This is great news. The current issue with Downtown Oakland is that there are pockets of cool places but they aren't necessarily next to each other. Jack London Square (where Centrro resides) is up and coming while the Uptown area has its own bustling restaurant/bar scene. The free shuttle that will run up and down Broadway from JLS to Uptown (and all points in between) will help get more cross pollination of people between these two areas. Plus, it'll be a great way to move people from BART to their respective destinations. I'm toying with the idea of walking from my place in Rockridge down to Uptown and taking the shuttle the rest of the way to JLS. Would be a great way to exercise and save on gas/pollution/etc.

Cupkates made a stop in Jack London Square today. Picking up an order for the wife.

So it took me a few days, but here are some shots of the new office. In the week or so that we've been here, the building was renamed from the original "The London Building" at 160 Franklin to now being known as "The Commons at Jack London Square" as to incorporate the three buildings on the block (160 Franklin, 140 Franklin, and 384 Embarcadero West). Here are some exterior shots of the new mural painted alongside the back of the three buildings:

As I said earlier, the inside is currently being renovated to reflect a more minimalistic industrial design. The great thing is the original brick is still maintained. Here are some hallway and stairwell shots.

Our suite is pretty simple. Couple of private offices and a large open area. We're not fans of private offices so we're using one as a conference room and another may house 2-3 folks. Our landlords at Equistone were nice enough to provide us with some desks, chairs, and a conference table. Still need to get some more desks for the open area and some whiteboards. Not entirely visible are the four large skylights that bathe the suite in natural light. For most of the day, we never turn on any of the fluorescents. That'll probably change as we enter the winter months but the spring/summer months should provide enough natural light for the entire day. An amazing suite in the building that was recently renovated has glass walls for each of the offices so the natural light flows from the ceiling and the office windows. Maybe if we expand, we'll ask for these TI's in our next space.

Part of the charm of the neighborhood is that we're in the heart of the Produce District. Below is a shot from our conference room of the warehouses just outside of the building. From midnight to about 10am, there is a bustling produce trade with goods being trucked in from all across California and the Port of Oakland. Small grocery store owners and restaurants come by to get their produce for the day. Taco trucks and other street food vendors set up shop during this busy time to support the workers in the area.

Finally, some pictures of our view outside of the conference room of Downtown Oakland and the Oakland Hills.

It seems like only yesterday that we moved but now we're at it again. After the BarNone acquisition, we were starting to get very cramped in our current shared office space. Thankfully, we were able to sign a lease in a great building just a few blocks away. The London Building is just across the street from the Barnes and Noble in Jack London Square, right in the heart of the produce district. It's been newly renovated and is LEED certified with the latest green features. Our top floor suite has a ton of natural light and beautiful exposed brick on one side. Our official move in date is Monday so I'll snap a few shots then and post here.

I'm having breakfast at the Chop Bar here on 4th and Alice in Oakland - new breakfast/sandwich place that opened up right across from our offices. So far so good. Good breakfast items and great croissants. Plus, free drip coffee on Mondays!

I'm hoping this place sticks around. The location has turned over a few restaurants in the time we've been in the area.