Builder __________ _

11. Approx. property size (in feet)
Frontage Depth----
or approx. acreage 34 09

12. Date(s) of enclosed photograph (s)
c. 1910's, 19 83
P-01-010091
a
a

Page 2 of 220 ends

• 13. Condition: Excellent .l5__Good _X_ Fair_X_ Deteriorated __ No longer in existence __ _

14. Alterations: __ _.c.V..:;a;;.;:r:..cic..oc...u.:;;..;;..s ___________________________________ _ X

15. Surroundings: (Check more than one if necessary) Open land ___ Scattered buildings __ Densely built-up __ ._ Residential __ X_lndustrial Commercial _X __ Other: Parking lots

16. Threats to site: None known __ Private development_X_ Zoning __ Vandalism ·-- Publ ic Works project __ X_ Other:

17. Is the structure : On its original site? __ x __ Moved? ___ _ Unknown? ___ _ Uptown District,Old Oakland District

18. Related features: ----------------------,----------------------

SIGNIFICANCE

19. Briefly state historical and/or architectural importance (include dates, events, and persons associated with the site.) The Downtown district is an architecturally, historically, and functionally distinct area within central Oakland. It contains the City Hall and a strong concentration of well-preserved commercial buildings from about 1900 to 1929, spanning two boom periods for Oakland, the East Bay response to the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, and the intense real estate and financial growth of the 1920s. These urbane, mostly Beaux Arts-inspired buildings display a general unity of style and scale, and represent many of the better-known Bay Area commercial architects of the period. In bheir siting and relation to each other , with 17-to 21-story "skyscrapers" punctuating lower construction, they represent an urban design termed "ideal" by City Beautiful planner Werner Hegemann in 1915, and gave Oakland a distinctive and much-photographed skyline. Downtown's development was one of a series of distinct stages whereby Oakland's commercial center moved north along Broadway from its original waterfront location in the 1850s, to Uptown (around 20th Street) in the 1930s. The economics of the era in which the 14th and Broadway district developed made it Oakland ' s office and financial center, in contrast to the Old Oakland district

20. 21 .

22. Main theme of the historic resource : (If more than one is checked, number in order of importance.)
Architecture 1 Arts & Leisure ___ 4 ____ _
Economic/Industrial 2Exploration/Settlement ___ _
Government ____ 3_ Military --------- -
Religion ______ Social/Education _____ _
Sources ( List books, documents, surveys, personal interviews and their dates) .

Building p ermits, p lans & specifications
Oakland Directories, 1871-1943
Sanborn Maps,1889-1901,1903-1911,1912-57
City Tax Assessment Block Books,1889-1925
(see continuation paqe 15)
Date form prepared August 31, l 984 .

By(name) Staff and Consultants
Organization Oakland Cultural Heritage Surve
Address : City Planning Dept. , City Hall
City Oakland Zip 94612
Phone: __ ( 4_1_5_)_2_7_3_-_3_9_4_1 ________ _
© 198f> City of Gakland
(see continuation page 13)
Locational sketch map (draw and label site and
surrounding streets, roads, and prominent landmarks):
[\NORTH
JI
a
a
State of California - The Resources Agency

DEPAR TMEN T O F PAA KS AND RECR EAT ION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Cont i nuatio n Page 3 of 220
r cp 1
Downtown District 164/34 v· NW 14th Str f eet or rural address : 1ew on eet ran --------------------- 167/8 view north from 14th and Broad-
- way : Liberty House , Broadway Bldg.

Cathedral Bldg.
167/3 view northeast fra:n 11th and
- Broadway : Nick & Gus, Tribune , Bank
of America , Union Savings , Smith ' s
Franklin: Athenian & Elks Clubs ,
Central Bldg. , City Hall
a
a
State of Californ ia - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREA T ION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Continuation Page 4 of 220
1 CPI
eet c{t~04'! ~Sss: _____ D_o_w_n_t_o_wn __ D_ i _s _t _r _i _c_t---------------------------- 7b. Phy sical Descri p tion (continued from page 1)
alterations and demolitions 1 in their historic relationshi p s to one another, sky scrap ers space d amo ng lower buildin gs creating a still-disti nc tive downtown Oakland s ky line.

The great majorit y of contri b uting b uildings date from 1904 to 1928 and displa y a general unit y of sty le: attach e d at ground floor level with no setbacks, brick and masonr y surfaces, 2 or 3-p art vertical composition, Beaux Arts-derived ornament, projecting terracotta or metal cornices, fr e quently skeleta l articulation and Chicago-st y le window treatment. Unit y of sty le is due in part to uni t y of architects : Walter Mathews , Charles Dicke y , William Knowles, Reed and Corlett , Edward T. Fou lkes, and Maur y Diggs are each represented by several buildings, and there are two apiece by other recognized firms of the p eriod including O'Brien and Wern e r, Benjamin G. McDougall, Charle s Mc Cal l, Cla y Burrell, D. Franklin Oliver, Llewellyn B . Dutton, and Schir mer- Bugbee. Variations within the prevailing 1906 - 20s historicist sty le of the district include brick or reinforced concrete construction; var y ing proportions of stone,brick/and terracotta surfacing ; and the contrast between 3-part skys craper composition and s maller loft buildings with high glass base and brick or terracotta top. Cornices come in wide, f l at, neo - classica l modillion style as we l l as a narrower, corbeled version. The Fe deral Realty (Cathed r al) Building at 1605 Broadwa y (B. G. McDou gall, 1913 ), and the East Bay Wat e r Co. and Roos Bros. buildings at 512 16th Street and 1500 Broadway (Willia m Knowles, 1919 and 1922 ) are f ine examples of terracotta Gothic. (A 1 909 classic temple sty le bank, at 393 13th Street ,.,~s demo l ished in 1950).

Tnere are also a few buildings recognizabl y predating downtown develo pment in style , sca l e, or original use, generall y located around the e dges of the district: Ferns Hotel, 41 5 15th Stre e t , 1 903; J.J. ahd T.D. Newsom-designed funeral parlor at 1500 Jefferson Street , 1906; 18 98-9 9 Mac li se Drugstor e at 1 6 31 San Pablo Avenue, and two former carriage factories - Kiel and Evans at 1628 San Pablo (1 903-04), and another J.J. and T.D. Newsom, the 1893 - 4 Florence Block at 368 12th Street. There is a scattering of Art Deco remodelings or new buildings - 4 fro m 1928- 9 at the end o f the reference period and 4 later. The Financial Center Bu ilding at 401 1 4th Street (Reed and Co rlett , 1 928-9) retains the compositi o n and materials of the historicist skyscraper sty l e , substituting Deco motifs in its terracotta base and cap ital . The 1 9 29 remodeling of the Elks Hall at 420 14th Street,and newly-con str u cted banks at 364 14th Street and 369 13th Street, have more modern scu l ptural c o ncrete and tile treatments which would characterize t he Up t own Art Deco di s trict. From 1935-47 are the tile facades of 1120 , 1224 , 1 42 9 , and 1450 Broadway, one new building and three r e p resentatives of the characteristic downtown pattern o f storefront and facade modernization.

Although the City Center redeve l op ment project has rep l aced one quadran t o f the natural and historic down t own with massive 1970 s and 1980s highrises , in the remaining three quarters constitu t ing the present distri c t, new construction has not been frequent since 1929: 1220 Broadway in 1 935, the late Mode rne Anglo-California Bank by Milton Pfl u eger at 393 13th in 1 9 50, parking garage behind City Hall (1 960 ) , the garage at 420 13 t h Street (1957~ and mo st conspicuousl y the 19-stor y blue-glass International style Smith's/ Fi rs t W este r n Building at 1330 Broadway (195 6- 59 ) which does not v i olate the scale or rhythm of the district. Most of the noncontrib u t i ng b u ildings are recent radica l remode l ings , which at least retain their historic scale and place ment despite incongruous surfaces:
ey include City Hall West, formerly Taft and Penn o yer , at 1401 Clay (remodeled 195 7-58 ) ; 39 Broadway (1951; 1925 surface surviving on one side ) ; 1625 Broadway; 40 0 ,4 09 ,4 25, a nd 426 1 5th St;ree t;the Py thian Castle at 37 9 12th Street (1878, modernized 1949); 1635 Telegra ph (1 960 ); a nd the form erl y Itali a nate 1 608 -1 0 a nd 1 61 2-1 6 San Pablo Ave nu e . (:see continu ati on p age 5)
a
Stat e of Californ ia - T he Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREA TI ON

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Continuat i on Page 5 of 220
I CPI
!et or ~4~~2: ______ o_o_w_ n_t _o_w_n_ o_i_· s_t_r _i _c_t--------------------------- 7b. Physical Description (continued from page 4)
The scale of the district is urban but not massive : buildings were designed to be solidly attached, and almost all the historic buildings are 3 stor ies or over, but only two slender towers (both 1922-3 additions to adjacent buildings) are higher than 15. Even the major buildings are fairly narrow, half to a third of a block on each frontage: of the 18 buildings over 6 stories, only City Hall (which has a stepped-back tower) occupies a lot larger than the 100' by 150 ' footprints of 1200 and 1400 Broadway. The 75 ' xl00 ' lot of 1100 Broadway is closer to the average. At least half were conceived as point towers, fully finished and ornamented on all 4 sides. The mass of almost all the buildings is further broken up by their ornamentation and the contrasting registers of their three - part and glass base designs.

