West Oakland, a community with a storied history and recent struggles with food access, is set to be the home of a new culinary beacon. The Prescott Market Hall, a 12,000-square-foot space, is on track to open its doors later this year and will be anchored by a taproom from the Bay Area's own Almanac Beer Co., which has historically attracted a loyal following.
In a move poised to stir the pot of local food culture, Prescott Market Hall will occupy an antique 1923 building at 1620-1640 18th St, whose past life included its role in manufacturing. According to an SFGate report, Harvindar Singh, the market's curator and also the driving force behind the successful West Oakland Farmers’ Market, views the food hall as a natural progression towards fortifying community ties in an area hit hard by the loss of its only full-service market in 2022. Singh, known for his knack for weaving local flavors into successful enterprises, remarked, "If there’s an area that deserves a lot of love and accessibility to good, wholesome, clean food and a vibrant market like Prescott Market to gather to enjoy each others’ company centered around good food, this neighborhood was it."
Singh's vision for the food hall doesn't stop with just a place to grab a bite. He, ambitious to seed deeper roots in the community, is in talks with various potential vendors, including a taqueria, a bakery, and a coffee shop, as revealed in a SFist article. Almanac Beer Co.'s new taproom is expected to serve 20 brews on tap, with 74 indoor seats and additional outdoor patio seating.
On the development side, Joe Ernst of srmErnst Development Partners spearheaded the hall's conception. Their portfolio includes previous collaborations with Almanac for their Alameda brewery and several notable Bay Area establishments. Almanac Beer Co. co-founder Damian Fagan told SFGate, "It’s all brick and timber construction, and it has a lot of the original beams the building was constructed with over 100 years ago... It’s really taking something that had been there for a very long time and just revolving the space."
Already, the forthcoming food hall is shaping up to be more than just a dining destination, but a linchpin in West Oakland’s ongoing narrative—one that is about to be further enriched by the Oakland Ballers, an independent baseball team making Raimondi Park their new home. Singh's plans for Prescott Market also include reaching out to businesses that reflect the neighborhood's vibrant diversity, hoping to replicate the success where 80% of vendors and market management are people of color, as is the case with the West Oakland Farmers Market. Singh envisions Prescott Market as "first and foremost, absolutely it will be a West Oakland community gathering place," he said via SFGate.
