While this is an office garden the public can access it through the parking lot. Hours are 9-5 M-F It's serene to walk around this 3 acre garden. There's a pond, fountains, cute little bridge and a couple of fake swans. If I worked in this building, I'd be here every other day. It's worth coming to if in the vicinity or at the northernmost tip of Lake Merrit otherwise I wouldn't come out of my way for it. read more

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I was working on the top floor and thought I would take the stairs down one day to get exercise. I made it towards the bottom and door was locked. I tried every door on the way back up and was locked in the stairwell for a very long time. "HELLLLLPPPPPP" I screamed! "Somebody! Anybody?" I eventually climbed back up 28 floors and was truly traumatized, having sweat out my freshly pressed bob, panting for breath. Anyways, I like the rooftop garden. It's a nice area to relax with plenty of shade and sometimes there's nice little events there like ice cream or music. Overall it's not a bad office building. read more

Building is nothing to write home about. When I worked there the building ventilation system was not very good. The maintenance personnel do not know how to do maintenance and everything has to be documented for them even down to where a burned out light bulb is. What people think is beautiful is a view of Lake Merritt but if you are on that side of the building then you have to keep blinds closed or you sizzle. The city view is better. The renovations done to the building make an old out dated building comical as they have tried to make it look modern when in actuality it isn't modern at all. read more

I was on 20th st. running some errands last week, and I was approached by this swarm of kids. Like 4 or 5 kids all trying to sell me their independent hip hop CDs. All monotone sounding too: "Ma'am, my music is non misogynistic, non women hatin, no playa hatin, positive beats." "Ma'am, my CD is $4 more than his, but I am spreading the word of the gospel and all of my proceeds go to a Christian Youth Camp." "Ma'am, this was recorded in my studio above the Diva's Closet boutique on 17th." Diva's closet!! Haaaaaay. I ended up going with the non misogynist. Only because it was just $1, he had a discman where I could sample the jams (I've bought their dang CDs before with nothing burned on them), plus he invited me to be his friend on MySpace. Go be his friend! www.myspace.com/twism510 So after I bought his CD, Youth Camp was all, "Why you gotta be buying Twism's CD and not mine?? That money is just going into his pocket!! Mine is for the kids!" And he was kinda gettin all hyphy on me, so I was like, "Dude I can't buy them all!! Next time! God!" But then he was sort of following me down the street bugging me. Then this big crowd of suits were walking through us, and it was at this point that I ran into the 1st random door I saw and lost him. Lo and behold it was the Kaiser Building, and there was the stairway that led up to the Rooftop Garden! Coincendental actually, as I had just tried to sneak into this place not too long ago. But they close when the sun sets. This place is magic. There was confetti and rose petals sprinkled on the stairway all the way up. Dude, that's how my life should always be! Like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America when he lived in Zmunda. So there's all these little curvy paths that take you through the whole garden, and there's fountains and a little flower bridge and uhmazing views of the town. I thought I could see my little apt, but it was obscured by all the million dollar high rises. Oh well. Lots of couples having picnics! There's some hi falutin' restaurant up there too. Refer to my attached pics. Can someone please take me up there to make out already? read more

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Such a beautiful place. Huge 3.5 acres of green in the middle of the urban steel and concrete jungle. Love love love it. Complete with pond and mature trees - it's been here since 1963, people!!! We should make these gardens a requirement for every empty rooftop in the land. I had no problem getting up there. Just walk into the garage and take the elevator to the "RG" level :-) read more

Can you believe there is a whole new world above the Kaiser Garage? I'm not kidding. We went to a non-profit gala event for Meals on Wheels. This was our first time visiting this place. Heck I never knew it existed until now. Since this was our first time we had no clue where to go. We ended up parking on 21st, but then later found out if you take 21st street down and on your left after Kaiser Plz is the parking garage. From the parking garage, you will take an elevator to the top floor. Once we stepped onto the roof top. I was in AWWW on how beautiful the place was. I would never guess I was in Oakland. There were trees, colorful flowers, real green grass, bushes and the most amazing thing was a bridge over water and a fountain. Whomever was the architect for this design, I have to give them mad props. It was absolutely breath taking. I can see why people have parties (i.e. weddings) here. They also provide an indoor banquet hall. Lake Merritt is just across the street from the garage, in case you want to take a stroll later or take pictures. In a nut shell...you can have your wedding here for $99 or $119 per person (which includes floral, linen colors, menus and cake designs). To throw an event (no wedding) will range from $79 or $99 per guest. The staff here were on top of it! Dressed professionally in black and they made sure you were taken care of. Even if you're not getting married or having a party, you should check this place out. It's a place that will take you away from all the hustle and bustle of your work life. read more