Tall buildings occur at intervals , one or two per block , punctuating the surrounding low to medium-r i se buildings. Along Broadway, Franklin Street, and the two flatiron corners west of Broadway, the skyscrapers are located with surprising regularity on the southwes~ facing corners of blocks, the most advantageous siting for natural light to the offices inside , as well as for the sunlit exterior appearance of the building. (Werner Hegemann ' s 1915 city plan suggested perpetuating by law this " ideal " spacing that market and aesthetic considerations had by then produced , and it was a much photographed skyline) .

The Ibwntown district is clearly recognizable in early aerial and rooftop phot o graphs h,r this series of equally-spaced, cornice-topped towers , extending two or three blocks in tch direction from 14th Street and Broadway , and it is equally recognizable today fro m tne stree1swithin the district. The rhythm of recurring tall buildings in the district is strong enough to bridge vacant lots (which Sanborn maps and photos show to have been an occasional part of the district all through its history) and noncontribut i ng buildings , as well as the discontinuity created on the west side of Broadway where Telegraph and San Pablo Avenues cut diagonally into the street grid forming small irregular lots and overly wide expanses of street.

The intersection of these radia l stree t s from the North Oakland residenti a l areas (and what later beca me Uptown ) reflects the ear l y 20th century downtowrls location at the o utskirts of Oakland as originally mapped , and creates major traffic and transi t nodes at the juncti o ns of 14th Street, Broadway, and San Pabl o Avenue (City Hall Plaza) and Broadway and Te l egraph Avenue (Latham Memorial Plaza). Because of the convergence of three major streets at 14th and Broadwa y , and conversel y the lack of cross streets at Broadway and Telegraph, traffic congestion has always been a problem at thes e p oints: a solution is currently attempted by closing off the end of San Pablo Avenue. The congestion created by the street system was cited by Hegemann and others in the 1910s and 20s as a reason for limiting height and d ~ns ity downtown; they also recognized the radials as making downtown Oakland the natura l collector district for East Bay commerce .

Important clusters of buildings give the district coherence at pedestrian level , and em body some of its main themes in concentrated form : the west side of Clay Street between 15th and 17th Streets ·, two unlroken b locks of early , reasonably intact , and generally large scale buildings including the P.G . and E. building and Ho tels Wagner and Touraine; a group of three early 1910s hotels on Jefferson and 15th Streets ; five small 1920s high-base )ft buildings on the gore behind the Cathedral Building (1600 block of Broadway and ~legraph) , and a more diverse group of small buildings across Telegraph from them, which support and focus on the tall Cathedral Bui l ding and Latham Square Building at the 16th Street node. Narrow 16th Street between San Pablo and Telegraph , noted historically as (see continuation page 6 )
a
State of California - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Continuation Page 6 of 220
CP
Downtown District ~etoflfl'&"~'.~~s: ____________________ _ 7b. Physical Description (continued from page 5)
a "canyon" between tall buildings, is one of a number of distinctive view corridors within the district. The two flatiron buildings distin g uish bhe view north on Broadway from 14th Street and below. Looking east on 16th from Jefferson Street, the 11-story First Trust and Savings Bank becomes a focal point. The central downtown skyline is seen to advantage not only along Broadway itself but looking south on San Pablo or Telegraph from 17th Street, west on 14th Street from Webster, and north on Franklin from 11th Street. Vistas outward provide a sense of the natural boundaries of the district, as tall buildings occur at wider intervals to the east and west (notabl y hotels on 14th and 15th Streets beyond Jefferson and on 13th beyond Franklin), and in later styles to the north and south in Uptown and the redevelopment area.

Uses within the D.owntown district developed with a preponderance of banks and tall office buildings on the east side of Broadway(because of the choice corner lots), and major retail - furniture, clothing and department stores - in mid-rise loft buildings on the west side. Int e r spe r sed between the major commercial and financial builclings were and still are smaller store and loft buildings dating mostl y from the early 1920s and including several fine examples of the high glass base type (se e especially 1515 San Pablo, the 400 block of 15th Street, and 1600 blocks of Broadway and Telegraph), and pub lic/semi-public buildings and utilities: City Hall, PG&E/ and Pacific Telephone buildings, the Oakland Tribune.

Multi-story hotels - with or without ground floor commercial space - dot the east and west A~ges of the district, and mark the transition to outl y ing apartment and neighborhood ,mmercial areas. Theaters and clubs have all but vanished from the district, moving e~sewhere or closing for good. Athenian, Pythian, and Elks Halls survive-some barely-as buildings if not as us~ Masonic and Athens Clubs were demolished in the redevelopment area, and an I.OOF Hall at 1105 Franklin in the district. At least a dozen downtown stage and movie theaters as late as the 1950s have dwindled to one adult cinema at 111 2 Broadway and one k ung fu cinema, 1224 Broadway, 1:recent l y closed for repairs. The Dufwin/Roxie at 511 17th Street survives as a building but recently closed as a theater.

Redevelopment of the blocks southwest of 14th and Broadway eliminated most of the major ret a il portion of downtown (Liberty House, 1501 Broadway , closed June 19.84,was the only department store remaining; Roos Bros., on the other side of Broadway, is becoming offices) , Thus a greater proportion of downtown's ground floor storefront uses tha n in the past seem to be services and conveniences for office workers, such as small lunch restaurants and printing and copy shops. The financial and office buildings have on the whole retained their or i ginal uses (exceptions are 1600. San Pab l o Avenue and 526 14th Street, converted to apartments during World War II; a more t ypical change is the ground floor of 1401 Broadway from a bank to a shoe store). Downtown's banking and retail uses are now continuous with those of Uptown to the north, but the style, scale, and period of the buildings define them as two separate districts.

The present Downtown district has been defined on the basis of integrity and continuity, within the historically somewhat larger area of central district development of the refer ence period 1900-29. The southwest boundaries, along 11th and 14th Streets and Broadway from 11th to 14th, were automatically determined by the Transpacific and City Center redevelopments that cut sharply across the district. The other boundaries more closely f ,proximate the gradual historic demarcations by architectural style and use. The hotel ·oup on Jefferson Street was judged to be a natural, historic boundary, and a strong visual focus redeeming the break created by the City Hall parking structure and mode r.n ized 1401 Clay Street. The northern boundary along Broadway and Telegraph was fixed at 17th Street (see continuation page 7)
a
State of Califo rnia - T he Resources Agency

DEPARTMEN T OF PARKS AND RECR EAT ION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Continuation Page 7 of 22J
I CPI
nnnA nAOQ Downtown District etor~l!iVa1aHdi-~~: _____________ _ 7b. Physical Description (continued from page 6)
both by a new American Savings building in the gore block and by a perceptible change to scale and uses more characteristic of Uptown. The general aim was to include that area with a concentration of tall, historicist, 1900-29 office and hotel buildings consistent with the central skyscraper group along the Broadway corridor; and in those general , natural boundaries to draw the specific lines where major discontinuities were created by vacant lots (e.g., both sides of San Pablo north of 17th Street), incompatible or excessive remodeling or new construction (Broadway north of Roos Bros., Franklin north of the 1927 Pacific Telephone building, the Merchants parking structure west of Franklin between 13th and 14th Streets).
107/32A 401- 449 15th St., west frcm
Franklin : Oakland Title , Ferns Hotel ,
Broadway Atrium Bldg , City Hall beyond
F
165/11 16th St . " canyon" , west frcm
Telegraph to San Pablo: Liberty House
Hotel Touraine , Latham Square Bldg.
128/4 1617- 1637 Broadway : loft group
north of Cathedral Building
a
11n11s 371- 449 13th St ., west fran
~lin:Will Ro<Jers Hotel,Gateway

00.v .i.ngs, Tribune ,Jurgens B~ City Center
144/6A 1601-25 Clay St.: Hotel Wagner,
Lavenson Bldg, P.G. & E. Bldg.
165/2 view north f r an 14th & Broadway :

Broadway & Cathedral Bldgs. at gores
165/9 view NW at Telegraph & Broadway
gore : Latham Square bldg . & fount..=-"
l of t qroup , Cathedral Bld0 ;J
ii ...
0 ... ...

C: ...
!!!..
g_
a. ...
(I)
"' "'
t:l 0
§
rt 0
§
t:l
f-'·
Ul
rt
~
f-'·
n rt .
m
~ 0 r,;; m cn -t .,, &:
0 )> ...
:D "' ::0 -lo 3: ...

C') mo z !!. ::0 -i ::.;
m og
~ .,, :::,
~ ; ·
C > 1
JI -i ::0 ;i,; -:r C') VI '"
m )> :D
Cl) ~g z :D !;
< mij
(') .. m :D )>
z m1
-t )> :::,
-i n
0 c5 < ::0 z
-<
("')
0 ::,
rt
~· ::,
~ rt
~· 0 ::,
"lj
Pl
O'Q
(1)
B
I co
0 1-t)
,~
a
I
State of California - The Resourc:es A""n"v
m
State of California - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
169/34 Dc:Mntc:>\.vn skyline, looking NE
·" toward 1100-1501 Broadway, 1915;
source, Hegemann Report.
169/29 Gores of Broadway , San Pablo
& Telegraph, c.1910. Source, Oakland
History Room
-49/4A District view E on 14th f 'ran
Clay, c.1915; source, Oakland Museum.

