The Black Panther Design Tour

Located in West Oakland, The Black Panther is a groundbreaking affordable housing community that supports very low-income and formerly incarcerated individuals. Working with local non-profit Oakland and the World Enterprise (OAW) and McCormack Barron Salazar (MBS), MWA designed a five-story apartment building with residential, community, and commercial spaces. Situated just three blocks from BART, the development is a transit-oriented community with convenient access to downtown Oakland, San Francisco, and the entire Bay Area.

The Black Panther incorporates various sustainable elements into its design. 7,900 SF of solar panels will be installed on the roof to generate clean energy for the community. The building design also includes solar shading devices on resident windows to maintain comfortable temperatures with accents of color. With dignified, healthy, and inclusive spaces, The Black Panther nurtures the community by providing residents with mixed-use housing and business opportunities.

This mixed-use development provides safe and accessible housing, helping to empower individuals facing extreme economic and employment barriers to take ownership of their lives.

History of The Black Panther

The Black Panther is the culminated vision of Civil Rights activist and Oakland and the World Enterprise (OAW) leader Elaine Brown, who, combined with McCormack Barron Salazar (MBS), has raised $80 million for this development.

After serving as the first and only female chairperson of the Black Panther Party, Brown was inspired to start her own civil rights organization focused on creating social and economic opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals. OAW advocated for the new housing community to be built in an area of the city formerly known as the “Harlem of the West” to revitalize the once-thriving Black community severely impacted by the urban redevelopment of the 1950s and 60s. The new mixed-use apartment building will add 79 affordable housing units to the area and create more opportunities for marginalized individuals to establish incubator businesses within the ground-floor commercial space.

Host or Publisher AIA East Bay