Hello Omni Commons building community.
Happy New Year! I hope 2026 is a life-affirming year for us all.
After a prolonged release, this is a longer newsletter than anticipated so if you’re short on time please skim to the highlighted areas.
It has been two astronomical seasons since I wrote you all last. My new year's resolution is to send more frequent email communication to you all. While I still encourage those who want regular building matters, engagement and dialogue (with myself and others) to join the Slack (invitation here) I understand that platform will not serve everyone who wants to hear updates.
I will aim for bi-weekly with a minimum of once a month moving forward (just barely made it) If you are not interested in receiving this communication please let myself or your orgs communications moderator know and we will do our best to accommodate.
2025 30-Second Recap: The CALLI team worked through kinks and further clarified its relationship to EBPREC governance, and developed initial infrastructure for building stewardship: building rules, directory, and protocols.
We accomplished various building improvements such as a roof replacement, southside exterior wall install, upgrade to the building’s water line, gas meter relocation, HVAC servicing, and front door access control changes: ADA door operator plus Brivo mobile passes/key cards. The entrance hall floor was finished with matching commercial VCT and basement windows were repaired. A cease and desist on the ballroom that we inherited with the purchase was cured in July of 2025 opening the possibility for larger events, and in December we agreed to forgo the welfare tax exemption for the ballroom space which creates many more opportunities in the future.
What’s New with CALLI
Stewardship Pilot: In November we kicked off an Omni Commons Stewardship Pilot Program. This is a partnership between CALLI (where I am the program manager representative) and eight members of the EB PREC Community Owner base interested in hosting free public events or projects at the building to activate spaces and increase community member visibility at Omni. Their gatherings, performances, workshops, and community work parties have kept momentum going in the building while we've been under capacity and my attention has been focused on facility improvements.
Below are the photos of the participants, they have and will continue to hold activations through the third week of March. Details will continue to be posted on Slack, feel free to engage with them just like you would members of the building’s legacy groups.
Introducing CALLI’s Event Manager: We recently onboarded Jasmine Stallworth, our new part-time Events Manager. If you see her around the building feel free to say hello. She will be the primary team member at events moving forward and is being trained to take over the event booking process. Event requests are still being managed through the google intake form but communication with Jasmine can also be directed to events@thecalli.org. Cheers to more people activating Omni in 2026!
Welcome Lauren Kennedy - Admin Associate
EB PREC has also hired a part-time staff member to take over the position that has been vacant since October with Hiroko’s transition. Lauren has limited hours dedicated to Omni but she will be managing the admin@thecalli.org email address and will be supporting monthly rent payments in the future.
Omni as an flourishing event venue gets some additional TLC:
We also have a bonus team member Jermey Redford who has joined us as a consultant that is helping us build out the operations and capacity to be financially self-sustaining as an event venue space. He is focused on helping us develop larger and more revenue generating events in the ballroom to ensure that the building can be financially stable. HIs participation on the team is helping us move forward with ballroom improvements and will revive conversations and next steps regarding a bar redesign process and finishing upgrades to rentable spaces.
Lastly, EB PREC is Hiring!
Many of you may have noticed that EB PREC is looking for a Community Stewardship and Property Manager for Omni Commons. The person hired for this position will be my successor and the building's primary point of contact. In the Fall of last year I notified EB PREC that I would not be seeking staff ownership with the organization which is usually an eighteen month process. I instead opted to stay on in a short-term capacity during the building's stabilization period. This means that I will be winding down my time at Omni Commons in the Spring once they have hired my replacement and there has been sufficient overlap for them to take over building management and core responsibilities. The priority hiring deadline was Sunday. However, If you know anyone that may be interested, please have them apply via the instructions on the job description BY THE END OF THE WEEK and ping me separately so I can keep a look out for their application!.
I am also happy to answer any questions or concerns these changes may bring up. I will make sure to notify the building community if and when I have an official transition date scheduled. For now rest assured that I am still very committed to the future of Omni Commons. I am extremely hopeful that all of this additional people power will support the growth arch of the building and will enable Omni Commons to reach its full potential.
Key Building Updates:
Ballroom floor refinishing started THIS WEEK- Monday, January 26th: We will be restoring the original maple hardwood floors and surrounding douglas fur border. Once the floor is sanded down, a commercial grade clear topcoat will be applied to protect the floor for years to come. The entire process will take three weeks and we are asking all building dwellers to refrain from entering the ballroom after the first phase of sanding which is slated to be completed THIS Friday, January 30th. Any footprints or blemishes left in the space can have a lasting impact on the quality of the end product.
Ballroom task updates and items relocated: In order to conduct the floor refinishing work all of the items touching the ballroom floor had to be relocated. The piano and organ now live on the ballroom stage along with three of the wall partitions and speakers. The remaining five wall partitions were cut down and moved to the entrance hall where they will be used to support increased space usage and layout configuration. During this two day sprint last week we were able to repair and install 3 new bar windows with thicker acoustical grade glass, clean the ceiling joists, and paint around the skylights for further protection of building materials and cleaner appearance.
Exploring Solar: In the Fall CALLI was accepted into the AVA Community Energy Resilience Hub Initiative. We are receiving technical assistance to evaluate the cost of installing solar panels + battery storage system that can help power the building more sustainability on the day-to-day as well as in cases of natural disaster. More information to come once we are given a preliminary findings report for their suggestion on the building.
Upstairs upgrades underway: We have been working diligently to come up with a plan for how to improve the second floor so that we can start outreaching to groups to increase its use.
Bathroom: We are near completion on renovating the second floor restroom which had improper fittings on the toilet fixture that leaked and resulted in floor mold and rotting that needed to be replaced. The bathroom also needed a facelift in other areas. Due to our limited capacity to maintain a building cleaning schedule, for the time being that restroom will remain locked unless part for designated upstairs events or uses.
