Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A is for American Bag Company

Many of the warehouse district buildings have recently been converted to office spaces and condos.  The American Bag Company, built in 1917 and now providing office spaces, is listed on the the National Register of Historic Places.  This building is only two blocks from the waterfront, Jack London Square, and lots of excellent restaurants.  The conversion process started years ago when now Gov. Jerry Brown bought a loft in this neighborhood where he lived and ran his campaigns for the presidency.  Later, when he was mayor of Oakland, he spearheaded the building of thousands of condo units in the downtown area.  This initiative has gone a long ways to revitalize this part of Oakland.  Linked to ABC Wednesday.

22 comments:

  1. Nice to see these old buildings repurposed rather than torn down.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A truly beautiful building. Do you know the story behind the new brickwork to the right with the incorrect windows?

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful old building! The name still looks in good shape on the building.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So is this building now condos or is it still the company? Nice Architecture!

    Leslie
    abcw team

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't know the story on the remodel, but probably happened in 94-95 remodel. There's a sign locally that shows a picture of it before remodel. (Kinda cool, there are signs about a bunch of old buildings in the area)
    http://www.jlda.org/2008/01/5-american-bag-co.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOVE the subtitle of your blog! Great play on the infamous quote.
    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fascinating building and it would fit in seamlessly here in Manchester.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's a grand old building with plenty of windows that give it character.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It is a very nice building and a great A. It is something special with bricks.

    ReplyDelete
  10. They built to last in those days, nice when buildings like this find another use and the history of an area is kept.
    Joy - ABC Team

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the look of this building with the brick and recessed windows. Glad the current property owner kept the historic name on the building. Good one for 'A'!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fabulous building and cool sign!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great name - the very spirit of American consumption.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love seeing the treasures being revitalized, instead of being torn down.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is from 1940, right? It is a classic building.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The green accents are great against the brick. Lovely building.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wonderful details on that brick façade!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Bags, Burlap and Twine, I will be there is a great story in there somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow! What an useful blog, it really helped me to gain such beneficial knowledge about your blog, thus awaiting for such more blogs in the near future in your blog
    Gayatri Life
    Mahagun Mywoods
    Casa Royale
    Premia Corporate City
    Sunworld City
    EROS Sampoornam
    Shubhkamna Valley

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post. hydro jet service Murrieta

    ReplyDelete