2301 Telegraph Avenue will function as a much needed center for cultural production, community gathering and housing in the heart of Oakland. The design and programming of the building reflects and amplifies the multifaceted history and vitality of the site and roots the building as a resource for the neighborhood and city at large.
The project is a 43,701 sf, mixed-use building located at the northwest corner of Telegraph Avenue and 23rd Street, housing 58 residential units. The project is 100 percent affordable, with half of the units dedicated to Transitional Age Youth. The building is seven stories, providing two levels of space for community-serving organizations, a semi-public courtyard and deck, amenities and residential decks on the upper levels.
2301 Telegraph is being co-developed by Parcel Projects and McCormack Baron Salazar, with Parcel Projects and Mithun serving as the architects. Building management will be provided by McCormack Baron Management with on-site Supportive Services provided by Urban Strategies, Inc. and First Place for Youth. Public programming, events and workshops on the first two levels will be facilitated by Nomadic Press and other community-based arts organizations, based on site and throughout Oakland.
2301 Telegraph is part of an ongoing investigation into the ways in which architecture can be utilized to encourage cultural expression, collaboration, economic opportunity and justice, as well as promote access to resources, re-connection and empower those who have been severed from opportunity. The project is intended to support a more equitable urban environment, given concrete expression by the experience and stories of those who inhabit it.
We are excited about the potential of this project to serve as a model for new thinking about community-based design processes and see the building itself as a test site to explore innovative ideas about programming and engaging neighborhood networks...a counterpoint and an example of how and for whom to build in cities like Oakland now.