Although Piedmont Ave doesn’t have many vacant spaces there are a few. I’m working with a broker, Ben Marcus at CBRE, who has a space at 4444 Piedmont Ave. He would like to know what neighbors around Piedmont Ave would like to see.
During my walk last week aside from 4444 Piedmont I noticed the former Paws on Piedmont store is for rent, 3953 Piedmont Ave which has been vacant for at least a year, and then the old J’s Mexican.
Inside Outside Fitness was the previous tenant at 4444 Piedmont Ave. This space is on the other side of Pleasant Valley Ave where there’s much less foot traffic. On this side, there’s J. Miller’s Flowers, Roxanne Graziano’s Pilates, and a shop called Ride Oakland is under construction in the same building.
I spoke with Margitta Gardner of Piedmont Avenue Neighborhood Improvement League (PANIL) and she said one of the challenges with businesses here is noise since it’s so close to residences. Noise was a major problem with Inside Outside Fitness since their operation required loud music.
Regarding the former J’s Mexican. Earlier this year I learned there was a permit granted for a bakery/cafe for that space but I haven’t heard anything beyond that.
Although PANIL hasn’t done a formal survey Margitta said some of the popular suggestions she’s heard during meetings were for a hardware store and a general/variety store. She also mentioned the library had to move into a trailer since it lost its lease. Perhaps that could work at 4444 and at least we know noise won’t be an issue.
If you’ve ever thought there was something missing from Piedmont Ave, please submit your suggestions on Spotmojo. We’re working with many brokers and small businesses in the area and this type of information really helps them. Recently, we helped a brewery move into Alameda where suggestions from the community convinced an investor to back them.
Suggest your ideas on Spotmojo using this link: http://www.spotmojo.com/openspot/piedmontave/
