Historic Beauty in Oakland

Preservation Park has been a part of Oakland for 125 years.

The community started out in the 1870’s as an upscale residential neighborhood made up of elaborate Victorian homes. By the 1970’s, however, many of the large homes became subdivided into rooming houses and the neighborhood had deteriorated into what planners at the time considered “redevelopment” material. All but five of the structures on the two-block site were demolished.

The construction of a new freeway adjacent to Preservation Park threatened to destroy a significant percentage of the neighborhood’s historic Victorian homes. To preserve these historic assets, the City of Oakland created a public/private partnership to relocate the endangered buildings and to renovate the regrouped residential structures for a new life as a business
neighborhood.

Today, Preservation Park hosts 16 turn-of-the-century renovated buildings with restored facades, greenery, and Victorian era park benches and street lamps.

Collectively, the structures provide 55,604 rentable square feet and its new tenants, made up of an array of nonprofits, will be a force for progress and sustainability well into the next century.

In January 2026, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) took over as full time Commercial Real Estate Property Managers and the next stewards of Preservation Park.