Continuation Page 9 of 220
CP
.Lb~/L'.'.J .L4th, San Pablo, & Broadway,
1889. Source Oakland History Room
a
State of California -The Resources Agency
DEPA-1TMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
•:t or r1 tr.....2,I --,(,,,4racc• Downtown District
Continuation Page 11 of 220
I CPI
107/lOA West side of Franklin, 13th to
15th ~treets: M~llen,Financial Cente r ,
Athenian, Graneton, & Oakland Title
Insurance Co. Buildings
167/2 view northeast fran 11th & Broad
way: Pussycat Theater, 1100 Broadway &
a,nnex, Healy Bldg., Travelers Hotel
147/14 view east on 15th Street fran
Jefferson into district: Hote]s Savoy &.

Oaks, City Hall West, City Hall
165/33 view into district, southeast
on San Pa):)lo fran 17th Street, converg:- ,
ing a,t 14th & Broadwa,y
a
State of Cal iforn ia - The Resources Agen cy

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Continuation Page .12_ of 220

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
~ .. eet or rural address : Downtown District
Postcard view of the north side of 14th Street
looking west from Franklin Street, Postmark reads
August 21, 1941.

Downtown Oakland, . Ca., 1915."The Flatiron building is flanked by the recently -built City Hall and the slender Cathedral Building" (postcard caption) Oakland Museum
postcard reprints.

CP
a
State of Cal ifo rnia - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECR EAT ION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Continuat i on Page ~ of 220
I CPI
eet o0@4,+1, ~ts: _______ D_o_wn_ t_o_w_n_ D_i _s _tr_ i_· c_t ____________________ _

19. Historical and/or Architectural Importance (continued from page 2) with its large number of real estate offices and hotels, and to the Uptown district with its movie palaces and department stores. Downtown ' s cluster of distinguished early 20th century skyscrapers, and the Beaux Arts City Hall, permanently established it as the city ' s center in both function and image, and as "downtown" for the entire East Bay area.

Although the City Center redevelopment project has replaced the southwest retail quadrant of the historic downtown area with massive new office buildings (and more to come), the imagery and integrity of the remaining district remain strong.

The original Oakland mapped in 1853 by Julius Kelle;i:- sberger extended east c1nd west for ahout seven blocks on either side of Broadway , and north from the waterfront to 14th Street.

Beyond 14th Street the land "remained for many years in an agricultural state, and its streets were later developed with reference to the purely accidental lines of the two country roads (San Pablo and Telegraph ) leading to town " (Hegemann , p.5 ) ; in time this accident made 14th and Broadway the transportation hub of Oak l and and the site of two handsome flatiron buildings. In the 1850s and early 60s , Oakland's commercial center was mostly south of 4th Street. Completion of the Oakland and San Francisco Railroad along 7th Stree t in 1863 drew c ommerce northward , as did residentia l Oakland ' s growth (population 1,543 in 1860 , 10 , 500 in 1870 , 67,000 by 1900) with the intentionall y -named Broadway as its c ommercial strip. As early as 1893 the president of the Board of Trade, M.J. Keller (quoted by Dykstra, p.197) reported that " for many years Broadway , a magnificent stree t · Ktending from the harbor line on the south to the foothills on the north , has been the 2in business artery of the city. Business houses have grown up along the thoroughfare u ntil now s ome thirty blocks are quite solid .•. the mercantile district may be said to occupy the area between Seventh, Fourteenth, Washington and Franklin Streets ... " Part of this mercantile section survi v es as the Old Oakland district (see SHRI form) 1 a nd gives some idea of the setting into which the early skyscrapers were p l aced. Two former carriage factories on the edges of the present district, the 1893 Florence Block at 368 12th Street and the 1903 Kiel and Evans at 1628 San Pablo Avenue , also embody some of the area ' s late 19th century character; several other Vi ctorians survive much remodeled.

Although the Alameda County courthouse was located in the earlier business district at 4th and Broadway , Oakland ' s City Hall has· been located at 14th and Broadway since the 1870s . From 1868 to 1873 the College of California (now the University of California at Berkeley ) occupied the four city blocks at the southeast corner of 14th and Franklin .

The 14th and Broadway area was a civic and institutional center before it became a com mercial one. The 1 906 "Plan of Civic Improvement " by Charles Mulford Robinson proposed a new street and vista linking the City Hall and the post office at 17th Street and Broadway and creating suitable sites for scu l ptu res and "another public , or semi-public building ." Mayor Frank Mott ' s 1 909 inaugural address , urging the construction of a new City Hall on the o ld site , no ted that " the present day idea as to a City Hall is that it should be within the business district and as accessible as possible to the public , " and 14t h, Broadway, and San Pablo by then promised to "meet the requirements for many years to come." In 1904, the Union Savings Bank erected at 1300 Broadway "Oakland ' s only skyscraper , the largest o ffice building in Alameda County ... an o rnament to the Ci ty ... ahead o f a ny othe r edifice in Oakland " (Oakland Herald, 12/22/04 , p . 12). The 11-st o ry steel frame building y Walter Mathews became the first of a · series of wel l- spaced southwest - facing c o rner . kyscrapers along Broadway that came to define t he sky l ine of downt own Oa kland. I t was designed, howe v er, as an attached building for its full heigh t , with lightwe l ls and blank walls o n i t s north s i de: the pattern was not yet set. The bu ilding ' s SO ' XlOO ' mass re placed one - half of the 2-story, pre-1889 "Oregon Block" : the north half of the Victorian (see c o ntinuation page 13)
a
State of California - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Continuation Page 1..1_ of 1lQ

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY I CPI
(\f\f\A I\ HIO Downtown District etO'V\llvaf,ar}~J~:------------------

19. Historical and/or Architectural Importance (continued from page 12) building remains, much remodeled, as DeLauer's News Agency (1308-12 Broadway), an extreme example of the way downtown's 20th century buildings gradually grew up among the old. 31 of the contributory buildings now in the district date from 190 6 -1915, with major con centrations in 1906- 7 (9 buildings) and 1912-13 (16 buildings). Henr y Lafler in the Oakland Observer of April 8, 1916, reviewed the milestones of "Ten Years of Progress in Oakland - 1906-1915":
"Ten y ears ago ... the tallest and most imposing buildings in the business center were churches ... one beheld the lone bulk of the Union Savings Bank Building in the midst of half a dozen spires ... and frame structures mostl y of the vintage of the seventies or earlier ... The Oakland Bank of Savings ... three-story quarters were badly damaged b y the earthquake; a new six-stor y steel and brick building (1200 Broadwa y , C.W. Dickey) was started immediatel y ... ; t he First National Bank Building (1401 Broadwa y , L.B. Dutton) ... commenced in September, 1907 ... ;. the Hotel St. Mark (opened) on December 31, 1907 (390-96 12th Street, B.G. McDougall) ... ; 1907 was by far the big ge st y ear in home building that Oakland ever had ... Nineteen-nine saw . the beginning of the concentration of t he retail district in the vicinity of Fo urt eenth and Clay .In this year Taft and Pennoyer moved into their new building (1401-27 Clay, Parkinson & Bergstrom, 1907-08), the first modern merchandising establishment in Oakland ... In the two · years 1912 and 1913 Oakland's building permits amounted to 18 millions of dollars, and this is a record that has never been even approached either right after the fire or in recent y ears ... During 1913 more seven-story buildings (including the Jefferson/Cla y Street hotel group) were in course of construction at one time than there were previously in Oakland ... With 1914 and 1915 arrived the war and one of those periods of quiescence in a City's history ... ". (The whole Bay Area experienced a hotel boom from about 1913, in anticipation of the 1915 World's Fair).

Another article in the same issue elaborated on the northward expansion of the retail dis trict following Taft and Pennoyer's then-courageous move. By 1916 retail gentrification drove the Produce Market from 11th and Washington to a new waterfront site (see SHRI form on Produce Market District). This retail district of 3-story brick loft-style buildings, concentrated southwest of 14th and Broadwa y , is the major historic component missing from the present district, replaced by the City Center project. The Taft and Pennoyer store survives (in radically remodeled form) as City Hall West (1401-27 Clay St.), and Kahn's department store (1501 Broadwa y ; C.W. Dicke y , 1912-13) as Liberty House.

Outside the retail quadrant, most of the 1906-1915 buildings originated as banks, office buildings, and hotels. They are pre dominantly tall (6 to 14 stories), on choice corner lots, and share a general Beaux Arts style. Characteristic materials are brick, stone, and rein forced concrete, with metal and terracotta classically-derived ornament. Three-part compo sition is typical of these buildings, with elaborate entry arches (often lost to ground floor remodeling) and wide modillion cornices. The white granite and terracotta clad City Ha ll (Palmer a nd Hornboste l, 1911-14) and the two white terracotta clad flatiron buildings ~01 Broadwa y , L.B. Dutton, 1907, and 1601 Broadway, B.G. McDougall, 1913-14), all date Jm this period. Architects who established the character of downtown Oakland in this decade with two or more buildings were Walter Math e ws, Charles Dickey, Benjamin McDougall, Llewellyn B. Dutton, Frederick Meyer, Clay Burrell, and O'Brien & Werner. These Bay Area firms brought to commercial Oakland the imagery and pretension of New York's skyscraper and (see continuation page 14)
a
State of California - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Continuation Page 15 of 220

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY I CPI
eet o9~04I QM~s: _________ D_o_wn_t_o_wn __ D_i_s_tr_i_· c_t __________________ _

19. Historical and/or Architectural Importance (continued from page 13) flatiron architecture, imported first-hand for the City Hall.

