A big announcement for construction workers, home-improvement buffs, and DIYers: It appears North Oakland could be getting a new Home Depot store. The mega-size hardware retailer would provide the area with much-needed construction supplies, tools, lumber, and other things that people must take timely drives to get. “The store would rise on what is currently a vacant lot at the corner of Broadway and Pleasant Valley Avenue, according to a very preliminary concept on file with Oakland city planners,” reports Bay Area News Group.
The exact address of the proposed store is 5050 Broadway, near a popular Safeway location. The Home Depot store and an accompanying parking garage would take up about 4-acres in The Ridge shopping center. The preliminary filing at Oakland City Hall is acting as a barometer for the store developers to measure interest and to get feedback from city officials. So far, there are no timelines for approval and no schedule for public comment sessions.
A huge Home Depot store in North Oakland may not go over well with many residents and at least one city official is already saying no. “A Home Depot is not the best concept at this location. A lengthy review process is needed if this is something that is being seriously considered here,” Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb told Bay Area News Group in a separate report. Kalb represents the district where the store would sit. “I would like to see a retail and housing combination on the site. A well-designed retail and housing development makes sense here,” Kalb says. So far, Home Depot has not issued any public statements about the proposal.
As it stands now, people living in North Oakland and Berkeley have to drive to Emeryville to visit a Home Depot store. There are several other smaller hardware stores and lumber outlets not too far from the proposed site but they don’t offer nearly the amount of options that Home Depot provides. There is a Home Depot store on High Street in East Oakland but that is about five miles away from 5050 Broadway. That store has been a magnet for homeless people and for years has had a huge encampment of RV and tent dwellers near the entrance to the parking lot. According to a report by KPIX last month, the city of Oakland finally started cleaning up the camp.
