Eastmont Town Center

Eastmont Town Center is a mixed-use commercial and public-service complex in the Frick neighborhood of East Oakland, California. The property occupies approximately 33 acres bounded by Foothill Boulevard, Bancroft Avenue, 73rd Avenue, and Church Street. It began as Eastmont Mall, an enclosed shopping center developed on the former site of Oakland Assembly, a Chevrolet automobile factory that closed in 1963 after General Motors shifted production to a new facility in suburban Fremont. Architect William Pereira designed the complex. Development took place in stages rather than through a single opening. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in September 1965, and a freestanding Safeway opened in spring 1966 as part of the first phase. Additional stores followed through the late 1960s. A four-story professional building was completed in fall 1969 for temporary retail employment offices and local real-estate, insurance, financial, and medical tenants. The center’s formal grand-opening ceremony took place in November 1970, after the JCPenney wing opened in October of that year. Mervyn’s was announced in 1973 and opened in summer 1974, completing the original mall development. During the 1970s and 1980s, Eastmont Mall was a heavily used neighborhood shopping destination. Its principal tenants included JCPenney, Mervyn’s, Woolworth’s, Safeway, Pay 'n Save, Kinney Shoes, Gallenkamp Shoes, and Thom McAn. The mall also contained regional clothing retailers, a Hickory Farms store, a four-screen Syufy cinema opened in 1971, and food outlets such as Orange Julius, Karmelkorn, and H. Salt Esquire. The Eastmont JCPenney was unusual because its exterior and interior-entry signs retained the older “Penneys” treatment rather than adopting the chain’s newer Helvetica-style JCPenney identity. The property declined during the 1990s as surrounding household incomes fell and crime increased in and around the mall. JCPenney and Mervyn’s closed their locations in the early 1990s. Following a 1997 renovation, the former enclosed shopping center was progressively converted into a multi-tenant office and services property. Local developers acquired the mall in 2000 after it had become financially distressed and reportedly entered bankruptcy during a period when occupancy was approximately 30 percent. The redevelopment strategy emphasized neighborhood-serving services rather than a conventional regional-shopping format. Former retail spaces were adapted for public and community uses. The former Mervyn’s became an Oakland Police Department substation, while the former JCPenney became a community medical clinic operated by Alameda Health System. The former professional building was adaptively reused in 2006–07 as Miley Gardens, a senior-housing complex. Gazzali’s Market opened in 2004 and supplied a supermarket function to nearby neighborhoods. A major renovation completed in July 2008 added brighter interiors, new lighting, skylights, seating areas, upgraded vertical transportation, and improved parking-area landscaping. Eastmont Town Center now combines limited retail with government offices, health care, transportation access, and social services. Reported occupants and services have included a Social Security office, an Oakland Public Library branch, Alameda Health System’s Eastmont Wellness Center, General Assistance and WIC offices, a Rainbow discount clothing store, a supermarket, and other small businesses and nonprofit or social-service organizations. The adjacent Eastmont Transit Center opened on March 4, 2001, becoming one of East Oakland’s largest bus hubs. It serves local, limited-stop, Transbay, overnight, and school routes, as well as a fare-free Alameda County shuttle connection to Oakland Coliseum station. The property was sold for $54.5 million in 2015 to Vertical Ventures, a Walnut Creek-based private-equity real-estate investor. Eastmont’s significance lies less in conventional retail scale than in its transformation from a declining enclosed mall into a neighborhood services and public-access complex.

Eastmont Town Center began as Eastmont Mall, an enclosed shopping center planned for East Oakland on land previously occupied by Oakland Assembly, a Chevrolet factory. General Motors closed the factory in 1963 and moved production to a new plant in Fremont, creating a large redevelopment site in a neighborhood that lacked a major modern shopping complex. William Pereira designed the mall. The first development phase began with official groundbreaking ceremonies in September 1965. A freestanding Safeway facing Bancroft Avenue opened in spring 1966, followed by adjacent stores by 1967. Construction of the JCPenney wing began in 1968 after the retailer announced its plans in October 1966. The JCPenney store opened in October 1970 and replaced the retailer’s long-standing downtown Oakland location at 11th and Washington streets. The formal grand-opening ceremony for the mall was held in November 1970. A four-story professional building, completed in fall 1969, supplied temporary employment offices for incoming stores and later accommodated professional, medical, insurance, financial, and real-estate tenants. Mervyn’s was announced in 1973 and opened in summer 1974, completing the original shopping-center plan. Eastmont was an important East Oakland retail destination through the 1970s and 1980s. Its tenant mix included national department stores, grocery and discount retailers, shoe stores, regional apparel businesses, food outlets, and a four-screen Syufy movie theater opened in 1971. JCPenney, Mervyn’s, Woolworth’s, Safeway, Pay ’n Save, Kinney Shoes, Gallenkamp Shoes, Thom McAn, Hickory Farms, Orange Julius, Karmelkorn, and H. Salt Esquire were among the businesses associated with the mall. The center was also notable for the continued use of the older “Penneys” sign treatment at its JCPenney exterior and mall entrances. By the 1990s, Eastmont Mall faced the same structural pressures affecting many older enclosed shopping centers, compounded locally by reduced average incomes and increased crime. JCPenney and Mervyn’s closed in the early part of the decade. The mall was renovated in 1997, but its traditional retail model did not recover. In the early 2000s it was reportedly only about 30 percent leased and had entered bankruptcy. Local developers purchased the property in 2000 and adopted an adaptive-reuse approach centered on community services. Many vacant stores became offices or institutional spaces rather than being returned to conventional retail use. The redevelopment produced a distinctly different property. The former Mervyn’s became an Oakland Police Department substation, and the former JCPenney became a community medical clinic operated by Alameda Health System. Gazzali’s Market opened in 2004 as a neighborhood supermarket. Between 2006 and 2007, the former professional building was converted into Miley Gardens, a senior-housing project. A $6 million renovation completed in July 2008 refreshed the interior with new lighting, skylights, seating, and improved escalators and elevators, while also landscaping the parking areas. Transportation became another important part of the complex’s identity. Eastmont Transit Center opened beside the mall on March 4, 2001. It became the second-largest bus station in East Oakland after Fruitvale station, serving numerous AC Transit routes and carrying more than 25,000 passengers per day in combined reported ridership. The property’s current role is therefore broader than shopping: it functions as a public-facing neighborhood hub with retail, health care, government offices, social assistance, library services, senior housing, small businesses, and transit connections. In 2015, the property changed hands in a reported $54.5 million sale to Vertical Ventures.