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While the building may have been "modern" and had some charm for its time period, it is a terrible place to work, especially in comparison to most modern office buildings. The main problem with this building is the ventilation system. Work areas are almost always above 80 degrees. The building was built before there were a lot of computers, copiers, etc. giving off heat and the HVAC system can't keep up with the load. To make things worse, the ventilation is turned off all weekend so come Monday morning the place is a stuffy oven. It doesn't start to become semi-comfortable until Thursday afternoon and then there's one good day--Friday--before the cycle repeats the following week. In addition, cigarette smoke and sometimes diesel exhaust are sucked into the ventilation system and circulate throughout the building. Many of the vents inside, particularly in the lunch rooms, look as if they haven't been cleaned in 50 years. Another problem with this building is that most floors have NO FIRE SPRINKLERS. Just an axe and a fire extinguisher. Also, tenants aren't even alerted if there is a fire unless the fire is on their floor or one floor above or below. The building is made of aluminum, which melts very quickly in a fire compared to steel. Hopefully, there will never be a fire here but if there is, I'm afraid most of us will be completely oblivious to our melting building until it's too late. In addition, workers frequently cover the smoke detectors with plastic bags so they can rearrange office partitions without setting off alarms. Oakland Fire Department seems too overburdened to care. The next problem with this building are the elevators. Sometimes, I have to wait five minutes or more for one. I would much rather use the stairs but, of course, they're not accessible for use and you *HAVE TO* take the elevator, even if you're only going between floors. When it gets hot out, things are even worse because the building goes into "energy saving" mode where elevators are taken out of service and the place becomes even more of an oven. Then, just like Muni, three will come at once. They definitely DON'T have computer assisted elevators. True, the higher floors have really nice views of Lake Merritt but all this does is reinforce the fact that I'm confined in an 85 degree oven with no ventilation and no way to feel the cool breeze outside. Finally, the amenities of this building are nothing to write home about. The roof garden is nice, but it sits next to an abandoned restaurant. The Kaiser Center "mall" is nothing but a CVS and a Togo's (which is closing)--a depressing empty strip mall. The parking is overpriced at $225 a month, but they know you have to pay because it's not safe to leave your car outside in Oakland--it WILL be broken into. In short, nice place to visit for a view of Lake Merritt but you definitely don't want to work here. P.S. In my first week of working in this building, someone was murdered in the outside parking area by Bank of America in broad daylight over a parking space. There's probably been lots of other crime, too, since I see more security guards in different spots, but I'm sure the building staff tries to keep it quiet so they don't scare away tenants. P.S.S. The building isn't any better in winter. It's 55 degrees outside and 84 inside. read more

Kaiser Center - 7 a.m. Monday in mid-December. 55 degrees outside and 82 inside. It will be 87-88 by lunch. Building staff don't care. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Oakland, California

This post is long overdue. My wife and I had our wedding here in July. From start to finish everything was seamless. When searching for venues we didn't consider an all inclusive venue until we came upon Kaiser Center Events. Although all inclusive's are a little more pricey, it was well worth it. We were stress-free throughout the entire process. Tamiko and her staff were very productive and on top of everything from the first initial meeting until the last minute of our wedding. The company has all of their own vendors, we just had to meet with everyone to make our selected choices. I can say I felt like a princess the day of my wedding because I didn't have to lift a finger or do anything but get ready and look beautiful! The day before our wedding we meet Tamiko and dropped all of our items off to her and they took it from there. Our wedding was beautiful. The food was great, the flowers and decorations we amazing, our cake was delicious, the drinks were great and the DJ kept our guest dancing all night. Tamiko was also our Day of Coordinator (they recommend you have one) which worked out great because she was very familiar with the venue and all of the vendors. She was very helpful with any questions or concerns we had leading up to our big day! All of our guest have continuously raved about our wedding up till this day. My wife and I were so wrapped in the wedding that we always say to one another "we wish we would have been guest at our wedding". Everyone said they had so much fun and it was the best wedding they've been too. I would definitely recommend Kaiser Center Events to any couple looking for a stress-free venue that is amazingly gorgeous! read more

