Oakstop is a Black-owned coworking and performing arts space provider with six locations across Oakland and Richmond. They provide local entrepreneurs, artists, and small businesses with affordable work space, workforce development programs, and community-centric art and culture programming.
As Oakstop prepared to purchase their flagship location in the heart of downtown Oakland, Community Vision partnered with them to provide an equity-like forgivable loan and a $5.85 million acquisition loan to help bring ownership into reality. Oakstop purchased 1721 Broadway, a 25,000-square-foot, three-story office building. This property will be owned and rehabilitated in partnership with the Community Arts Stabilization Trust, a nonprofit real estate entity co-founded by Community Vision.
Oakstop began as a 4,000-square-foot tenant at 1721 Broadway in 2014 and gradually expanded to occupy the entire building. This incredible milestone—Oakstop’s ownership of their first building—will create opportunities for stability and permanence, while also supporting significant future growth.
“We’ve always viewed the space as a resource for the whole community with a specific focus on prioritizing the needs of the Black community,” said Trevor Parham, founder and CEO of Oakstop. “Black-owned real estate represents an even greater resource and catalyzes even more possibilities for creating long-term social and economic impact for the whole community.”
Community Vision has been investing in community-owned real estate assets on this block in downtown Oakland for nearly two decades, and we look forward to continuing to support deeply rooted organizations in purchasing community assets for years to come.
You can read more about Oakstop’s acquisition here.