• 2015

  Property sold to Vertical Ventures

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Vertical Ventures acquired the property in a reported $54.5 million transaction.

• 2008

  Major renovation completed

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  A reported $6 million modernization was completed in July 2008.

• 2006

  Professional building converted to senior housing

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The former professional building entered an adaptive-reuse process that produced the Miley Gardens senior-housing complex in 2006–07.

• 2004

  Gazzali’s Market opens

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  A neighborhood supermarket opened as part of Eastmont’s community-oriented redevelopment.

• 2001

  Eastmont Transit Center opens

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The adjacent bus station opened on March 4, expanding the complex’s transportation role.

• 1997

  Enclosed mall renovation

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The property was renovated before its broader conversion from an enclosed mall into a multi-tenant office and services complex.

• 1974

  Mervyn’s completes original mall development

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The Mervyn’s store opened in summer 1974, completing the planned shopping-center buildout.

• 1971

  Four-screen cinema opens

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  A Syufy-operated four-screen movie theater opened at the mall.

• 1970

  Formal mall opening

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  JCPenney opened in October, followed by the official grand-opening ceremony in November.

• 1969

  Professional building completed

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The four-story professional building was completed and began accommodating employment offices and professional-service tenants.

• 1966

  First retail phase opens

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  A freestanding Safeway opened in spring 1966, followed by additional adjacent stores by 1967.

• 1965

  Eastmont Mall groundbreaking

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Official groundbreaking ceremonies were held in September 1965 for the new East Oakland shopping center.

• 1963

  Oakland Assembly closes

  [1]Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The Chevrolet automobile factory occupying the future Eastmont site shut down as General Motors moved production to a new Fremont facility.

A neighborhood-serving mixed-use center that combines limited retail with health care, government administration, social services, public amenities, offices, senior housing, and transit access.

• Shopping center · 1966

  Eastmont Mall retail center

  The original enclosed-mall format offered department stores, grocery retail, discount merchandise, shoes, apparel, food outlets, entertainment, and local professional services. Major historic tenants included JCPenney, Mervyn’s, Woolworth’s, Safeway, Pay ’n Save, and several national and regional shoe retailers.

• Mixed-use community center · 1997

  Eastmont Town Center

  The current property combines remaining retail with public agencies, social-service offices, health care, library services, small businesses, senior housing, and transit access. Its operating model is oriented toward neighborhood utility rather than regional destination shopping.

• Public transportation facility · 2001

  Eastmont Transit Center

  The adjacent AC Transit facility connects Eastmont with local, limited-stop, Transbay, overnight, and school bus routes. It also supports a fare-free Alameda County East Oakland Shuttle connection to Oakland Coliseum station.

• Community health care

  Eastmont Wellness Center

  A community medical facility operated by Alameda Health System in the former JCPenney space, representing one of the major adaptive-reuse projects that changed Eastmont from a conventional mall into a public-service complex.

• 2008

  Modernize the propertyOther

  Background

  The former mall required physical improvements to support its new mix of retail, public, medical, and social-service users.

  Action taken

  A reported $6 million project upgraded lighting, skylights, seating, elevators, escalators, and parking-area landscaping.

  Aftermath

  The renovation improved the facility’s appearance, accessibility, and usability as a community-oriented complex.

  Renovation cost. $6 million (Completed July 2008)

  Source

• 2006

  Reuse the professional building for senior housingStrategy

  Background

  The standalone professional building had declined along with the original mall tenant base.

  Action taken

  The building was adaptively converted into Miley Gardens, a residential senior-housing complex.

  Aftermath

  The conversion added a residential and aging-services component to the property’s mixed-use model.

  Source

• 2001

  Add a major bus interchangeOther

  Background

  Eastmont’s redevelopment increasingly depended on public and community uses rather than traditional mall retail.

  Action taken

  The adjacent Eastmont Transit Center opened and connected the complex to a broad network of AC Transit routes.

  Aftermath

  Transit access reinforced Eastmont’s role as a regional public-service and neighborhood-access point in East Oakland.

  Source

• 2000

  Adopt a community-services redevelopment strategyStrategy

  Background

  The former mall had declined sharply, was reportedly only about 30 percent leased, and had entered bankruptcy in the early 2000s.

  Action taken

  After acquiring the property, local developers shifted the tenant strategy away from dependence on conventional enclosed-mall retail and converted vacant stores into offices, clinics, police facilities, and social-service spaces.

  Aftermath

  The property became a mixed-use neighborhood hub. Later additions included a supermarket, senior housing, public offices, health care, library services, and transportation facilities.

  Source

1. 1Eastmont Town Centeren.wikipedia.org