Oakstop purchases HQ office building in Downtown Oakland

by Cayman Bentley, PVF’s Program and Communications Associate

On May 19th, 2023, Oakstop, along with the Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST), held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest addition to the growing Oakstop real estate profile. The newly purchased and historic 25,000 square foot Art Deco building is located at 1721 Broadway in Downtown Oakland.

Oakstop was founded in 2014 by Trevor Parham, an entrepreneur who grew up in Oakland. When he noticed the lack of work spaces and overall resources for entrepreneurs of color in the Bay Area, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Fast forward to 2023, Trevor is now the Founder and CEO of Oakstop, a company that provides work, event, and gallery space to Bay Area entrepreneurs, with a focus on comminutes of color. On May 19th, 2023, which also happens to be the birthday of Civil Rights Activist Malcolm X, Oakstop held a ribbon cutting for its newest building, hosted by Armand Carr of KBLX, featuring guest speakers such as Elaine Brown of Oakland and The World Enterprises, Carolyn Johnson of Black Cultural Zone,  Andre Jones of the Bay Area Mural Program, and many more. The event also featured an array of Bay Area vendors and businesses, such as Ayaba Wines, Sista Sci-Fi, Turning Basin Labs, Coco Noir, and more.

“Today we have people speaking from members of the Oakstop community, local artists, local organizational leaders, even Elaine Brown of the Black Panthers. We wanted to bring everyone together so the people can really see who and what this community is, and the power that we have when we’re all together. From there, we had a community marketplace, featuring entrepreneurs, artists, chefs, activists, again, just sampling of the people that Oakstop supports through its place based ecosystem. My hope for this building is that it will serve as a landmark for Oakland. We want to be a model for ownership.” – Trevor Parham, Founder and CEO of Oakstop.

Oakstop also houses “The Oakstop Effect“, a charitable initiative that provides workforce development services to help people in Oakland succeed in the workplace. “The Oakstop Effect” is also fiscally sponsored by PVF.