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Marco Li Mandri, Executive DirectorThree years and counting.
From the outset, we have be-lieved without question that our CBDs
could and wouldhelp turn the supertanker known as the City of
Oak-land. We have all made great strides in the journey to setour
city on a new course.
In the summer of 2007, property owners came to real-ize it was
time to act in Uptown and Downtown Oakland.By July 2008 we had
formed two Community BenefitDistricts, or CBDs, to fund special
services that weremuch needed throughout both Districts.
Next, two separate non-profit public benefit corpora-tions were
set in place to provide a governance modelfor delivering services.
Service providers were engagedto cover administration, security,
and cleaning when fullservices began in February of 2009.
The third phase was establishing the machinery -- pro-ductive
and functioning Boards of Directors and commit-tee structures. They
debated the merits of, and vetted,the various benefits the
districts wanted. M any cities havelost this art of governing. Our
CBD Boards are vital to
creating results oriented projects.
A great example: when the recent Mehserle verdictwreaked havoc
on Downtown and Lake Merritt/Uptown,within 24 hours our Ambassadors
had removed all ofthe graffiti on walls and swept up all of the
broken glass.Normalcy was re-established by the following
morning.This would have been highly unlikely in the
pre-CBDenvironment.
We continue to stabilize our areas, halt petty crime,sweep and
clean the sidewalks and create a safer com-munity within the public
rights of way on a daily basis.
For the most part we have succeeded, although we stillhave hot
spots. But, overall, even the intersections andcorners that
traditionally create the most problems have,in the past 18 months,
become safer places.
Just about all of our efforts thus far have been defensivebut we
are moving to offense in 2011.
Youll see new initiatives for business attraction and aconcerted
effort to fill vacant buildings. Beautificationefforts will include
the landscaping of street medians andinstallation of hanging
plants. New public spaces will bedesigned and created along 13th
Street, Latham Square,the 17th Street BART station entrance, and
FranklinSquare. Well fix timeless assets such as the historic
clockat 17th and Broadway and refurbish the Latham Squarefountain.
Well add pedestrian signage and makeour websites more dynamic and
user friendly. Wealso have plans for a retail/restaurant program
tobring new attention to the vast number of new busi-nesses opening
in the Districts. Well be wooing moreof the new generation high
tech incubating businesses
that are redefining the character of our Districts and,most
importantly, well continue re-building the im-age of Downtown
Oakland and Lake Merritt/Uptownas good places in which to own
property and a betterplace to live, work and play.
Good offense and good defense are critical to oursuccess. Our
tasks are clear and time is short. By thetime we enter 2012, we
expect that the economy in willshow even stronger signs, along with
new growth andvitality. In the meantime, join us in a sense of
realaccomplishment as we now walk the beautiful side-walks of
Uptown and Downtown Oakland.
Bak of Ameca $20,000 Gat
Expas Oaka Ambassao Pogam
The Bank o America Charitable Foundation recently donated$20,000
to help expand Oaklands ambassador program. Thedonation was matched
by the Downtown Oakland and LakeMerritt Districts to help und a
hospitality internship programprojected to employ at least nine
employees in two ten weekprograms or a total o 2,000 hours.
The new hospitality intern ambassadors will help greet visitors
andpass out bus maps or the new ree Broadway shuttle that
operatesree to the public on weekdays now.
The new internship program is an extension o the ambassa-dor
program that was launched in March 2009 by the Oaklandand Lake
Merritt Community Beneft Districts that initially em-ployed 20
maintenance and saety ambassadors. The programhas grown to 25 ull
time positions and continues to be anintegral part in improving
Downtown and Uptown Oakland.
happeningTECH FIRMS? IN OAKLAND?
Youd be surprised.
July 16th saw the birth of InnovateOakland, a.k.a. INOAK.
INOAK
was created to strengthenand expand the citysburgeoning new
mediaand technology sector.
Founding members include automat-ed music recommendation
serviceand custodian of the Music GenomeProject, Pandora; web-based
commu-nity news provider Oakland Local,
digital media performance softwarefirm Skytide and
venture/brand
advisory firm North. Both theLake Merritt-Uptown and
Downtown Oakland As-sociations are supporting
INOAK and we hopeyou will too.
The groups firstnetworking event tookplace at Levende
Eastrestaurant on Wash-ington Street on July
16th and the second event took placeat the Den at the Fox
Theatre onAugust 19th. Both events had a verygood crowd and we hope
to see evenmore people at the next event, to beheld October 7th on
the RooftopGarden of the Kaiser Center. Comealong, meet fellow
businesspeopleand entrepreneurs working in Oak-land, network, share
best practicesand support innovation in Oakland.
More information: www.inoak.org or
www.facebook.com/innovateoak
ITS A BIRDITS A PLANENO,
ITS A PROjECT BANDALOOP!
If you noticed people hanging off of
Oaklands Great Wall last month,then youre not alone.
In August the world-renownedaerial dance group Project
Banda-loop began open rehearsals on theGreat Wall of 2201 Broadway
tobegin preparation for the groupsupcoming performances in
OrangeCounty and Dallas.