Werner Hegemann's Report on a City Plan for the Municipalities of Oakland and Berkeley, prepared for those cities' governments and improvement organizations in 1915, portrays a downtown Oakland that is still physically recognizable today. Hegemann was particularly impressed with the "almost ideal spacing between skyscrapers" - the series of banks and office buildings on southwest-facing corners from 1100 to 1605 Broadway, the exemplary setback of the City Hall tower, and the design of tall buildings "architecturally developed on all four sides" (pp. 98-100). The "canyon" of skyscrapers formed around 16th Street by the completion of the Federal Realty Building (1605-15 Bro a dway) had been exciting in its way r
11 canyon
11 Now Complete; May Be on City Seal,' Oakland Tribune, August 30, 1914, p.30), but Hegemann warned that Oakland should guard its distinctively punctuated skyline: "If nothing is done to make this state of things permanent the building of new skyscrapers will produce unsatisfactory conditions in regard to light and air, as bad as in San Francisco if not New York." Downtown Oakland's other enduring feature discussed by Hegemann was the radial street pattern whereb y "the entire northwestern section of the huge East Bay area is opened up in a · remarkabl e way" and a "powerful business center, strong enough to compete at every point with ... San Francisco" created by the convergence of Broadway, San Pablo Avenue and Telegraph Avenue. This focal character survives, especially at 14th and Broadway, as do the flatiron buildings and triangular City Hall Plaza and Latham Square, and the ~~affic congestion for which Hegemann offered unrealized City Beautiful solutions of sweeping :reet openings and a ring road.

The second wave of downtown construction, between 1922 and 1929, continued Hegemann's ideal of point towers ind i vidually seen, in preference to wall-to-wall tall buildings, and the skyline was a much-photographed Oakland symbol in Tribune Yearbooks, postcards, and other civic publications. The '20s buildings in the district include examples both taller and shorter than the medium-high buildings of the first decade, consciously or unconsciousl y maintaining the "ideal spacing" by using contrasting infill. Tower additions of 21 and 18 stories were made to the Tribune building (401-17 13th Street) and the Oakland Bank of Savings (1200-12 Broadway) in 1922-23; also from the '20s are the two clusters of small, 2 and 3 story buildings in the district, along the 400 block of 15th Street and behind the Cathedral Building on the 1600 blocks of Broadway and Telegraph. Some of these buildings, especially the Broadway group, introduce into the district a number of fine examples of 2-part store and loft composition, terracotta and brick above a high glass base. They also introduced small-scale speculative building: architects Reed and Foulkes each built at least one as investments for thems-elves.

The style of the 1920s buildings in the district remained mainly historicist; variations from the mostly Classical patterns of 1906-13 include the 2-part glass base style, the narrow corbeled cornices of 380-98 14th Street (Charles McCall, 1923-4) and 1400 Broadway (George Kelham and Walter Mathews, 1925-6), and Gothic motifs in terracotta (William Knowles's 512 16th Street and 1500 Broadway, 1919 and 1922). By far the most prolific architects in the district between 1921 and 1929 were the firm of Walter Reed and William Corlett (1 0 e xtant buildings); others of importance were Maury I. Diggs, Charles McCall, Edward T. Foulkes, William Knowles, and Schirmer and Bugbee. A group of Art Deco buildings from 1928-9 concludes te period of active development of downtown Oakland, as well as setting the style for the 1all amount of remodeling and new construction that took place in the next 20 years. This group includes · Reed and Corlett's Financial Center skyscraper (401-15 14th Street), a striking 3-part brick and terracotta Ziggurat type transition between the historicist and deco styles, F.H. Reimers' proto-WPA Income Securities Building at 360-4 14th Street, a smaller (see continuation page 15)
a
State of California - T he Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREA TI ON
16 Conti nuation Page of 220
HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY [ CP I
et or @~~~~: ___________ D_o_w_n_t_o_wn __ D_i_· _s _t _r_i_c_t ________________________ _

19. Historical and/or Ar c hite c tural Importance (continued from page 14) bank building by W.E. Schirmer at 369 13th Street, and the tile r e surfacing of the 1902 Elks Hall at 412-20 14th Street.

The Crash of 1929 coincides with the end of historic downtown Oakland's phy sical growth, though contemporary observers saw it slowing earlier : the 1928 May or's Message noted a slacking of new construction, and Ann Orr (Observer, August 13, 1 9 32) attributed Uptown ' s recent success as a luxur y shopping and entertainment district to "te n years or more" of downtown lethargy. Orr added that Downtown was beginning to fight back with "rehabilitations of old, favored spots . The Abrahamson store putting on a gallant new front, green tile, pristine , inviting ... " Edwa rd T. Fo u lkes showed this (now demolished ) building in an article on "Modernization" in the September 1 934 Architect and Engineer , with other examples of the Oakland Downtown Pro p erty Owner s ' two- y ear-old "modernization and rehabilitation campaign ." Tile facades in the district exemplifying this depression - era pattern are 1429 Broadwa y (Fou l kes,1935) and 1120-38 Broadwa y (1 9 38 ); 1220 Broadwa y (1935) is a new building in s imilar style. Another trend of the 1930s that insured Downtown ' s survival in its 190 0- 29 for m wa s· the shift of civic center develo pment t o the lakeside are a near the 1 913 - 15 Mu n i c ipal Auditorium (main p ost office in 193 0 , county courthouse in 1935-6). Ambit i ous civic center plans of the 1940s and 50s were laid there, not around City Hall. Downtown continued its hist o ric pattern of uses into the 1960s: City Hall at the center , banks and offices east of Broadway , depart ment and furniture sto res southwest of 14th and Broadway, movie theaters along Broadway, hotels o n the periphery. The 1966 Oak l and Central District .an projected some t hin g like the present Cit y Center redevelopment, with hotel, malls and :fice towers around a rap id transit node , but placed i t uptown west of Telegraph ; the plan for the c ore itself was "containment and intensification." The subsequent Ci t y Center and Trans - Pacific projects created the district's sharp southern boundaries along 14th , Broadway , and 11th Streets, leaving the remaining two-thirds or three - quarters relativel y unintensified , its scale and style still those of i t s historic period of development.

In recent y ears the district lost most of its d e part ment~furniture stores to redevel opment , theaters have closed , and a number o f banks have moved u ptown to large, computer - oriented buildings . Downtown has become predominantly an office (and off i ce-worker) district , and office c o nversion of rehabilitated o l der buildings an important trend - recent commercial examples incl u de 1100 and 1450 Broadway , ther e is a cluster of converted government o ffices at 1401 and 1501 Clay and 5 6 0 14th Street, and offiQe rem0de ling is in -pr ogress at the old Roxie The a ter and Roos Bros . store and a n t i cip ate d fo r Li berty Ho use. 21 . Sources (~ontinued from page 2)
Photo files, Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Librar y Werner Hege mann , Report on a City Plan for the Municipalities of Oakland and Berke l ey, 1915
Char l es Mul ford Robinson, "A Plan of Civic Impr o vement for ... Oakland, " 1906 "Third Inaugural Message of Frank K. Mott, Mayo r, " Oak l and , April 5, 1909 Henry A . Lafler , "Ten Years of Progress in Oakland - 1906-1915 , " The Observer , April 8, 1916, pp. 3-12
Oakland Trib u ne Yearbooks , 1923 - 30
Ann Orr , " Pl aces and Personaliti e s, '' The Observer , August 13, 1932 , pp. 8-9 Oakland Central District Plan, 1966 , Oak l and City Planning Department John B. Dykstra, "A History of the Physical Development of ... Oakland ... 1 8 50- 1930 , " M . C . P . thesis, U.C. Berkele y , 1967
a
© 1985 Qty °' ua1eaana
State of Cali fo rnia - T he Resou rces Agency

DEPARTMEN T OF PARKS AND RECREATION

HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Continuatio n Page 17 of 198
CP
Street or rural address : __ D_o_w_n_t_o_w_n __ D_i_s_t_r_i_· c_t --------------------------------- V
--::r

DOWNTOWN DISRICT
KEY
[jJ District Contributors
* Primary Resources
[] Noncontributors
D Contingency Contributors
:r 1200 -12. .122-4 -40 :I:

D
~ ii~ ~~
; ~;~; ~~
Ff>IANKLIN
I
'9....,.,_.,_. _ __, .,------,
D {;: 6 {{{{}
1'10 1- 99
1400- "16
1501-15 ~ 1525"-33
CLAY ~
"""'""""''"'v __ .. ~
~---""-" ~ ._i.1_1 .:._1_:_1._;_1,_:_:_i _i_:_1.1 _1,_;_1.: _, .·,.·: __ i.i_i._:_1.:._1.:._: .. i ~ tlllllltl-+:.i .. . . ....

