Curiosity in Oakland

This weekend we’re visiting our daughter at UC Berkeley. We’re staying in Oakland, right near the Oakland Coliseum, at the Quality Inn (Quality Inn page; TripAdvisor). Although the location is in Oakland, the positive reviews of the hotel (both at the TripAdvisor link and on the AAA page) combined with the price made this a good choice. Behind us is a Clarion hotel that is fenced off (and the first thing you see as you exit the 880 at Hegenberger). I asked our desk clerk about it, and she indicated  it had been closed for years. We speculated on why… asbestos? mold? something else?  Naturally, this (combined with a long-time interest in seemingly abandoned buildings) piqued my curiosity, so I decided to see what my Google-foo could find…

It appears the property (listed as being at either 500 Hegenberg Road or 8400 Edes Aveue) was originally built in 1962 as a low-rise two-story property with just under 200 rooms, and appears to have been a Holiday Inn. It is the oldest of the various group of hotels in this area (it is next to a Days Hotel, a Comfort Inn and Suites (built as a Fairfield), and Motel 6, and backs onto a La Quinta and a Quality Inn (which is where we are staying)). The date (1962) means that it was likely built around the time that Route 17 (now I-880) was improved to be a freeway. The Caltrans bridge log shows bridges in the area built in 1948 or 1950, and renovated in 1963; this would likely mean there was an original Route 17 expressway in the area that was remodeled into the freeway in the early 1960s. [1][2][3]

In 1986, a six-story tower with 100 rooms was added and the hotel was renovated. In 2002, the hotel was completely renovated again.

Sometime after April 2005, the property appears to have changed management hands and was renovated into a Clarion Hotel. Based on the reviews at the time (Tripadvisor, Expedia), the property was going downhill. Poor service, poor furnishings, etc. In November 2005, the property closed due to mismanagement (I couldn’t find any other reason stated). In March 2006, it went on the market. By April, it was off the market again. I have seen no web reports on the hotel post 2005, so I’m guessing if it was sold, it wasn’t reopened.

In 2007, it went on the market again. The price changed numerous times, and when off-market in 2009 (presumably because it was sold). Some conditional use permits were required; these were appealed by local unions as this was a non-union hotel. A press release indicates it was supposedly undergoing an extensive renovation costing approximately $2 million in renovation, including new custom design tile work throughout the lobby and public areas. Based on the numbers given, they started remodeling the tower in October 2009, and were then going to complete the low-rise buildings. A soft opening was scheduled, but appears to have never happened. The web page set up for the hotel indicates “unexpected” delays.  My guess, given the dates, is that there was money and financing troubles.

In any case, by December 2010, the hotel was back on the market  at a below-market price ([1], [2]) of $11.5 million. It was sold in November 2012. Based on what I could see from my room, it is currently being renovated completely. It looks like rooms in the 2-story wing have been completely emptied to the walls, so they are being refurnished and remodeled at the minimum. The six-story tower also appears to be undergoing a remodel, but I’ve been unable to observe that much due to the line-of-sight from my hotel.

[1] Property Listing: Clarion Hotel Oakland.
[2] Loopnet Listing: Oakland Airport Hotel.
[3] Caltrans District 4 Bridge Log; go to page 91.

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History, Art, and Science

Today I spent the day with my daughter, and got to meet two of her three roommates for her sophomore semester: Varsha and Hayden. We spent the day with Varsha and Erin visiting the Legion of Honor Fine Art Museum (for one of their Art History projects), and had dinner with Erin and Hayden. I’ll note that at the Legion of Honor, we saw one of the most moving holocaust memorials I have ever seen. So art and history are on my mind, plus a little bit of science and security…

In the history department, I have a few deaths (or potential deaths) of interest:

• Yvonne Brill. The LA Times has an interesting writeup on Yvonne Brill, who died March 27 at age 88. Brill was a very important woman rocket scientist and engineer who developed a revolutionary propulsion system that remains the industry standard for keeping unmanned spacecraft in constant, stationary orbit. Later in her career, she became the director of the space shuttle’s solid rocket motor program for NASA. In the last quarter-century of her life, she strove to help others pursue careers in science and math and especially pushed for women to achieve scientific recognition. Still, at one point, she moved to the East Coast to support her husband’s career, noting “good jobs are easier to find than good husbands.”
• Martyl Langsdorf. The St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting the death last month of Martyl Langsdorf, who designed what has been called the world’s scariest logo — the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Since its introduction in 1947, the drawing of the Doomsday Clock has kept watch as international incidents flared. The clock is a symbol of the nuclear age, whose minute hand moves closer to midnight— and presumed annihilation — with each major immediate danger. The clock hands can also move backward, if tensions cool. The hand has moved only 20 times during the past 65 years. It currently stands at five minutes to midnight.
• CPI Corporation. You probably haven’t heard of CPI Corporation, which abruptly shut down last week. CPI Corporation is better known as the provider of photo studios in Sears and some Wal-Mart stores, and their shutdown deprives parents of an old-fashioned way of taking awkward photos of their children. Of course, there is always the cell phone.
• Time Magazine. The Atlantic has an interesting article on how the death of Time Magazine may be soon, as they haven’t managed the Internet transition well.

Turning to the science side:  a number of interesting computer security articles. First, Israeli hackers have started attacking back at anti-Israel groups that have vouched to wipe Israel off the Internet. Next, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have uncovered a way to fingerprint credit cards to address credit card fraud. Lastly, a data breech at a St. Louis supermarket chain have alerted a large number of people to the risks of how data is handled.

Finally, a PS: To my friends who are involved with Northern Faire: Erin is interested in going this year, so I’ll be glad to forward to her any information on how to get discount tickets &c. (and how to coordinate transportation). She’s also likely interested in Dickets. She’s at UC Berkeley.

Music: Alive Alive-O (Jose Feliciano): “The Comedy Bit”

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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