The official ribbon-cutting ceremony has been held for the affordable housing project at 2201 Brush Street in West Oakland, Alameda County. The project, dubbed the Ms. Margaret Gordon West Port, is adding 59 units to the residential neighborhood close to the heart of the city. East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation is responsible for the development.
The project’s namesake, Margaret Gordon, is a West Oakland-based activist who has worked on promoting environmental justice across the Bay Area. Gordon is the co-executive director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project for two decades. In 2007, she was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame.
2201 Brush Street ribbon cutting ceremony with Margaret Gordon, image courtesy EBALDC
The five-story building contains 59 units and 1,190 square feet of ground-level commercial space. There will be 58 permanently supportive apartments for households earning around half of the area’s median income. One unit will be set aside for the on-site property manager.
PYATOK is responsible for the design, with landscape architecture by the Miller Company. In the project description, the Oakland-based architects highlight the partially enclosed, 3,300-square-foot podium-top courtyard, connected to a double-height community room. The programming aims to engage the neighborhood and its residents through facilities that improve community health. This includes bicycle parking for each unit, multiple outdoor spaces, gathering areas, and the ground-floor commercial space.
2201 Brush Street interior view, rendering by PYATOK
The project has been in the works through Oakland Planning since 2014, with the first development permit request filed. It was expected to be 96 feet tall, although it would still contain just 59 units. The official groundbreaking was finally held in late 2022, and the topping-out ceremony was celebrated in 2024. EBALDC is the project developer, sponsor, and property manager. Abode Services will be the on-site services provider for residents.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Mayor Barbara Lee, alongside members of the project team and city officials. Speaking at the event, Mayor Lee shared, “I believe that housing is a basic human right. And Abode and East Bay Asian Local Development Company and all [of the partners] are really exemplifying that here, right here in the beautiful city of Oakland.”
2201 Brush Street construction, image courtesy EBALDC
The property is located along Brush Street between West Grand Avenue and 22nd Street. The site is close to the San Pablo corridor with bus service offered by AC Transit. Future residents are just a block away from the neighborhood border with Downtown Oakland. For regional transit, the 19th Street BART Station is 12 minutes away on foot.
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Great to have this project downtown!
I wanted to reach out directly regarding your proposed design at 34th Avenue and San Pablo in Oakland.
First, let me acknowledge the value of adding housing and the practical realities of development. But I urge you to reconsider the current design approach from a contextual and cultural standpoint.
The adjacent historic structure tells a story of Oakland’s architectural and social past. Your current design, while efficient, risks coming across as placeless—a building that could be anywhere in America.
Oakland deserves better than “default urban infill.” The city is at a crossroads, fighting to maintain its identity amid waves of displacement and gentrification. Architecture is not neutral in this process—it can either contribute to cultural continuity or to erasure.
A few specific suggestions:
• Study the proportions, window rhythms, and material textures of the existing historic building. You don’t need to copy it—but you can respectfully dialogue with it.
• Consider integrating local art, façade variation, or community-relevant detailing that roots this building in West Oakland’s specific history.
• Use this project as a prototype for responsible modern development—one that solves for housing but also honors neighborhood character.
This is an opportunity to build something functional and memorable, not just functional.
~d
It’s completed and this article is about the ribbon cutting opening ceremony.
So busy over-evaluating, they didn’t even read the article. Do they even frequent this part of the Bay if they didn’t notice any part of the construction process?
How are people so confused about this website?
FWIW, it appears that David is commenting on a new EBALDC project that is not yet under construction to be located at 3431 San Pablo, not the completed project on Brush Street.
This is not my project but I am an architect in the Bay Area. We all want beautiful and unique buildings but at the end of the day the budget rules. Either we design something that can get built or we design nothing. You wouldn’t believe how many projects get stalled or canceled, we’re lucky any affordable housing gets built.
not to pile on to the other comments but I have lived in 7 different states and each one claims to have a unique architectural history when in reality all of those unique architectural styles are identical buildings that between 1900 and 1929 would have been widely seen in every single american city. Charlotte, Salt Lake City, LA, Oakland, they all have the same pre-war buildings. I love old buildings and live in one now but like one of the other commenters said, Oakland doesn’t have a shortage of old, beautiful buildings, we have a shortage of affordable buildings and that is what is being addressed here.
You guys have not cleaned up the area that is already bad and some of your tenants are causing more homeless people to come to that street and the surrounding streets such as mines on 22nd. You all could at least make sure that the neighborhood stayed safe. But ever since that building has brought in tenants, transients and homeless drug addicts have been coming around.
What has an empty parking lot for over a decade done that a JUST FINISHED residential building hasn’t? In what way is this project responsible for any of those things mentioned?
Perhaps consider getting your leaders to take action on the land that’s wasting away. A couple blocks to the south, a project from 2024 shows the block in much better shape.