1. C. IT'( ~,._LL Pl.AZJI,..,
~~f,
c,,
--::r >--
>--
t----

JEFFERSON
V
-
~
,~
a
OAKLAND CULTURAL HERITAGE SURVEY - OAKLAND CITY PLANNING DEPARTt,ENT

LIST CF PROPERTIES WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES CF THE DOWNTOWN DISTRICT (Draft 12-7-84 - Rev. 11-7-84)
Continuation

Page 18 of 2 ends

:n Address/location Common Name (C)/Hlstorlc Name (H)

BROADWAY
1/DT 1100-10 Broadway/ 1100 Broadway Building (C); Security 1436-46 11th st. Bank & Trust Co. Bui ldl ng, later
Key System Bid. (H)
OT 1118 Broadway Pussycat Theater Building (C)
I Remlllard's Building; later Regent
Theater Building (H)
OT ) 120-34 Broadway/ Central Block (H); later Centre l 435-49 12th st. Building (H)
1/DT 1200-12 Broadway/ Bank of America Building (C); Oak- /4 48 12th st. land Bank of Savings Building (H)
DT ,/'1224-40 Broadway/ Lux Theater Building (C); Charles 427-49 13th st. Jurgens Company Building (H)
OT / 1 300-04 Broadway I Unity Building (C); Union Savings 430-48 13th st. Bank Bui ldl ng, later Easton Bldg. (H' DT .),308-12 Broadway De lauer's Super News Stand (C)
- f 1330-40 Broad- 1330 Broadway Bldg. and
way/417-29 14th St/ Garage (C); First Western Building
420 13th st. (H)
1/DT ~ 400-16 Broadway/ Central Bank Bui ldlng (C) (H)
424-48 14th st.

I/OT 1401-19 Broadway/ Broadway Building (C); First Na- ./f 402-14 San Pablo tlonal Bank of Oakland Building (H) Ave.
1/DT 1420-44 Broadway 1440 Broadway Building (C); Realty Syndicate Building & Ye liberty
/ Playhouse (H)
OT 1421-35 Broadway/ KCR Building (C); Potter Block (Nort l 1420-30 San Pablo portion); later Playter Block (North
Ave. portion), Playter Building (H)
I
Date (2)
1911-12;
add. 1924
1871-72;
rem. 1912
and Co
1950
1871-72;
rem. 1938
1907; add
1909 &
1922-23
1935
1904-05
pre-1889;
rem. 1937
& 1964-65
1956-59
1925-26
1907-08
1903-04;
add.1910-
11 1877-78;
add. 1886·
87; rem.
1927 &
1935, 196!
& c. 1970
Architect (A) Engi
neer (E), Builder (B)
or other Designer
Frederick H. Meyer
(A) 1911-12; Bank of
Italy (A) 1924
Unknown
w. c. Ml lwaln (A)
1938
Charles w. Dickey (A)
1907; Dickey & Reed
(A) 1909; Reed &
Corlett (A>, 1922-
23 H. A. Minton (A)
Walter J. Mathews (A)
Edward T. Foulkes (A)
1937; Arthur Peter
Lenz (A) 1964-65
Stone, Mu l l.oy,
Marracclnl and
Patterson (A)
George w. Kelham (A)
& Walter J. Mathews (Al
Uewel lyn B. Dutton
Co. (A)
o. Franklin Oliver (A:
1903-04;
WI 111 am L. Wool lett
(A>, 1910-11
Edward Foulkes (A)
1935
(3) (4) (5)
A 1 SL
D 40 -
C 4 -
A 2 SL
C 40 -
A 3D/4 SL
DIC.) 40 -
* 4 -
A 3 SL
A 3 -
A 3 -
D/CL 40 -
(1) State Form Information: l=See Individual State form only; 1/DT = See Individual and District State form; OT= See District State form only.
(2) Date: rem.= remodeled; add.= addition; dem. = demoli shed; mvd. = moved; reblt. = rebuilt. (3) Significance Rating: A= Highest Importance; B - Major Importance; C = Secondary Importance; D = Of no particular Interest;*= Not rated. Combined Ratings: eg. D/cl or C/B2 or c/83 = Present significance/future significance, lf (1) additional Information can be found, or (2) property Is restored--scope of work appears to be extensive or has not yet been Identified, or (3) property Is restored--requlred work does not appear to be extensive. (4) National Register Status: 1 = listed; 2 = Eligible; 3 = Appears eligible; 4 = May become eligible If restored or when over 50 years old; 5 = Does not appear eligible; 10, 20, 30, 40 = 1, 2, 3 or 4 only as part of district. (5) City Landmark Status: LM = landmark; S7 = In S-7 Preservation Zone; SL.= On Study List. a
'( 1 )
Address/Locatlon Common Name (C)/Hlstorlc Name (H)

BROADWAY
OT 1439-47 Broadway Store Bulldlng
1/(SW corner 15th St •
A I ley)
OT 1450-60 Broadway/ Broadway Atrlum Bldg. (C); Mazor
429-49 15th St. Bros. Bldg.; later Anglo-Callfornla
./ Natlonal Bank Bldg. (H)
/
1/DT ~ 500-20 Broadway/ Roos Brothers Store Bui ldl ng (Hl 448 15th St.
1/DT IA 501-39 Broadway/ Llberty House Department Store (C); so1-11 16th st./ Kahn's Department Store (Hl
1500 San Pablo Ave
1/DT ~ 601 Broadway and Latham (James H.& Henrletta Marshall Telegraph Ave. Memorial Fountaln (Cl (H)
Gore
1/DT ·605-15 Broadway/ Cathedral Building (C); Federal
1606-14 Telegraph Realty Co. Bui !ding, later P 1 erce
Ave. Bldg. (H)
DT /'(617-19 Broadway/ Loeb & Velasco Jewelers Bul I ding (C) 1618-20 Telegraph
Ave. --DT ..,1621-23 Broadway/ Medical & Podlatry Bulldlng (C) 1624-26 Telegraph
Ave.
~, __). 625-29 Broadway/ Steinbeck (H.c.w.> Building (Hl 1630-32 Telegraph
Ave.

DT ;11633 Broadway/ Reed (Walter D.) Building CH)
1636 Telegraph Ave,
OT 1635-37 Broadway/ Store Bui !ding
451-57 17th st./
1642-44 Telegraph
Ave.

CITY HALL PLAZA
DT City Hall Plaza Memorial Plaza; City Hall Plaza (Cl
(H)
1/DT #1 City Hall Plaza
/(formerly 1421
Oak land C lty Hall (Cl (Hl
Washlngton)
Continuation Pag e 19 of 220
Archltect (A) Engi-
(2) Date
1925; rem
1951
1920-21;
add. and
rem.1947-
48 1922-23
1912-13;
add.1923-
24 1913
1913-14
1928
1877-78;
rem. 1924
1878-79;
rem. 1924
and 1955
1877-78;
rem. 1923
1922-23
1868; rem
1911-14
1911-14
neer (El, Builder (B>
or other Designer
Reed & Corlett (Al
1925; Confer &
WI I ls (Al 1951
Bernard J. Joseph
(A), 1920-21; H.H.

Wlnner (A>, 1947-48
WH!lam Knowles (A)
Charles w. Dlckey
(Al, 1912-13; E.A.

Cannon (A>, 1923-24
Raphael Charles Peyre
(sculptor); Gorham
& Co. ( foundry>
BenJ am 1 n Geer
Mc Doug.a 11 (A)
H • G • B re 11 n (A l
(Walter D.) Reed &
(William H.) Corlett
(A), 1924
Reed & Corlett (Al
1924; A. Lewis Koue
(Al 1955
Reed & Corlett (A)
1923
Leonard H. Thomas
(A)
Unknown
Palmer & Hornbostel
(3)
D
*
A
A
A
A
C
C
DIC"
C/B"
C/B"
C/B3
A
'(4) ., 5)
4 -
4D -
3 SL
3 SL
3 SL
1 LM
3D SL
3D
-
4D
-
3D -
C/B" -
3D -
1 LM
(1) State Form lnformatlon: l=See Individual State form only; 1/DT a See lndlvldual and Dlstrlct State form; DT = See District State form only.
(2) Date: rem.= remodeled; add.= addltlon; dem. = demolished; mvd. = moved; reblt. = rebuilt. (3) Slgnlflcance Rating: A= Highest Importance; B - Major Importance; C = Secondary Importance; D = Of no particular Interest;*= Not rated. Combined Ratings: eg. D/cl or c/82 or C/B3 = Present significance/future slgnlflcance, If (1) additional Information can be found, or (2) property ls restored--scope of work appears to be extensive or has not yet been Identified, or (3) property Is restored--requlred work does not appear to be extensive.

National Register Status: 1 = Listed; 2 = Eligible; 3 = Appears e!lglble; 4 = May become ellglble If restored or when over 50 years old; 5 = Does not appear e!lglble; 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D = 1, 2, 3 or 4 only as part of dlstrlct. (5) City Landmark Status: LM = Landmark; S7 = In S-7 Preservation Zone; SL.= On Study List. a
( 1 )
Address/Locafl on Common Name (C)/Hlstorlc Name (H)

CLAY STREET
DT 1400-98 Clay st. Clay Street Garage; City Hall
l.,l(N.E. Corner of Garage (C) (H)
14th St. and S.E.
corner of 15th St.

