Ever hear the one about why the federation crossed the road? And please don’t say, “To get to the other side.”
It was more than just a desire to shift from one side of Grand Avenue to the other that spurred the Jewish Community Federation and Foundation of the Greater East Bay to shamble 581 feet down the road to a new location as of Monday.
Hey, you might move too if your new rent was going to be fixed for the next 20 years, and, instead of enriching a landlord, your rent went to Jewish charities.
“The location is wonderful. We’re just a little closer to the park,” said Penny Sinder, the federation’s interim director.
Eleven-hundredths of a mile closer, to be exact.
While the federation isn’t going far, the move is still a big one. The new building at 300 Grand Ave. in Oakland is the former home of brothers Mort and Jerry Friedkin’s real estate development and property management offices. The family handed the building over to the East Bay federation in a complicated real estate transaction.
The federation had been housed at 401 Grand Ave. for 14 years before the Friedkins lured it down the road.
The federation’s monthly rent is fixed for the next 10 years at a rate comparable to what it pays now. It then has the opportunity to sign two five-year options, at a percentage of fair market value.
“I’m not sure we could do that in any other place,” said Marjorie Wolf, the federation’s immediate past president.
The rent money, however, goes into the two family foundations run by the Friedkin families foundation ‹ meaning it is essentially recycled into Jewish philanthropic work.
The Friedkin family has long been involved with the East Bay federation ‹ Mort and his wife, Amy, are both former presidents of the federation and current national president of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby. Mort is currently a vice president of the federation’s foundation and Jerry is former foundation president.
A fixed rent and compulsory payments to a charitable foundation instead of a landlord aren’t the only benefits of the federation’s move.
The new space is larger, all on one floor and equipped with its own parking. Also, since the building will be exclusively the federation’s, it offers the opportunity for tighter security. And the Friedkins have maintained the property well.
“Everybody’s space is going to be improved. [The new building] is bright, renovated and is essentially going to reflect the adventurous spirit of our federation,” said Sinder, also the executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation.
Featuring large sun windows, “It’s open when you walk in, but with appropriate security. At the center is a large atrium, completely open to the sky. It’s a welcoming entryway for our guests and also for our staff.”
The move comes at a fitting time: the federation and foundation are undergoing a shift in the manner in which they distribute money and currently are searching for a new chief executive officer.
Now that the federation boasts a home of its own and a staff situated on one big floor (not three, like the former site), Sinder hopes more community members will be coming through federation¹s doors.
Even at the old location, “We made the building available to all aspects of the community, synagogues and agency boards and programs. And we’ll continue to do that with the new building,” she said.
“For the first time, we’re going to have our name displayed properly outside. When you walk in, you’re going to know you’re in a Jewish community building. You’ll know you’re in the Jewish federation.”