Community Center
The new Community Center is designed to provide purpose-built office and meeting space for Oakland’s non-profit community and tenant space for an affordable preschool. The rental market for Oakland’s non-profit organizations is highly volatile, with commercial rents often outpacing fundraising, and non-profit organizations frequently sidetracked from their missions by logistical difficulties.
The First Church Campus is currently home to dozens of non-profit organizations and community partners. Some organizations have leased offices in spaces that were formerly classrooms or social areas. Other organizations use First Church assembly areas for weekly or seasonal events such as meetings, rehearsals or concerts. This scheme endeavors to retain the campus’s existing tenants in better facilities, while inviting new organizations in and supporting their work with stable rents and facilities.
The new Community Center is envisioned to encompass the entire second floor of a new building, with separate (completely unconnected) apartments above. This second floor is intended as either office or assembly space for Oakland’s non-profit community. Basement and ground level parking spaces accommodate staff and visitors. A ground floor tenant space is designed as an affordable preschool.