3103 Myrtle Site

Having secured the West Oakland site for a new full-service food market and social hall back in March, People’s Community Market has now filed their formal application to raze the existing 5,300 square foot building at 3103 Myrtle Street and construct a new 14,174-square-foot grocery fronting San Pablo Avenue, with approximately 2,700 square feet of space for instruction and community use as well.

People's Community Market Rendering

The proposed market is slated to lease the adjacent parking lot from the adjacent St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church at 3129 San Pablo Avenue, which has been a West Oakland fixture since the 1950s and has no intentions of moving.

People's Community Market Site Plan

But in terms of timing, while originally aiming to break ground in 2016 and open in the Fall of 2017, there’s no chance they’ll break ground by the end of the year, which means that an opening in early 2018 is looking more likely.

21 thoughts on “Plans for West Oakland People’s Market Advance”
  1. I wonder if the “park users” from St Andrews Plaza (or, to be more accurate right at the moment, from the sidewalks fronting the scary liquor store at 32cd and San Pablo) will use the parked cars as a “grazing area” for their various habits and needs?

    Nice project though!

  2. The City of Oakland needs to clean-up San Pablo Avenue from highway 580 to highway 980. Too much blight, graffiti, litter and illegal dumping. This project should help get rid of some of the blight in that area.

  3. On a related note…nothing seems to be happening with the Saint Andrews Plaza “park” renovation. The boards are up and the site closed off, but there hasn’t been much construction lately?

  4. This project will help activate the area and nearby St. Andrews Plaza. I live a block away and can’t wait to see it happen.

      1. Hmmm. I’m not sure the denizen’s of St. Andrews qualify as “activated”. I’m thinking more like stupefied and zombified. There is a good reason the neighborhood is called “ghost town”. Overdose central. A nice new market would be a great land use addition to that retail corridor, but the store security costs are going to be punitive. Hopefully they make it work.

  5. It would be great if SocketSite could report on St. Andrews Plaza. What a case study in West Oakland. It’s renovation will help, but the design was compromised by community input that sought to micro-manage every design decision. For such a small space it is overloaded and overdone with “ideas”. The 4 mature but non-native eculyptus trees vigorously fought to be kept will bury most of it with their constant debris. But hey, community members must know best when it comes to urban/landscape design right? Building a raised bed in your backyard makes you an expert…sigh!

    1. Exactly, I stopped going after the 2nd community meeting. The city going overboard with taking input on every little detail is probably compensating for past neglect in the neighborhood.

      I ride by every morning on my way to work. It seems quieter since the fencing went up. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a picnic at the park once the market opens?

  6. As a shareholder in the People’s Grocery, I’m happy it’s finally moving forward physically.

    Since the recycling center closed nearby, it seems the neighborhood, including its mini parks, have been much quieter — and with less graffiti, less begging, less addicts, but the city-authorized homeless encampment nearby might have helped, too (Oakland maintains mass of garbage cans and portable toilets there).

    On a pessimistic note, I wouldn’t be surprised that if after 5 to 10 more years of breathtaking gentrification, the People’s Grocery parking ends up full of Teslas and Beemers. At that point the full mission statement of the grocery store may not be applicable — like the doctor who moved to Hawaii to do good but ending up doing well instead.

    1. Since the current tech boom is unsustainable except for all but a few major players, I am betting that the trends will be changing soon. How many more aps to make life convenient for the top 10% do we really need? is an internet economy based on advertising that nobody really reads sustainable on the whole? Most markets will be absorbed by monopoly players who use investor cash and game playing of regs to kill competition. So, the lot will more likely be filled with tent encampments as the Bay Area follows the rest of the American economy down the Trumphole.

      1. if you think the current tech boom is built on worthless, ad-driven “apps” you have no idea what is actually going on.

        1. I am being somewhat metaphorical. But I still think the boom is beginning to sputter.

          woolie: How many of the big players have ever made a true profit? And, as the big guys get bigger, they often shed staff (except for a few stars, who are not going to live in West Oakland and shop at a “commie” store LOL)

          Especially given Trump’s hostility to trade, I think there will definitely be a shakeout.

  7. CEO of People’s Community Market here. Update to our project timeline: We’re on track to have our plan approved before the end of this year, close on a construction loan by end of March next year, and begin construction in May 2017. Based on this timing, our GC and architect believe we can be open in November or December 2017.

  8. Thank you for investing in the neighborhood. I wish more capital would flow to inner city neighborhoods instead of the same usual places which don’t need further investment.

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