By Ken Epstein

On Jan. 16, the Oakland City Council is scheduled to decide whether to greenlight a new up-market estate tower, despite overwhelming opposition in the Black community. If approved, it would threaten the future of Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, a longtime entertainment venue and cultural institution at 410 14^th St. owned by Geoffrey Pete, and the surrounding downtown area in the Black Arts Movement and Business District that the council created in 2016 as a way to protect and enhance the historic and cultural legacy of the city’s African American community.

San Francisco-based Tidewater Development corporation’s proposal, which already has the full backing of the city’s planning commission and planning department, would construct a 40-story residential tower with 381 dwelling units, of which 10% (38 units) might be affordable for low-income Oakland residents.

At stake for many people in Oakland, who spoke with the Post about what this vote could mean for the city’s future, is whether the culture and heritage of Oakland’s Black community will be honored and maintained and whether Pete’s club will be allowed to flourish in an economic environment that is hostile to small business and in which everything is subservient to gentrification and the interests of corporate market-rate real estate interests.

Many point to the policies and decisions that have led to the dramatic decline of the African American population in Oakland, which has decreased from 47% in the 1980s to 22% currently. City efforts to privilege the desires of wealthy developers over the needs of the Black community have been a major contributing factor this decline.

The conflict over Geoffrey’s and the Black Arts district reached the Oakland City Council Dec. 19 after working its way through the city’s planning process for several years.

According to backers of Geoffrey’s and the Black Arts Movement district, there were many flaws in the process that led to the planning commission’s approval of Tidewater’s proposal.

• Planning commissioners acknowledged publicly that they were unaware that the Black Arts Movement and Business District even existed when they were conducting their hearings.
• . The commission ignored the fact that Geoffrey’s was entitled to critical protections as a recognized historic resource.
• The commission ignored the fact that Tidewater had not sought permits or permission to alter Pete’s building, although such alterations are an integral part of Tidewater’s proposal.
• Ignoring mandatory deadlines, the commission also failed to provide, in a timely manner, relevant Public Records Act information requested by Geoffrey’s.

Further, the planning department staff has refused to meet with Pete throughout the appeal process, nor did the city utilize its own Department of Race and Equity to examine the equity implications of this matter.

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