DT 1401-99Clay st. City Hall Annex (C); Taft & Pennoyer / (N.w. Corner 14th
St. and s.w. Corner
Department Store Building (H)
15th st.>
1/DT 1501-15 Clay st./ George P. Ml l ler Federal
/"550-14 15th st. Office Building and Annex CC) John
Breuner Co. Sul ldlng and Annex (H)
1/DT / 1517-19th Clay St. M. Stulsaft Co. Bldg. (H)
1/DT ) 525-33 clay st./ Hotel Touralne Building (C) (H) 557-59 16th st.
1/DT 601-05 Clay St./ Hotel Wagner Building CC) Alameda 550-56th st. Building & Loan Association Bldg.

CH>
DT 1-611 clay st. Lavenson (Albert S.) Building (H)
1/DT /f 625 clay st. I Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Bulldlng 551 17th st. (H)

FRANKLIN STREET
UI / 1108-16 Frankl In t.D.E.s. (lrmandade do Dlvlno
st. Espirito Santo> Building (C)
DT ;1'301-15 Franklin . McMullen Building (C); Richfield St./400-12 13th St, 01 l Co. Bui ldlng (H)
DT '/ 1437-45 Franklin Brownell Building (H)
st.
1/DT / 447-59 Franklin Oakland Title Insurance & Guaranty St./401-03 15th St, Co. Building (H)
1/DT ) 519 Frankl In St. Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co. Bulldlng (C) (H)

JEFFERSON STREET
DT / 1418-22 Jefferson Hotel Savoy Cafeteria and Restaurant St, Building (H)
DT ;:424-26 Jefferson Dragon Hotel Building (C); Hotel
st./593-7 15th st. Savoy Building (H)
Con tinuati on Pa ge 20 of 220
Architect (A) Engi-
(2) Date
1960
1907-08;
rem.
1957.-58
1916-17;
add. 1924
1924
1913-14
1907
1923
1922
1923-24
1924-25
1924
1921-22
1918; add,
1927
1912
1912-13
neer (E), Builder (B)
or other Designer
John Papadakis (A)
Parkinson & Berg-
stran (A) 1907-08;
Clayton Van Wagner
CA) 1957-58
Walter J. Mathews (A)
1916-17; Reed & Cor-
lett CA) 1924
H. P. Hoyt (A)
Henry H. Meyers (A)
Cunningham & Pol lteo
(A)
Edward T. Foulkes
(A)
Charles w. Dickey
CA>
M. F. Sanmarstrom
(A)
H. H. WI nner (A)
Schirmer-Bugbee
CA>
Maury t. Diggs (A)
E. V. Cobby (A)
Unknown
Remy J. Pavert CA>
(3)
*
CIA:,
B
C
B
B/A5
C/BL
A
C
C
C
A
B
C
C
(4) (5)
5 -
4 -
3 SL
30 -
3 SL
3 SL
3D/4 -
3 SL
3D -
3D -
3D -
3 SL
3 SL
3D -
3D -
(1) State Form Information: l=See Individual State form only; 1/DT = See Individual and District State form; DT = See District State form on ly.
(2) Date: rem.= remodeled; add.= addition; dem. = demolished; mvd. = moved; reblt. = rebuilt. (3) ~lflcance Rating: A= Highest Importance; B - Major Importance; C = Secondary Importance; D = Of no particular Interest;*= Not rated. Combined Ratings: eg. D/cl or C/B2 or C/83 = Present significance/future significance, If (1) additional Information can be found, or (2) property Is restored--scope of work appears to be extensive or has not yet been Identified, or (3) property Is restored--requlred work does not appear to be extensive.

National Register Status: 1 = Listed; 2 = Eligible; 3 = Appears eligible; 4 = May become eligible If restored or when over 50 years old; 5 = Does not appear &llglble; 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D = 1, 2, 3 or 4 only as part of district. (5) City Landmark Status: LM = Landmark; 57 = In S-7 Preservation Zone; SL.= On Study list. a
'1 ) Address/Location Common Name (Cl/Historic Name (H)

JEFFERSON STREET
DT /1 500-10 Jefferson Taylor (James> Mortuary Building (H St./588-98 15th St,
DT ./1516-28 Jefferson Tucker (A.J.) Building (H)
st./595-16th st.

SAN PABLO
DT 432-40 San Pablo Woodward Building (C) CH); Bel I
Ave./467-77 15th Theater (1904-12) (H)
St.

DT 1515-59 San Pablo New York Fabrics Bldg. (C); Midgley / Ave/512-520 15th Bldg. (H)
St./525-33 16th St,
DT 522-34 San Pablo Store Building
Ave.
1/DT ;!' 540-50 San Pablo Oak land Commerce BuHdl ng (C); Ave/1521-63 16th S• First Trust and Savings Bank Bldg;
later American Bank Bldg, (H)
DT ~ 600-06 San Pablo Drake Building (C);
Ave/532-38 16th St Heald-Dixon Business
College Bui ldl ng CH>
l.../1601-07 San Pablo Store Building
Ave,/540 16th St,
DT }608-10 San Pablo Store Building
/ Ave.

I
DT / 1612-16 San Pablo Store Building
Ave.

DT ~ 1618-20 San Pablo Store Building
Ave,
DT /. 622-28 San Pablo Kiel & Evans Carriage Factory
Ave,/529 17th St. Building (H)
DT 1630-32 San Pablo
/' Ave. (SE corner
Store Building
16th St,)
1/DT IJ"1631-33 San Pablo Macl I se UalllE's) Drug Store Ave,/1624 Clay st. Building (H)
Continuation Pag e 21 o f 220
(2) Date
1906
1923-24
1904;
add,& rem,
1912-13
1923
(2 phases
1877-78;
rem. 1913
& 1938
1913-14
1906; add
1918-19
1950-51;pt
dam, 1965
1887-88;
pt. dem,
1944-45;
rem, 1970
1887-88;
rem.c.197(
1906-7;
rem,c, 192•
1902-03
1894-95;
rem, 1950
& 1973
1898-9
Architect (A) Engi
neer (E), Builder (B)
or other Designer
T. o. Newsom (A)
James L. Rich (B)
Unknown ( 1904); Walter
J, Mathews (A), 1912-
1913
WI l l I s C • Lowe (A)
Unknown
Uewel lyn B, Dutton
Co, CA>
Chades F, Mau (A),
1906; E,W. Cannon (A)
1918-19
Alben Froberg (A)
Unknown
Unknown
(Chades W,) McCall
& (W ll l I am Joseph)
Wyeth (A)
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
-
0)
C/82
C
B
C
D/BL
A
C
*
....

D/8-
CfBL
C
C/BL
DIC-'
A
(4) (5)
-
30 -
30 -
3D -
40 -
3 SL
'
30 -
5 -
40 -
4U -
30 -
30 SL
40 -
3 LM
(1) State Form Information: l=See Individual State form only; 1/DT = See lndl~ldual and District State form; DT a See District State form only,
(2) Date: rem,= remodeled; add,= addition; dam,= demolished; mvd, = moved; reblt , = rebuilt. (3) s'i°gr;"tflcance Rating: A = Highest Importance; B - Major Importance; C = Second.:..·y Importance; D "'Of no particular Interest;*= Not rated, Combined Ratings: eg. D/Cl or c/82 or C/83 = Present signifi cance/future significance, If (1) additional Information can be found, or (2) property Is restored--scope of work appears to be extensive or •
has not yet been Identified, or (3) property Is restored--requlred work does not appear to be extensive, National Register Status: 1 = Listed; 2 = Eligible; 3 = Appears eligible; 4 = May become elig ible If restored or when over 50 years old; 5 = Does not appear eligible; 1D, 2D, 3D, 40 • 1, 2, 3 or 4 only as part of district, (5) City Landmark Status: LM = Landmark; S7 = In S-7 Preservation Zone; SL,= On Study List, a
( 1 )
Address/Location Common Name (C)/Hlstorlc Name (H)

TELEGRAPH AVENUE
I/OT 1601-15 Telegraph Latham Square Bulldlng (C) (H)
ve./500-08 16th
st.

OT ~ 621-29 Telegraph Store Bulldlng
Ave.

OT 1631 Telegraph Ave Store Bulldlng
./
OT 1635 Telegraph Ave, Columbla Outfitting Co. Bldg. (H) J
OT 1645 Telegraph Ave, Cahl 11 (J.R.> Sbarbara (A.> Bulldln! / 501-09 17th st. (H)
11TH STREET
OT ;{86-96 11th st./ Travelers Hotel Bldg. (C > Vernon
1100-04 Frank II n Hotel Bulldlng (H)
st.
12TH STREET
/368-72 12th St. Florence Block (C) (H)
12TH STREET
OT .,/379-97 12th st./ Lee Famlly Benevolent Society (C); 1120-30 Franklln Pythlan Castle (H)
st •
OT . /380-88 12th st. Store Building
OT 390-96 12th st./ St. Mark Hotel (H) (C)
) 200-14 Frankl In
St,
OT 400-16 12th st./ Oakland Tribune Press Bldg. (C);
~1201-11 Frankl In Pantages Theater Bulldlng (Hl
St,
OT 1 01-09 12th st./ Starlight Bal lrOOITI Bldg. (Cl; Weber 1119-45 Frank 11 n House (H)
St,
Continuation Page 2 2 of 2 20
(2) Date
1925-26
1924
1892-93;
rem. c •
1925
1922;
rem. 1951
& 1965
1922
1913-14
1893-94
1878-79;
rem.1949
1912
1907
1912
C, 1885;
rem.
1924-25
Architect (A) Engi
neer (E), Bullder (B>
or other Designer
Maury 1. Diggs CA>
John J. Donovan (A)
Unknown
Mel Schwartz (A)
1922; John B. Anthony
(A) 1951
John Cahl I l(A>
W 1 I II am W 1 I de (A >
John J. & Thomas o.

