Start Date: 10/17/2024 3:00 PM PDT
End Date: 10/17/2024 6:00 PM PDT

Venue Name: Downtown Oakland

Location:

Organization Name: BOMA Oakland/East Bay

Contact:

Sponsor: Gidel & Kocal

Fall Tour & Mixer: Oakland Historic Buildings

Oakland is a treasure trove of history, and its historic office buildings hold stories waiting to be discovered. As BOMA OEB completes its 100th year, let’s dive into the fascinating world of the architectural heritage of the Brueners Building, the Rotunda and the Historic Central Building. Representatives from each building will guide you through its unique history. History isn’t just about old buildings; it’s about how they were preserved and modified for the future. 
 

Schedule:

3:00 - Registration Breuner Building
3:15 - 3:45 pm  Tour of Breuner Building
3:45 - 3:55 pm  Walk to The Rotunda
3:55 - 4:25 pm Tour The Rotunda
4:25 - 4:30 pm Walk to Historic Central Building
4:30 - 5:00 pm Tour of Historic Central Building
5:00 - 6:00 pm - Networking, Bites, Drinks

Fees:

$40 per member before October 10
$60 per member after October 10

Remember, this event is exclusively for BOMA Oakland/East Bay members. It's a special opportunity to connect with your peers and tour some of Oakland's historical buildings. 

About the Buildings: 

The Breuner Building - 22nd & Broadway
Built in 1931 and located within Oakland’s elite Uptown shopping district, the Breuner Building was originally constructed to house the entirety of the John Breuner Furniture Company, including professional ones, high bay
showrooms and accessible warehousing. Designed by the famed architect Albert Roller, the eight-story mixed-use building is classic Art Deco with highly stylized motifs, a distinctive variegated sea-green glazed terra cotta façade, and reliefs incorporating images of both industry and more organic forms such as leaves, swirls and chevrons. Distinguished by its massive scale, the quality of its ornamentation and its use and texture of its celadon terra cotta tiling, the Breuner Building has considerable architectural significance and is widely considered one of Oakland’s major Art Deco monuments. 

The Rotunda - 16th & Telegraph
Kahn’s Department Store, a.k.a. Liberty House Department Store, now known as the Rotunda Building, is a designated National Register Historic Landmark that is currently located at 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, CA.  Today, after several additions to the original structure, it is a seven-story plus basement commercial building organized around a six-story skylit rotunda.  Its dome and classical ornamentation are derived from Beaux Arts sources.  Beneath the skylit dome stood a ninety-five-foot by seventy five-foot elliptical rotunda.  With few exceptions, the 1930s and 1940s storefront alterations were reversed in the recent 1984-1988 rehabilitation. The 1912 storefront was restored to its original appearance, and a contemporary glass storefront was installed on the 1923 addition. As an anchor building in the heart of Downtown Oakland, it proudly shares the plaza with Oakland City Hall, another significant historic landmark building. After a three-year renovation, the Rotunda opened in 2001 as a seven-story Class-A office building with ground-floor retail.

Historic Central Building - 14th & Broadway
The Central Bank occupied this corner from 1893, soon after its founding, in a five story brick building known as the Central Block. It bought up a number of smaller banks in 1914 - and required larger quarters by 1925. The 1925 building was designed by two prominent Oakland architects of two generations, Beaux Arts trained George Kelham and pioneer Oakland architect Walter Mathews. This historic building is #7 on the list of District Contributors for the Downtown Oakland Historic District Registration Form.