Inspired by the possibilities ofclimbing and rappelling,
ProjectBandaloops choreography draws aerial, vertical and
horizontal movment to craft dances that have nowbeen seen by close
to half a milliopeople since the groups inception1991.
Find out more about Project Bandloop at
www.projectbadaloop.org
FREE BROADwAy SHuTTLE
LAuNCHES IN DOwNTOwN
OAKLAND
The new Broadway Shuttle officialaunched the beginning of
Augustand now operates FREE to the pu
weekdays from 7am to 7pm.Nicknamed the B, the shuttle
runs along Broadway between JacLondon Square and Grand Avenuand
uses three 30-foot buses toprovide a convenient opportunity
workers, residents, and visitors to plore Oaklands thriving
commercneighborhoods.
did you knoAmbassador Assistance bthe Numbers (2009 &
201
Downtown OaklandTrash bag count - 2,848 lbs.Pounds o Litter -
56,9600 lbsGrafti Abatement - 1211Power Washing - 63,000 Gals.
Lake Merritt Uptown OaklanTrash bag count - 5,096 lbs.Pounds o
Litter - 87,876 lbs.Grafti Abatement - 605Power Washing - 54,000
Gals.
WN & DOWNTOWN | Fall 2010 For more information visit:
downtownoakland.org & lakemerritt-up
ThEJOURNEy
Is ThE
REWARD
8/6/2019 Uptown & Downtown CBD's Newsletter - Fall/Winter
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UPTOWN & DOWNTOWNFall 2010
Downtown Oakland and LakeMerritt-Uptown District Associatio388
19th St. Oakland, CA 94612
Marco Li Mandri, Executive Directo
Steve Snider, District Manager
Masumi Matsumoto,Designer | m-matsumoto.com
Gallen.Neilly & Associates,Media Consultant |
www.gallen.co
PhotocreditsCover: Chad ZiemendorInside: Chad Ziemendor
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved
www.downtownoakland.orgwww.lakemerritt-uptown.org
Cak: Acheoogst, veto, a gta pesevatost
Be Kaca a hs compa move to 2201 Boaa
Ben Kacyra is responsible or developing a revolutionary
laser-mappingdevice that scans three-dimensional objects into
digital blueprintswithin a ew millimeters. What does this mean? It
means that Cyarkcan digitally preserve cultural heritage sites like
Perus Machu Picchuor Israels Dome o the Rock because unlike
cultural artiacts saelyhoused in museums, cultural heritage sites
are constantly at risk dueto erosion, natural disasters, and human
aggression. Once blueprintsor these ancient wonders have been
calculated they are stored in adigital fle making it possible to
re-create these edifces to scale or
uture generations. Cyark was previously located in
Orinda.www.cyark.org
Cbc Taspotato Sstems moves to 1000 Boaa
Based in San Diego, Cubic designs installs and operates
revenuemanagement systems or mass transit agencies around the
worldand Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is one o the companys
majorU.S. customers. Cubic chose Oakland or its second NorCal
locationbecause o the citys central location within the BART
system. Cubicoperates and maintains BARTs ticket systems, gates and
smart cardreaders as well as providing processing and revenue
reporting systems.cts.cubic.com
Capital OpportunitiesYes, times are tough, but the City
ofOakland still offers grants and fundingfor a variety of local
businesses, includ-ing owners of commercial property.Here are some
you might be able to use:
BuildinG OwnErSFaade Improvement: Does the exte-
rior of your building need some TLC?The Downtown Faade
ImprovementProgram offers up to $20,000 in match-ing grants to
property and businessowners needing to remodel and im-prove the
exterior of their properties.
Tenant Improvement Program:Buildings in the Downtown
Redevelop-ment Project area with space that haslain vacant for more
than six months
but has interest from a tenant canqualify for matching grants
for interiorimprovements.
Cotact: Brian Kendall 510.238.7403
EnTrEPrEnEurSBusiness Loans: The Oakland
Business Development Corporationhandles business loans up to
$249,500and may be able to help entrepreneurs
who dont qualify for traditional bankfinancing.
Tax Credits: If you locate your busi-ness in the Oakland
Enterprise Zone,which includes most of Downtown andUptown, you may
qualify for dollar-for-dollar tax credits to offset Californiastate
income taxes. The largest singlecredit is the Enterprise Zone
HiringCredit, which totals up to $37,440 perqualified employee over
a five-yearperiod.
Moe fomato:www2.oaklandnet.com/
Government/o/CEDA/Index.html
BuildinG OwnErS:
HElP uS TO HElP yOu.Several owners of smaller commer-
cial buildings in both the Lake Merritt-Uptown and Downtown
districts havetold us recently about space available intheir
buildings. Were looking into several resources that might be useful
tothem in marketing that space. Mean-while, wed like to profile
buildings in
the districts on the website. If youdlike to have your building
includedplease contact:
Nancy Amaral of Gallen.Neilly [email protected].
NEw BuSINESSES