Front Corner Room: This room had wallpaper peeling that could not be restored and is undergoing a paint job as well as preparation for a future wallpaper installation. One of the frosted windows at the front of the building will also be replaced in the coming weeks to enable more natural light to come in, and support future aesthetic improvements to the outside of the building.
Upstairs Flooring: The second floor mezzanine and three rooms upstairs all need to have the floor encapsulated. After months of designs, research, and deliberation we have ordered floor supplies to be able to schedule the installation with Don Luis in February. Materials will be coming in over the next couple of weeks.
Walls Primed: throughout the second floor certain walls have been primed indicating where future painting will be done to assist in brightening up spaces.
Stair tread improvements: Are on the radar and the project is being scoped out.
Further Window Repair Installations
We have ordered and will be self-installing durable clear glass windows for the entrance hall, one window in the front corner room above the entrance on the Shattuck side, and three windows that have already been installed behind the bar in the ballroom.
Interior door project finally getting traction: As a refresher more than a year ago we embarked on a process involving architects to create a planset for adding two interior doors in the building to help streamline egress and create clear separation of spaces. You may have seen Don Luis doing demo or framing the openings for the doors. Once Don Luis cements a leveled landing, and drywalls the openings that were made to cancel an obstructing pipe, we will be able to call the city inspector in to evaluate the framing. While the doors have experienced some delays due to lead times, winter slowdown, and shipping errors I received confirmation that the doors arrived the the business TODAY (1/28) and will be picked up by Don Luis next week.
Once these doors are installed, the existing openings will be walled off, and there will be clearer segmentation of spaces. The hardware will be a push rim device exiting from the entrance hall toward the side door egress and will be programmed with a keypad and latch handle to open from the back hallway into the entrance hall. There will be more notice provided before the hardware is installed in the area that is segmented but I want everyone to be prepared since this will be a noticeable change for everyone. The side door access control is less restrictive so it will become much more important to stay up to date on groups membership when managing this additional door’s access credentials. The few weeks after installation will be a learning curve, but the next two items will help improve the transition.
Announcements & What’s On the Horizon
Request to direct people to the side door entrance: Thanks to wonderful volunteers from Sudoroom, the building was able to maintain the old access control card reader and system on the side entrance that many people are fond of. The wired doorbell was reinstalled and now rings directly to the (Sudo/CCL) backroom. The side entrance should be the primary entrance for members and the broader the community seeking entry to those groups spaces along with FNB office due to closer proximity. It will be a lot easier for groups to self-manage door access and will ensure that we minimize conflicts or confusion at the front door. The address that can be used to advertise and direct those unfamiliar with the space is 549 48th Street, Oakland, CA 94609. I confirmed that the address is registered with the USPS and we had one successful carrier delivery to the side door based on signage posted at the front door. While organizations do not need to worry about changing mailing addresses, it will probably be helpful to post the 48th street address on flyers so that mapping applications (google, apple maps, waze, etc) direct new people to an easier access point. Although this recommendation is being made to address past confusion and event management challenges, the front door is still the default ADA access point for the entire building and there should be greater communication among event leads/organizers and the CALLI team to ensure that the proper leads have the Brivo door access to facilitate accessibility.
Directory Update Request: It’s a new year and we have new people in the space as well as many more planned to join us as our efforts grow. I would like for each of the six leased groups to submit an annual directory update so that we have a more accurate picture of who are designated points of contact, who are members that may require front space access control, and when regular scheduled activities/programming are taking place.
There are three tabs that should be reviewed and updated on the corresponding links below. I will follow up for an update on the status of my request by Friday, February 6th. If your group wants to talk through it, or prefers to populate it in real time I am happy to schedule a 30 minute review meeting. If that is of interest, my preference is to meet on Monday or Tuesday. Another hope that I have for this year is that CALLI can be in greater communication with org leads and that we can provide training to better align on best practices and both support and mutually enforce the stewardship pre-requisites and practices of the building rules.
Potential Volunteer Day Opportunities: As January nearly comes to an end February is shaping up to be a month of getting building projects through to the finish line so that the building can move out of the current stabilization period. Please share this interest form with members of the building community who would be interested in helping us get fully up and running: https://forms.gle/v8ycT1nMHzvRts8e6
While I had a few volunteer days early on in my role and there have been supportive community members throughout my time, I wanted to do a callout to assess interest. These pop-up work days will give us some insight on how we may roll out a reciprocal agreement process for subsidized space use in the future. Your engagement would be very insightful to our team
Increased Priority on Cleaning: For this calendar year we are intending to allocate resources toward cleaning efforts. While the building has relied primarily on the good-will of volunteers and past building supply reserves we need to be able to establish a higher level of cleanliness and facility quality. Starting in February I am setting a goal of scheduling Don Luis a total of 8 hours a month to support additional repairs and regular cleaning of common areas most utilized by legacy groups. This will include creating a maintenance schedule for hallways, the blue restroom, and the storage and trashroom areas in the Spring. This is another reason why it is vital that we have a schedule of common programming returned with the directory request above so that we can better plan for peak usage of spaces in the building.
Future Items on the Radar: As the team grows it will allow CALLI to tend to other stewardship projects. Items that I and fellow CALLI members will be pivoting to as the facility stabilizes are:
Creating event checklists and protocols.
Reviewing and affirming building rule upgrades and training (once my successor has joined us)
Development and implementation of trainings
Greater enforcement of the building’s code of conduct and strengthening best practices
Establishing an incident report protocol
Solidifying processes for basement and second floor space usage
Strengthening and growing the a cohesive building culture
Thank you for making it to the end of this newsletter. I am attaching a PDF copy for ease of distribution. I look forward to continuing the communication flow.
In community,