Newsom (A)
Unknown
Mart 1 n E. Marks (B)
Benj am 1 n Geer
Mc Douga 11 (Al
(Mathew) O'Brien
& (Carl> Werner (Al
Allen E, KI ng (A)
1924-25
(3) (4)
B/A2 3
C 30
C 30
DIC-' 40
- -.--: C 30
C/B3 30
B/A3 3
C/A2 4
C 30
B/AL 30/4
C 30
C 30
(5)
SL
-
-
-
-
SL
-
--
-
-
(1) State Form Information: l=See Individual State form only; 1/DT = See Individual and District State form; OT= See District State form only,
(2) Date: rem,= remodeled; add.• addition; dem, = demolished; mvd, = moved; reblt. = rebuilt. (3) Significance Rating: A= Highest Importance; B - Major Importance; C = Secondary Importance; D = Of no particular Interest;*= Not rated. Combined Ratings: eg. D/cl or c/82 or C/B3 = Present significance/future significance, If (1) additional Information can be found, or (2) property Is restored--scope of i,,ork appears to be extensive or has not yet been Identified, or (3) property Is restored--requlred i,,ork does not appear to be extensive.

National Register Status: 1 = Listed; 2 = Eligible; 3 = Appears eligible; 4 = May becane eligible If restored or when over 50 years old; 5 = Does not appear eligible; 10, 20, 30, 40 = 1, 2, 3 or 4 only as part of district. (5) City Landmark Status: LM = Landmark; S7 = In S-7 Preservation Zone; SL.= On Study List, a
Continuation Page 2 3 of 220
Architect (A> Engl-
( 1 ) (2) neer (E) , Builder (B)
(3) (4) (5) Address/Location Common Name (C)/Hlstorlc Name (H) Date or other Designer 13TH STREET
1/DT / 363-69 13th St. Central Building and Loan Assocla- 1929 WI I I lam E. Schirmer B/A2 3 SL tlon Building <H> (A)
1/DT 371-75 13th st. Hotel WI 11 Rogers Bldg. (C); Hotel 1906-08 Walter J. Mathews B 3 SL St. George Bldg. (H>
DT 393 13th St./ Gateway Savings Bulldlng (C); 1950-52 MT lton Pflueger * 5 - / 1228 Franklin St. Crocker Bank Building (H)
1/DT 401-17 13th St./ Oakland Trlbune Bulldlng and Tower 1906;add D. Franklin OITver (A, A 3 LM 1219 Frankl In St. (C); John Brauner Co. Bu 11 d Ing (H) 1922-23 1906; Edward T. (towe (tower> Foulkes (A) 1922-23
DT /414-16 13th st. Popper-Bernheim Building (C) 1910-11 Frederick H. Meyer & C/B:L 3D - Perry (R.A.) Building (H) Walter Reed (A)
- 420 13th st. See 1330 Broadway
14TH STREET
1/DT 60-64 14th st. Bank of Oakland Building (C); In- 1928 Frederick H. B 3 SL come Securities Building (H) Reimers (A)
1/DT 80-98 14th st./ Holland Building (C); Alameda Count, 1923-24 C • W. McC a I I (A ) & c.r. B 3 SL 1400-04 Franklin S Tltle Insurance Company Building (H & Davis (A) 1/DT 00-08 14th st./ Athenian NIie Club Bldg. (C) (H) 1901-02 Walter J. Mathews (A) A 3 SL 401-11 Franklin St,
1/DT 401-15 14th st./ Financial Center Building (C) (H) 1928-29 (Walter) Reed & A 3 - .1'1319-27 Frankl In S (Wll llam H.) Corlett
(A>
DT / 412-20 14th St. Elks Hal I Bldg. (C) (H) 1902-03; Unknown, 1902-03; B 3D/4 SL rem. 192<; R.G. de Lappe (A)1929
1/DT 560-64 14th st. Blood (Net I le E.) - Appleton 1914 Charles w. Dickey (A) B/AJ 3 SL I (Jessie L.) Building (H)
DT 568-82 14th st. Locke (John M.) Bldg. (H) 1911-12; Charles w. Dickey (A) D 4D - I rem. c. 1911-12
1940
DT ~ 84-88 14th st./ Hote I Sutter (C) (H) 1913-14 Clay N. Burrel I (A) B 3D/4 - 1400-16 Jefferson
st.
(1) State Form Information: l=See Individual State form only; 1/DT = See lndlvldual and District State form; DT s See District State form only.
(2) Date: rem.= remodeled; add.= addition; dem. = demolished; mvd. = moved; reblt. = rebuilt. (3) Significance Rating: As Highest Importance; B - Major Importance; C = Secondary Importance; D = Of no particular Interest;*= Not rated. Combined Ratings: eg. D/cl or C/B2 or C/B3 = Present significance/future significance, If (1) additional Information can be found, or (2) property Is restored--scope of work appears to be extensive or has not yet been Identified, or (3) property Is restored--requlred work does not appear to be extensive. (4) National Register Status: 1 = Listed; 2 = Eligible; 3 = Appears eligible; 4 = May become eligible If restored or when over 50 years old; 5 = Does not appear eligible; 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D = 1, 2, 3 or 4 only as part of district. (5) Clty Landmark Status: LM = Landmark; S7 = In S-7 Preservatlon Zone; SL.= On Study Llst. r>
a
( 1 ) Address/Locatlon Common Name (C)/Hlstorlc Name (H) 15TH STREET
DT 400-414 15th st./ Store Bui l<ll ng
503-17 Frankl In
st.

DT / 405-07 15th st. Store Bulldlng
DT 409-11 15t h st. Pioneer Investors Savings and Loan
J Association Bldg. (C) Porter (Frank
F 11 nt > B I dg. < H >
DT 415-17 15th St. Ferns Hotel Bldg. (C >The Maj est le I (furnished rooms> (H)
DT 416-20 15th st. Store Bulldlng
I
DT ./419-23 15th st. Foulkes (Edward T.) Bulldlna (H)
DT 425 15th st. "The Hub" Bulldlng (C)
,/
DT 426-30 15th St. Store Bulldlng
1/DT 500-508 15th St./ Plaza Bldg. (C) (H)
/ 101-161 Clty Hal I
,PI aza
" ... ./ 526-38 15th st. Dalzlel (Robert J.) Bulldlng (C) (H / 572-74 15th St, Coakley Hotel Bldg, (C) (H)
DT 585-89 15th st. Hotel Oaks Building (C) (H)
J
16TH STREET
1/DT ..!512 16th St. Morgan Bulldlng (C); East Bay Water Company Building (H)
DT 516-20 16th St, Kessler & Kessler Law Offices Bldg,
I (C) Vauban's Restaurant Bldg. (H)
DT / 535-41 16th St, Store Building
DT 63-65 16th st. Alameda City Loan Association Bldg.

Annex (H)
DT .1569-83 15th st. Store Building
17TH STREET
DT j/ s10-18 17th st. Show PI aza Center (C)
Continuation Page 24 of 220
Date<2>
1915;
rem. 1954
1922
1922;
rem. 1949
-50
1903
1913; rem
1922
1924
1919; rem,
c. 1960
1924; rem
1958-59
1913
1913-14
1911
1912-13;
add. 1914-
15 1919
1922-23;
rem, 1953-
54 1921
1912-13
1922
1923
Archltect (A) Engl
neer (E), Bui Ider (8)
or other Designer
C. w. Dickey (A)
1915
Maury 1. Dlggs (A)
C. w. McCal I (A),
1922; W.E. Schirmer
(A), 1949
Unknown
Charles w. Dickey (A) I
1913; Wllllam
Knowles (A), 1922
Edward T. Foulkes (A)
Hamilton Murdock (A)
Reed & Corlett (A>
1924
(Mathew) O'Brien &
(Car I ) Werner (A>
MIi wain Brothers (A)
D. L. Coleman (A)
Clay N. Burrel I (A)
1914-15; Johns.

Leonard (E) 1914-15
WII 11am Knowles (A)
Reed & Corlett (A>
1922-23; Cecl I s.

