Comments on: Lake Chalet Seafood Bar and Grill

By: Oaklandish3

Oaklandish3 — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:28:46 +0000

Who cares who runs it as long as it runs well? Park Chalet’s food is extremely ordinary and boring…and I fear from the menu which is too large and too uninspiring that we’re getting a pretty bland
corporate food approach! We have great small restaurants here, just like in SF, where the focus is on fresh and local…this menu looks like 1990…

By: MWLX

MWLX — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:52:45 +0000

Anyone dealing in “shoulds” is dealing with idealism, not reality. I’m glad that professional, successful people are helping to rejuvenate Oakland. I don’t care where they come from.

By: awoodall

awoodall — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:58:22 +0000

And one can acknowledge that a feeling of exclusion (and a history of factual exclusion) exists without being bothered by, or dismissing, the way people feel. Oakland is big enough to include a lot of ideas.

By: awoodall

awoodall — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:53:24 +0000

This reminds me of the Rotunda building saga, which is a good example of an East Bay underdog standing up to the big guys and doing a better job than they would have. But the underdog, Phil Tagami, had developed some mighty political connections.
Tagami, who didn’t have a major project under his company’s belt, was told in 1998 by city planning and development bureaucrats that only giants like Shorenstein could handle the Rotunda (the Liberty House Dept. store. The renovation had dragged on and on under various developers AND after the city bought the building, racking up $45 million in costs with nothing to show for it. Anyway, Elihu Harris (and De La Fuente) backed Tagami and told the bureaucrats they better do the same. And he did a great job. Merit won out. But he might not have gotten the chance if he did not have the political sway. The Fox went through multiple plans, including Grand Lake Theater’s Alan Michaan, who would have split it into seven movie rooms like he did the Grand Lake movie house if the financing hadn’t fallen through (the mega company — can’t remember the name –defaulted on the Fox and PG&E building on 16th). Others came and went, too. Some 1990-era proposals included a bowling alley and (again) a parking lot.

By: David

David — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:57:49 +0000

“David, which multi-billion-dollar office developer based in Oakland would you like to buy City Center or redevelop Jack London Square?”

I don’t have an answer, and I admittingly was being somewhat rhetorical. I guess that I just have this strong feeling that what should be owned and (re)developed in Oakland should not be all out-of-towners. It is great for example, that the Fox Theather is owned by Oakland, which–in my opinion–led to a faster restoration…with much thanks to Phil T. and co., of course. I think if an SF firm got ahold of the theater (as an exaggeration perhaps) that it would either (a) still be fenced off, or (b) lead to a situation where much less revenue would go towards Oakland. Is that too obvious, or is there another side to it? Bringing this back to JLS LC, and 601 and other future development, I would–in summary–just be very satisfied that if one day, there is an Oakland-based firm or developer out there to take the reins.

By: dto510

dto510 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:38:02 +0000

Maybe. But since Everett & Jones’s bid didn’t include any contribution to fix up the building, it’d be pretty difficult for them to argue that they would have been able to open sooner. Of course, their main argument for the lease three years ago is that Jerry Brown is a racist for wanting to give it to the Beach Chalet, so I guess they don’t really care about logic.

David, which multi-billion-dollar office developer based in Oakland would you like to buy City Center or redevelop Jack London Square?

By: awoodall

awoodall — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:27:58 +0000

Beg to differ: the controversy is not over even though it’s only simmering now and even though you don’t agree with the sentiment. Everyone has their own agenda. My point was that the news will stir up those feelings again.

By: dto510

dto510 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:04:17 +0000

Angela and David, the controversy over who is running the restaurant was three years ago. I dare say even Everett & Jones has gotten over it.

By: David

David — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:00:31 +0000

That REALLY stinks big time, regarding the hands running the place. We already have SF messing with Oakland City Center parcels (Shorenstein) and Jack London Square (Ellis Parnters) with delays galore. Somewhat quoting Beach Boy Brian Wilson from the namesake song, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were _B_older”…that is, saying “no” to SF, and trying to get that home-grown talent in. As for the aforementioned development stalls, I wish that there were enough Oakland and/or East Bay firms that could make something happen. The economic woes may still lead to some delay, but not nearly as much. This connects with the restaurant delay, that you mentioned, I strongly believe…it should be done by now, not freekin’ August or September