Jack London Square’s Barnes & Noble Oakland Space For Dining, Entertainment Facility

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Pavilion I Rendering edited Jack London Square’s initial phase of redevelopment was marked by three establishments in the late 1990s: TGIFriday’s, Yoshi’s, and Barnes & Noble. Of the three, only Yoshi’s remains; TGIFriday’s was victimized by a consistently obnoxious crowd and bad management, while Barnes & Noble was victimized by the advent of The Internet.

Now, Jack London Square Ventures, a joint venture between Ellis Partners LLC and DivcoWest, announces today plans for a new facility at the Barnes & Noble space. The news is of particular importance because of the sheer size of the Barnes & Noble space: 34,000 square feet, with a 15,000 square foot outdoor plaza. The press release provided by Jack London Square Ventures and Trifecta Management Group tells the whole story:

Oakland, CA – Today, Jack London Square Ventures, a joint venture between Ellis Partners LLC and DivcoWest, announced that it reached an agreement with Trifecta Management Group for a major dining and entertainment concept for the Pavilion Building that formerly housed a Barnes and Noble in Oakland’s Jack London Square Development. The city block sized site, located at 98 Broadway, includes a 34,000 sq. ft. building and a 15,000 sq. ft. outdoor plaza and lies at the center of the 9 block project.

“This is a major step forward at Jack London Square,” said James Ellis, Managing Principal of Ellis Partners LLC. “We have been focused on developing this exciting concept as a key piece of our transformation of the Square and we are thrilled to be working with the talented team at Trifecta.”

The Trifecta Management Group has demonstrated expertise in location-based entertainment concept development, operations, and venue management. They have developed 30 independent concepts throughout the US and leverage over 50 years of combined principals’ expertise in operating entertainment and restaurant businesses.

The identity of this custom tailored waterfront food and entertainment concept will be introduced later this summer and the site will open to the public this fall. Construction has already commenced.

Trifecta Management Group’s Managing Partner, Mike Auger, added, “This is a one-of-a-kind waterfront venue. We are looking forward to finalizing and debuting our unique food and entertainment concept. One that incorporates everything we’ve learned from projects around the country, but something that uniquely reflects what this market wants.”

The final concept will include casual dining featuring gastropub and coastal California cuisine, luxury bowling lanes, both state of the art and vintage interactive games and a large outdoor beer garden with a long bar and bocce courts.

In addition, the entertainment venue will offer live music and entertainment on weekends featuring local talent as well as an area that can be separated for corporate events and private parties. This centerpiece to Jack London Square will leverage the large outdoor elevated patio along with expansive communal seating areas to maximize the waterfront experience and serve as a community gathering spot. It is anticipated that this waterfront experience will be a large draw from the broader community as well as well as create a regional draw to bring visitors either for the first time or to rediscover Jack London Square.

Ellis Partners’ James Ellis added, “Since Barnes and Noble closed in 2010, we have been on a national search for a concept for the building that would accentuate the surrounding retail space and maximize the one-of-a-kind location at the foot of Broadway and adjacent to the Estuary. We are thankful to Trifecta for stepping forward with a creative concept and for our partners at the City and Port of Oakland for helping to make it happen.”

Stay tuned.

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