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This summer's concert series will be great! Here's the line-up: 06/01/07 San Pablo Project Funk/Latin Reggae 06/08/07 Le Jazz Hot Gypsy Jazz 06/22/07 CC + the Bon Vivants Cajun/Zydeco (+ dance instructor) 06/29/07 Natasha Miller Pop/Jazz Vocalist 07/06/07 Rhonda Benin Blues/Jazz Vocalist 07/13/07 Way Blonde Country/Bluegrass 07/20/07 Tamika Williams Clarke R&B Vocalist 07/27/07 Tom Rigney & Flambeau Cajun/Zydeco 08/03/07 The Snake Trio Latin 08/10/07 Palm Wine Boys African 08/17/07 Nicolas Bearde Smooth Jazz/Blues Vocalist read more

wow!!!! i never even knew about this place, thank you yelp!!! It's in downtown so it's hard to find parking but i found street parking up the street and walked over. The garden isn't very big but it is very serene and i really wished i had a book and could just sit there for a while. I took a bunch of pics, talked to a couple from Alabama who were visiting and were told to check this place out by someone from their hotel. Mp's take, check this place out, it's a hidden gem and a great place to come and just chill. read more

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When I used to work around here I brought my lunch up here almost every day. My boss and co-workers would ask where I was during lunch and I'd tell them "At the roof garden." Most of them didn't know what I was talking about even though we were only two blocks away. When I took a coworker up there, he just said "Wow!! This is amazing, I never knew this was here." That's pretty much what I said when I first went up there. It really is a surprisingly large and nice garden but it's even more surprising how few people know about it. read more

Kaiser Center - Benches at the Roof Garden. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Oakland, California

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My coworkers told me about this place when I started working here. I really don't like being inside the same building all day long, so one day, i got some food to go and looked for the entranceway behind the longs on webster. It's such an unexpected place to have a nice garden with fountains and a lot of different plants/trees. They have a map of all the different species of plants/trees toward the back of the park (the southeast corner). i walked around all the paths the first time and it was soooo relaxing. i like going there on sunny days w/ my lunch and after finishing my meal, i go lie down on the grass. i have a bad back and doing that over my lunch break is such a relief. but then it's back to straining my back at the office. :( i've never been there for the live music. i would probably prefer the peace and quiet, but who can complain about free music? there have always been empty benches to sit and eat my lunch when i've gone. i take my lunches a little later though (12:30-1:30ish). it's a little intimidating/hard to find at first, but once you've gone once, you'll end up going again. read more

Kaiser Center - The little bridge across the pond with the fountains. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Oakland, California

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So, I came here with no expectations. I was shooting some pics for the Natasha Miller lunchtime concert (part of a whole summer series of free lunchtime concerts). Getting off the elevator made for a real "wow" moment. A huge park on a rooftop... not a concrete park, mind you, but trees, a pond, a walking path and real grass! Then throw in free music, and this is something that every East Bay person should take in sooner rather than later. read more

Kaiser Center - Yes, this is park on top of parking garage! - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Oakland, California

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A peaceful respite hidden among skyscraping buildings. A place where you can be oblivious to the chaos of the city. Would be better with less paved surface area for a garden. read more

Kaiser Center - Reflecting pond over buildings - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Oakland, California

The parking lot sucks. Dimly lighted, narrow lanes, and poor signage. All of the validation machines are broken and it took me an additional 20 minutes to find the cashier. read more

Who knew a whole park existed on top of a Kaiser building? Well...not I. We attended a fundraiser for Alameda County Meals on Wheels and the weather was nearly perfect. The wind picked up a bit just before dusk so bring a second layer if you've never been there. We overheard Contra Costa folks complaining about the "cold." read more

Conveniently located near coffee, food and other corner stores... and parking lots/garages The little garden area is perfect on a day like yesterday..... read more

