News

Oakland Acura Opens State-of-the-Art Showroom on Coliseum Auto Row

Published

6 years ago

October 5, 2018

From left to right: Senior Manager of National Field Sales of Acura, Mamadou Diallo, Managing Partner Gordon Walton of Acura, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Managing Partner of Oakland Acura Eileen Walton, Oakland City Council member Lynette Gibson-McElhaney and City Council President Larry Reid.

A few dozen influential community leaders and long-time residents of East Oakland’s District 7 gathered in the Acura showroom to celebrate a new chapter for business and community.

Oakland Acura has been a long time business in Oakland since 1986 and has recently moved to a new facility at 6701 Oakport St., which will soon be changed to Coliseum Auto Row in hopes of attracting more auto dealerships to the location. The location is great for the dealership, customers and the community.

“This is Oakland’s moment, this business is incredibly Oaklandish. We care about our environment and community,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

The new facility is environmentally friendly with solar panels, energy efficient heating and cooling, energy efficient insulation and windows and uses recycled water for the car wash. The parking lot has bio retention systems designed to capture rain runoff and keep pollutants out of the storm drains.

The construction began in April 2017 on the new 38,000- square-foot facility with that includes an expansive showroom, 18 service bays, a large detail shop with a car wash and 335 parking spaces for the dealership’s inventory, customer and employee parking.

City Council President Larry Reid’s Office, and staff from the City’s Economic & Workforce Development Department identified a 3.6 acre, City-owned parcel on Oakpart Street that offered unparalleled freeway visability. The team worked tirelessly with Oakland Acura to negotiate the sale, at fair-market value.

“Oakland Acura is a family- owned business. Both owners ( Gordon Walton and Dave Robb) families’ have been in the auto industry for four generations. In 1856, my great- great-grandfather immigrated from Canada to Oakland,” said Eileen Walton, Managing Partner of Oakland Acura.

Walton continued to speak about the importance of engagement in this new community and hopes of partnering with more community groups and leaders in their new home.

The retention of Oakland Acura was very important for well-paying jobs and sales tax revenue.

“We can’t afford to lose auto dealerships. Plus, Gordan and Dave Rob are just great people with great families who love the city of Oakland,” said Reid.This is a great move for the community and business moving forward. In this time of hyper prosperity for Oakland, it’s vital for this to happen.

“This is wonderful to see. It’s quite amazing to see what can happen when businesses and commities come together. I couldn’t help but think about our founding father Mr. Honda, our philosophy is rejoice.

The joy of creating products that society wanted and a product that will enrich people’s life. The joy of selling and the joy of buying. The second-biggest purchase other than a home. On behalf of our executive team, we would like to say thank you for your commitment and we will support you so you can have great success,” said Mamadou Diallo, Senior Manager, National Field Sales, Acura.

As a token for the dedication and commitment to the City of Oakland. President of the City of Oakland Larry Reid presented a proclamation for “Oakland Acura Day” to Oakland Acura’s Managing Partner Gordon Walton.

Notable attendees recognized were assistant city administrator Maraskeshia Smith, Alameda county board of education trustee Amber Childress, President of National Coalition of 100 Black Women Sheyl Perry Lee, President and CEO of Oakland Chamber of commerce Barbara Leslie, longtime residents Sylvester Gisby and Jean Blackshire, City council member Lynette Gibson McElhaney.

Tymeesa Rutledge

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

7 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.