New mall in neglected East Oakland 'changing the community'

Denise Frelow, who lives near the new mall, is excited to have something other neighborhoods take for granted - a bank. Denise Frelow, who lives near the new mall, is excited to have something other neighborhoods take for granted - a bank. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close New mall in neglected East Oakland 'changing the community' 1 / 13 Back to Gallery

East Oakland native Denise Frelow for years has had to drive 6 miles across the city to visit the bank, buy groceries or pick out new clothes.

Now the 57-year-old does all those things at one place a short walk from her home.

Once the site of vacant, run-down storefronts, Uzi robberies and poorly lit parking lots, the Foothill Square shopping center in deep East Oakland - next to Interstate 580 at 106th Avenue - is now clean, bright and busy.

In the past month, the rebuilt and remodeled strip mall has welcomed new tenants: a 75,000-square-foot Foods Co. supermarket, a Ross department store, Anna's Linens and a Wells Fargo branch, the area's first full-service bank branch since 1968. A Chinese restaurant, nail salon and cell phone store will open in the next few weeks.

"Sometimes you just need to have something close," said Frelow, a customer service agent for Kaiser Permanente. "I just come back every day, 'Hi, I just want a banana.' 'Hi, I just want a soda.' "

The revitalization of the block-long shopping center is partly an effect of gentrification miles away in North Oakland and West Oakland, experts say. As commercial property prices rise in those areas, stores that would have once considered opening there opt for more affordable locations such as the eastern part of the city.

"Obviously, there are entities and investment groups that are looking at Oakland differently now, and a lot of that has to do with the new people that are moving to the city to live here and work here," said Fred Blackwell, Oakland's city administrator.

Overlooked area

In years past, Ross and Foods Co. might have overlooked East Oakland, said Malo Hutson, an assistant professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley who has studied gentrification in Oakland.

"It is likely that they might have gone someplace else in Oakland but that it is too expensive, and so they start looking at East Oakland," Hutson said. "The real question is where else would Ross go? Those other areas could be quite expensive."

'There's a market'

But John Jay, who developed Foothill Square, said he thinks the cost of other areas in the city had little to do with the new stores choosing his site.

"There's a market right here. We have 310,000 people within a 10-minute drive; 90,000 people live within 2 miles," he said. "When you have this kind of population density and you don't have competition, it makes it attractive to a lot of people."

Investors' interest in East Oakland is a good sign for the future, Hutson said.

"What Foothill Square could be for people is: 'I am a little iffy about the area, but I am shopping around here and, oh, I would like a coffee shop,' and then a coffee shop opens," Hutson said. "And then you go to the coffee shop and you find yourself saying, 'This isn't so bad,' and you run into your neighbors and it becomes that community kind of place."

Security is tight at the shopping center, where guards in black uniforms patrol the parking lot and stores, and Oakland police officers roll through to keep watch on things.

But the community is already taking pride in the center, which created about 450 retail jobs, said Larry Reid, the councilman who represents East Oakland.

"People have a lot of stuff they haven't had before," Reid said. "It is changing people's lives. It is changing the community."

Carla Right, 48, of East Oakland said the store has already changed the way she and her partner eat.

Real groceries

"A lot of residents were relying on those liquor stores for food, and those kids weren't getting a lot of produce," she said as she picked out tomatoes and onions in the supermarket produce section. "You used to have to go out of Oakland for what you can get here. They're bringing convenience back to Oakland."

Maurice Porter, 48, Right's partner, said he has already started eating more fish and vegetables since the supermarket opened in March.

Maggie Parker, 67, a resident of East Oakland for 40 years, said she used to have to ride the bus to San Leandro to buy groceries and then take another trip to get new clothes. Now she can do both things in one trip - and stay in Oakland.

"People can come over here and get everything they need. They don't have to go from store to store," Parker said as she picked out a Sunday church outfit at Ross.

Mayor Jean Quan, who said she tries to visit the shopping mall every time she's in that part of town, said she hopes the new shopping center will "start a little virus of optimism."