Here's another hidden gem of Oakland. So this isn't on the tip top of the Kaiser Center itself (not sure how pleasant it would be being on top of the 28th floor) but on top of the parking garage next to the center. To get to the rooftop garden, you need to start out on the 2nd floor of the Kaiser Center itself, then head towards the parking garage and get in the elevators and take it all the way up. This is the place to be in the summer. Warm, beautiful, there's a little reflecting pool, benches to it on and your choice of shade or sun. Also during the summer, there's a concert series on Friday afternoons from noon to 1. Really neat local performers. A great time to grab a picnic lunch, tag along with co-workers, take in some sun and hear some music. read more

who would have thought that this gorgeous gardens would be hidden on top of a parking garage? What a gem! It's gorgeous, with a great view. My first visit was for a date and although we didn't get to stay to eat our take-out Thai food (they didn't give us forks) and drink our white wine (I forgot the fact that we'd need a corkscrew and it LOOKED like a twist top!), it was an incredibly sweet idea. I had no idea they do concerts, so I'll have to check those out when they come back around. read more

Afternoon lunch and free concert!!!! Why isn't this more popular?! This is lovely way to bring your sack lunch and cocktails smuggled in plastic coke bottles :) Totally makes you feel worlds away from your busy life. read more

Kaiser Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Oakland, California

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This brilliant garden - actually, more like a park - is an oasis in the middle of downtown Oakland. It sits atop a parking garage. My co-workers and I took advantage of the beautiful weather, brought our lunches here, and ate at a bench outside, amidst the blooming azaleas and in the brilliant sunshine. It was no less than perfect. We chit chatted, ate our lunches, recharged our batteries in the sun and fresh air, then headed back to our office refreshed and ready to face the afternoon. Can't wait for the lunchtime concerts to start! read more

I love this building, plain and simple. It's sleek as shit and I can see it being looked at as completely space-age for the time it was built. It boasts one of the nicest roof gardens you'll find anywhere, as well as some basic amenities. I walked in here the morning before christmas eve to mail several packages at their post office (second floor, next to the convenience store)...was in and out in less than 10 minutes. It was a true christmas miracle, I tell you. The one-two punch of having a Bank of America downstairs pretty much ensures that I won't deal with the Grand Avenue/Lake Park hassle again if I can help it. A little bit of personal trivia: My senior prom was held on the top floor at the "Lakeview Club" in 1993. I was so hungover from pounding screwdrivers the night before that I barely made it through the night without vomiting on my date. Mark Garcia, you were a real sport about that whole business. Thank you! read more

An oasis 3 stories up...(I forget how many stories it is). During the summer from June to August, this garden hosts a variety of free live lunch time concerts (12 noon to 1 pm on Fridays). If you live/work in the area, it's worth the walk and schlep up the escalator. Being able to relax on one of the many lawns is a treat. One of the first roof gardens of its kind, built in the early '60s. Time to catch some rays! read more

This place is gem in the heart of Oakland! Being married at the Roof Garden was a beautiful experience. All of our guest rave at the loveliness of the place, most even said that it was the most beautiful wedding they've ever been to! We made a great choice ; from the vendors,the Dj, the planner and most especially, the venue! Thank you so much! read more

I work 1 block away & it is a great place to 'getaway' from the dirtiness & crowdiness of downtown oakland. Esp when you just don't want to walk the lake, but would like some nice scenery... def a nice break from the real world. There are benches to sit at and enjoy lunch, a book, or just to relax. There is also a pond and fountain. It's more of a business type crowd then families with kids, etc. They also have free concerts every friday at noon during the summer. Every week it's a different band. read more

A special, beautiful place. A quiet oasis perfect for escaping the reality of your 9-5. There also is live music during the summer months which is a lot of fun. Perfect time to scope out all those other office workers. Hey, ya never know! The views are astounding. I love it there. It may be a bit hard to find, so keep looking. read more

Best place to come during lunch! Who would've imagined that the top of a parking lot can be so pretty! Landscape is perfect. I come up here at least 3 out of the 5 workdays. If you work around the area, this is a must. Its a great time to get away from the hustle & bustle of work! read more

The highlights are the view of Lake Merritt, connecting parking lot, access to Rooftop Garden, hidden yet uncrowded US Post Office on 2nd floor, dry cleaners, Bank of America, car drive up to main entrance, photos of the empire a la 1960s. Watching the 2nd floor informational program on henry j kaiser and his companies employed 200,000 people at some point in the 1940s. Assured that he had access to the best steel to be found on the West Coast during the Industrial economic engineered Age. Nice perks like celebrating people that work in the building with a Holiday breakfast and live music by Harpist and guitarist. Security guards watching out for unsavory behavior. Regular annual and surprising fire drills with the Oaktown fire chief. What happened to the Kaiser roll? read more