Moyer (1953-54)
M. I • DI g gs (A)
A,T. Ehrenpfort (A)
L.S. Stone (A)
(3) (4)
D/C2 4D
C 3D
C/BL 4
C 3D
C/B-' 3D
C/B-' 3D/4
D/CL 4D
C/B-' 4D
B 3
B 3D/4
C 3D
C/BL 3D/4
B/A2 3
* 5
C 3D
C 3D
C 3D
Reed and Corlett (A) j C/B2 j 3D
(5)
-
-
-
-
-
SL
-
-
-
SL
-
-
SL
-
SL
-
-
DT 511-23 17th st. Roxie Theater (C); Dufwln Theater(H 1928 Weeks and Day (A> B 3D/4 SL (1) State Form Information: l=See lndlvldual State form only; 1/DT = See lndlvldual and Distr ict State form; DT = See District State form only.
t?\ Date: rem,= remodeled; add.= addition; dem, = demolished; mvd. = moved; reblt. • rebuilt, Significance Rating: A = Highest Importance; B - Major Importance; C = Secondary Importance; D = Of no particular Interest;*= Not rated, Combined Ratings: eg. D/Cl or C/B2 or C/B3 = Present significance/future significance, If (1) addltlonal Jnformatlon can be found, or (2) property ls restored•-scope of work appears to be extensive or has not yet been ldentlfled, or (3) property ls restored--requlred work does not appear to be extenslve. (4) Natlonal Register Status: 1 = Listed; 2 = Ellglble; 3 = Appears ellglble; 4 = May become ellglble If restored or when over 50 years old; 5 = Does not appear ellglble; 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D = 1, 2, 3 or 4 only as part of district. (5) City Landmark status: LM = Landmark; S7 = In S-7 Preservation Zone; SL,= On Study List , a
a
164/23 view north into district fran
- 11th and Franklin
AT09FA-13
11111111111111 Ill lllll 111111111111111111
a
a
128/4 1617/1637 Broadway: loft group
• north of cathedral Building
AT09FA-11
I 111\111111111 Ill 1111111111111111 Ill 1111
a
a
107/32A 401-449 15th St., west fran
• Franklin: Oak.land Title, Ferns Hotel, -
Broadway Atrium Bldg, City Hall Beyond
AT09FA-12
I IIIIIII IIIIII Ill lllll 111111111111111111
a
a
l.b'.:>/ 1.1. .lbth St . "canyon" , west fran
_ Telegraph to San Pablo : Liberty House -
Hotel Touraine, Latham Square Bldg.

AT09FA-10
I IIIIIII IIIIII Ill lllll 111111111111111111
a
e
-
State of California - The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND 02.JECJ" RECORD
Page B 1 of 1 Q Q Q 6 Q Ul 8
•Resource Name or#: Serial No. 211
'f~~ c>10°tSt
Primary#-----
HAI # ~-----~~
· •NRHP Status Code: 20 ~---,,---,,--,-
local/Other Rating: B+a 1 + SL
400-08 14TH ST/401-11 FRANKLIN Oakland CA 94612
B1.HistoricName: Athenian-Nile Club building
B2. Common Name: Athenian-Nile Club
B3. Original Use: Commerce B4. Present Use: Commerce
*85. Architectural Style: Beaux Arts derivative - Colonial Revival * 86. Construction History: built 1901-02
storefront changed,-some ornament removed
*87. Moved? !X!No I Nes I /Unknown Date: Original location:
*88. Related Features:
89a. Architect: Ma thews, Walter J. b. Builder: unknown *810. Significance: Theme: masonry buildings (co!'1merci.al >. Area: Oakland Period: 1850-1948 PropertyType: commercial building N.R.Criteria: A,C (Discuss importance in terms of context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.) 400-08 14TH ST; the Athenian-Nile Club building, is a representative example of a Beaux Arts derivative-Colonial Revival commercial building. It was built in 1901-02, architect Walter J. Mathews and builder unknown. It is dated by assessor's block books, and was originally valued at $25,000. Historically the building reflects downtown Oakland business and commercial development, and social history.

The original owner and occupant was Athenian-Nile Club. Walter Mathews (1850-1947), son of pioneer Oakland architect Julius Mathews, was city architect in the 1890s, designed First Unitarian Church (1890) and Oakland's first skyscraper (1904), and by 1911 was said to have designed so many buildings that they would stretch the length of Broadway. ·
The Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey rates this property B+al+ (B, major importance, landmark quality; potentially A, highest importance, if restored), particularly for its historical associations and designer. It is a contributor to the Downtown district (Area of Primary Importance: l+J. It meets the definition of a Historic Structure in the Oakland URM ordinance. It is on the City of Oakland Preservation Study List. This building has been determined eligible for the National Register as a contributor to the Downtown district. It also appears individually eligible. NOTE: THIS FORM UPDATES AN EARLIER FORM FOR THIS PROPERTY (OCHS vol.9: SEE ITEM Pll), AND INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE ALL INFORMATION NOT SUPERSEDED BY THIS UPDATE. 811.ResourceAttributes: HP07,13--commercial building - meeting hall. *B12. References:

City & county tax rolls & block books,
1869-1925; Sanborn maps, 1882-1970s; city
directories & phone books; U.S. census;
building & alt. permits; biographical & subject indexes, Oakland History Room; OCHS vol.9 B13. Remarks:

Primary Record submitted 9/30/94.
*B14. Evaluator: HUD (NR); OCHS Christopher Buckle)'
*Date of Evaluation: 01/19/86 (NR); OCHS 01/20/84
Date Recorded: 09/30/95
(This space reserved for official comments.)
. ""N"" (Sketch map, north at top.)
c: .. b .. +i+11+0 DPR !=i23B(1 /95) ochsbso.frm rev 9/16/95) ATOBE3-01 '
I lllllll llllll Ill llllll lllll llll llll llll
--- .. - --A
P-01-003920
c
•
•
•
Continuation page 171 of 220
Ser. No. '/-C:. ""-3 - .S.3 - 74 DOWNTOWN DISTRICT
Primary Resource HASS __ HAER __ - NR _3_ SHL __ Loe __ UTM: A B
' C D
.0001.11J2
IDENTIFICATION Athenian - Nile Club Building

1. Common name: ----------------------.;.._----------------

2. Historic name: ________ s_am __ e------------------------------

3. Street or rural address: _____ 4_8_-o_-_o_s_1_4_t_h_s_t_r_e_e_t.:./_1_4_0_1_-_·.:.· ..... l_l_F_r_a_n_k_l_i_n_s_t_r_e_e._t _______ _ Cit"-- ___ o_a_k_l_a_n_a ___________ Zip __ 9_4_6_1_2 ____ County ___ A_l_a_m_e_d_a _______ _

4. Parcel number: ________ s_-_6_2_1_-_9 ____________________________ _

5. Present Owner: ___ A_d_r_i_e_n_M_. _H;;;.y_n_e_s _____________ Address: ___ 7_2_1_C_e_n_t_r_a_l_B_u_i_l_d_i_n_g_ City ____ o_a_k_l_a_n_a ________ Zip 94612 Ownership is: Public _____ Private __ x ____ _

6. Present Use: __ c_1_u_b_a_n_a_c_o_mm __ e_r_c_i_a_1 ____ 0riginal use: ___ ...;:s;.;;a;;;;;m::.;e;__ ____________ _

DESCRIPTION
7a. Architectural style: Early 20th century commercial
7b. Briefly describe the present physical description of the site or structure and describe any major alterations from its original condition:

See separate Historical Resources Inventory form for physical description Attach Photo(s) Here 8. Construction date: 1901-
Estimated Factual J 90 2

9. Architect Walter J. Mathews

10. · Builder Walter J, Mathews

11. Approx. property size (in feet)
Frontage- 75 Depth JOO
or approx. acreage ______ _

12. Date (s) of enclosed photograph (s)
AT05DM-01
IIIIIII IIIIII Ill lllll 111111111111111111
P-01-003920
b

13. 14.

Condition:

Continuation page 112 of 220
Excellent __ Good _X_ Fair __ Deteriorated--. No longer in existence Alterations: Storefronts; some stu·cco ornamentation removed

15. Surroundings: (Check more than one if necessary) Open land __ Scattered buiidings·_ .. _ Densely built-up _x__ • Residential __ Industrial __ Commercial _x_Other:

16. Threats to site: None known __ Private development __ x_ Zoning __ Vandalism.

Public Works project__ Other:

17. Is the structure:. On its original site? · X · ~· . Moved?_-=---- Unknown? ___ _

18. Related features: . Frederick B. Ginn House Clater Nile Club) at 660_ 13th Street

SIGNIFICANCE

19. Briefly state historical and/or architectural importance (include dates, events, and persons associated with the site.) See separate Historic Resources Inventory form for statement of significance

20.. Main theme of the historic resource: (If more than one is checked, number in order of importance.)
Architecture 3 Arts & Leisure ------
Economic/Industrial _2_Exploration/Settlement ----'
Government . Military ---------
Religion ------ Social/Education ___ l ___ _

21. Sources ( List books, documents, surveys, personal interviews and their dates).

22. Date.fo~m prepared May 31, 1984
By(name) Staff
Organization0ak1.and Cultural Heritage Surve
Address:. City Planning Dept,, City Hali
City Qa,kla,nd Zip 94612
Phone: {_4151 273-3941
© 1985 City of Oakland
Locat"ional sketch map (draw and iabel site and
surrounding streets, roads, and prominent landmarks):
~NORTH
•
•
P-01-003920
b

P-01-003920
a
a
P-01-003920
a
P-01-003920
a
P-01-003920
a
P-01-003920

Page 1 ends

Rules & Legislation CommitteeOctober 12, 2023

Rules & Legislation Committee
October 12, 2023