City Government
City Attorney Sues Owners of West Grand Hotel for Appalling Conditions
The Oakland City Attorney this week sued the absentee owners of the West Grand Hotel, a single room occupancy rental property that has a reputation for for drug activity and unsafe, inhumane living conditions.
For years, the West Grand Hotel at 641 West Grand Ave. has been a nuisance to the neighborhood and a danger to the dozens of people who live there, according to the City Attorney’ OFFICE.
< p>The property has long been a center of drug activity, including sales, storage and distribution of cocaine and heroin, the City Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Since April 2013, Oakland police have arrested at least 23 people for drug sales and other drug crimes connected to the property, and officers have recovered firearms and large amounts of drugs packaged for sale inside the building.
City inspectors also have documented dangerous building and fire code violations, including lack of fire extinguishers or alarms, exposed and unsafe wiring, broken windows, infestations of mold and cockroaches, overflowing dumpsters, nonworking toilets and showers, cooking appliances used in the hallways and extremely unsanitary conditions unfit for human habitation.
“The owners of the West Grand Hotel are responsible for the appalling conditions in the building, and for allowing their property to become a public nuisance in the neighborhood,” City Attorney Barbara Parker said.
“Every tenant in our City has a right to safe and humane living conditions,” Parker said. “We have many responsible landlords in Oakland. Unfortunately, the owners of the West Grand Hotel treat their tenants as nothing more than ATM machines while their buildings literally fall apart.”
The lawsuit, prosecuted by the Neighborhood Law Corps unit in the City Attorney’s Office, asks the court to declare the West Grand Hotel a public nuisance and shut it down for a one-year period.
The lawsuit seeks damages for years of unpaid Rent Program service fees and substantial civil penalties and damages from the owners.
In addition, the lawsuit asks the court to appoint a receiver to take control of the property, relocate the tenants and make all necessary repairs, with the owners responsible for all costs. The lawsuit also asks the court to order the owners to live at the West Grand Hotel until the nuisance is abated.
The West Grand Hotel is owned by Oakland JMO, LLC, which is not licensed to do business in California. The LLC was incorporated in Georgia in late May 2012, just two weeks before the company bought the West Grand property. Rent checks are sent to the address of a Beverly Hills attorney who acts as an agent for the company and is named as a defendant in the city’s lawsuit.
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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025
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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025
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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.
He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.
Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.
Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.
Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.
He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.
A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.
His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.
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