ONN – TMG’s 2201 Valley Building Will Transform Uptown Oakland
The block that is 2201 Valley St. in the northern part of Downtown Oakland called “Uptown Oakland” is a dark parking lot that’s right between two active intersections at Grand Avenue and Broadway and Telegraph Avenue and Grand. The historically underdeveloped spot and the entire five block area are about to undergo a transformation that will redefine that part of Oakland for decades to come. The one of the anchor buildings of this change is called 2201 Valley.
2201 Valley is a planned 450 foot, 750,000 square foot structure developed by TMG Partners. TMG Partners is a “privately-held full service development company headquartered in San Francisco focusing on urban infill projects in the Bay Area,” according to its website.
One of the staffers of TMG Partners and the person who’s name is on the documents submitted to the Design Review Committee of the Oakland Planning Commission, Denise Pinkston, was my classmate at the Berkeley Planning School. This is not Pinkston’s first go at a project in Downtown Oakland; she has a deep resume that, for me, goes back to 1996, and her involvement in the project that gave Uptown Oakland it’s name, even though it was never built. But that’s another story, for another time.
2201 Valley Billed As “Creative Office Building” For Oakland
2201 Valley has Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) as the architect of record, and is designed to be a “creative office building” with an open floor plan, high ceilings, and a park-like green roof, 350-space parking garage, 7,500 square feet of retail and art gallery space on Telegraph Avenue, and a 30-foot-tall lobby at the corner of Valley Street. The building, once built, will be an iconic addition to Oakland.
The Design Review Committee focused on making sure this giant structure was not out of context with Oakland. To that end, several design changes were made, and those focus on the shielding of operations like parking from ground level view.
The last time the building was before the Design Review Committee was September 26th. This space will keep you up to date on its legislative progress in Oakland.
Stay tuned.
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