I orignally wasnt going to let anyone know of this hidden gem,but its too late.The summer concerts on Friday afternoon's are an added bonus.Great place to relax & have lunch,without being pestered by the locals street merchants(bums).... read more

Wow! A pretty park that you can reserve for a private party. Nice water feature through the middle. Definitely bring a picnic lunch and check it out! read more

Kaiser Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Oakland, California

The place is a dive. I've worked here for a decade, and it's an antiquated, mismanaged class C office building masquerading as class A. All of the comments about inadequate HVAC, horribly slow and inefficient elevators, inadequacy of fire protection, etc are all true. Elevators are especially maddening because there are NO NONEMERGENCY STAIRS. You're stuck waiting forever for an overcrowded elevator to travel even one floor. The Parking garage has access system so obsolete it should be in the Smithsonian. Hey, but owner SwigCo sponsors tenant appreciation "ice cream socials" every once in awhile, so it's all good, right? They are fools. They kicked out Togo's and locked down the mall, which now resembles some kind of weird-ass dead zone, devoid of life. In the time I've been here Post office and dry cleaner both left -the few attractions of this place evaporated. You can't even sit outside the building without being overwhelmed by the sad sack, Dawn of the Dead smoker contingent and their perpetual blue cloud. I believe landlord still wants to doze the rooftop garden (only remaining positive thing about this place) to build another lowest common denominator office block. Wouldn't surprise me in the least. Thankfully, there's talk of my group moving back to HQ soon so I can take leave of this place. read more

this review is solely as a potential wedding venue -- a beautiful rooftop garden! the indoor reception option was a little disappointing but had big windows that looked out into the garden. there was one area right outside where it was very urban with steel pillars all around where you could also have your reception, if you wanted that look. very nice if you had everything outdoors though. except you do hear police sirens going off now and then, and we were worried about sirens sounding during our wedding, so we ultimately decided not to have our wedding here :3 read more

Built with an aluminum skin, the material of choice for Mr. Kaiser and his empire. Roof top garden was built because he didn't want to look down onto a parking garage. Nice parking guys that give me free parking when my monthy pass isn't working because my company paid late. I like the stores, 24 Hour Fitness, Longs Drugs, FedEx/Kinkos, US Bank, everything you need it there. Nice restaurant up at the garden that serves nice food for when my company wants to impress people. read more

Yes, it's a cool building, but it's not street-friendly like an urban building should be. The garden is nice, but it's a private park, not a public park, and you need to take an elevator to get to it. And it sits atop a humongous parking structure that's a big waste of space in a city. It should have retail facing the street. The best thing about it is the big historic photos throughout the lobby. I wish the big cafeteria overlooking the lake was still there. This is shining example of carcatecture: a building and mall meant not to face the street. Drive in, drive out. And it's 3 blocks from BART. But it also pre-dates BART, so end of that rant. read more

Yup, yet another hidden treasure in my fabulous hood! (Stop hating!) I discovered this lovely little oasis in the heart of downtown Oakland when a friend of mine wanted to meet for lunch but take advantage of the lovely warm and sunny day. We heard this place existed but didn't know exactly where it was. Low and behold we found this splendid little roof-top garden and I have to say I honestly hesitated yelping about it because I don't want to go there and its' packed out and I can't find a place to enjoy my lunch! However lucky for you and against my better judgement I decided to spread the love and share the one of the many jewels of Oakland with you... (Just promise me you won't go during lunch time okay?) read more

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH this is a great place to hang out for lunch or any time. This is one of Oakland secluded pleasures. Like the Rose Gardens off of Grand ave near Piedmont. Need some meditation come here. read more

Great views, great sun, great place to eat lunch or just spend a nice day out. Make sure to check out their summer concert series!

A secret garden in Oakland. Unfortunately, they do not rent this out for private events. They could make a fortune if they do.

I'd give it 10 stars if I could. Amazing thought and excellent execution. What a brillant idea to put a garden on top of an ugly parking garage. I see the garden from my office and can even see the flowers on the bridge. It's such a treat to see something so green while at work. They even have lunchtime concerts during the summer. read more

Who says that a girl can't have it all? I do: my new office overlooks Lake Merritt through floor-to-ceiling windows and I am lucky enough to have poetry personally composed and recited to me in a lovely garden (by the hottest man who has ever lived, I might add). I am certain that the garden is beautiful, but it could not compete with my sweetie's kisses and gorgeous blue eyes. read more