Tag Archives: Ken Sarachan
Cream vs. Dream: Telegraph Ave. ice cream face-off
The owners of one of Telegraph Avenue’s most popular ice cream spots have asked Berkeley officials to revoke the permit for a new ice cream take-out window set to open right across the street, at Rasputin Music.
Tuesday night, Berkeley City Council members heard the appeal, by Cream ice cream parlor, 2399 Telegraph, against Rasputin’s Dream Ice Cream, which won approval in September from the city’s zoning board.
Problem was, a city staff member said the city failed to notify nearby businesses about the proposal. If Rasputin’s permit is ultimately approved, the two businesses would essentially stare each other down across Channing Way. … Continue reading »
Mad Monk Center to rise on Telegraph
The iconic Telegraph Avenue building that formerly housed Cody’s Bookstore could have a new identity before year’s end due to an ambitious project underway by local property owner Ken Sarachan.
Sarachan — who also owns Rasputin Music and Blondie’s Pizza, as well as the vacant lot north of Amoeba Music — describes his “Mad Monk Center for Anachronistic Media” as a two-story complex with a full-service restaurant, performance space, small flower kiosk, take-out coffee counter and analogue media shop that will bring together “the best assembly of records anywhere in California.” … Continue reading »
New building proposed for Sequoia site on Telegraph Ave.
The owners of the property at 2441 Haste St. at Telegraph, scene of a devastating fire in Nov. 2011 that destroyed the five-story Sequoia Apartments, have submitted a proposal to the city of Berkeley to build a new 42-unit, 43,000 sq ft apartment building.
The project would also include retail spaces intended for two restaurants that burned down that night: Café Intermezzo and Raleigh’s Bar & Grill.
The proposal, which was submitted to the city by Kenneth and Gregory Ent on Friday, Feb. 22, would be designed by Berkeley architects Kahn Design Associates, working with developer ROEM. … Continue reading »
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
FROM CLOTHES TO PIZZA Landlord Ken Sarachan has applied to open a new “family and student oriented” eatery — serving salads, gourmet pizza and pasta — named Biondi’s Cafe, at 2360 Telegraph Ave. You may remember it as Wet Seal, which has closed. (Thanks to Charles Siegel for the tip.) Architect Mark Thieme said, in his application to the city, the space “will feature a bar and restaurant seating with a bistro style atmosphere.” Interior improvements will include “a new commercial kitchen, open seating areas, bar type seating, accessible restrooms and a production lift” for storage on the existing mezzanine. The cafe will seat about 80 people, with a capacity of 150. The space has applied for permission to be open from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, and could offer live music. The application is set for review before the Zoning Adjustments Board on Jan. 10. … Continue reading »
New Sproul, design ideas provide optimism for Telegraph
The future of Telegraph Avenue was the focus of a special work session of Berkeley’s City Council on Tuesday evening. Where most discussions of Telegraph concentrate on the many problems of the area — declining retail sales, vacant lots, troubling street behavior — Tuesday was filled with positive images and ideas for the avenue.
At the center of the discussions was one concrete project — the University of California Berkeley’s Lower Sproul Plaza redevelopment — and one ambitious series of new ideas, created by Berkeley Design Advocates following their design charrette last April. … Continue reading »
Off The Grid food truck fest to launch on Telegraph Avenue
Off The Grid, the popular gathering of food trucks that has already proved a hit in North Berkeley, will launch on Telegraph Avenue on Thursday, July 12.
Just like the North Shattuck Wednesday food fest, “Off The Grid: South Side Berkeley on Telegraph” will feature a rotating selection of eight to ten food trucks every Thursday night. They will be located on Haste Street, just west of Telegraph, and the area will be closed to traffic for the duration of the event which runs from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Along with the trucks, some seating, lights and music will be provided.
Matt Cohen, founder of Off The Grid, says he sees the new market as complementary to the one in the Gourmet Ghetto as it will feature few of the same trucks. He hopes it will appeal to students and families in particular, and help bring foot traffic to an area that has had its share of problems. … Continue reading »
Popular restaurants closed by fires face further delays
It looks like a number of Berkeley restaurants won’t be recovering as quickly as hoped from a recent set of fires.
The Daily Californian is reporting that the proposal to erect temporary tents to replace Café Intermezzo and Café Raleigh, which were destroyed Nov. 18 when the Sequoia Building burned down, hasn’t gone forward. Property owner Greg Ent submitted a permit application in January, but has not responded to changes requested in mid-March by the city. Ent has also stopped talking to the project’s architect, Kirk Peterson, according to the Daily Cal.
“The latest I’ve heard is a rumor that the (Ent’s) insurance company’s money couldn’t be used for the temporary structures,” City councilmember Kriss Worthington told the paper. “That may mean the owner of the building has switched gears from the temporary operation into looking at getting into a permanent building operation.” … Continue reading »
What did you think about the new design for Telegraph?
Yesterday we asked our readers what they thought of the new Kirk Peterson design for a new building to go on the northeast corner of Telegraph and Haste. A respectable 256 of you responded to our unscientific, imperfectly worded poll, and the verdict is that more of you like it than hate it (45% versus 26%).
A significant number (13%) are not sure what to make of the proposal. While many (16%) are simply surprised that anything at all … Continue reading »
What do you think of new building proposal on Telegraph?
Berkeley property owner and developer Ken Sarachan has unveiled a proposal for a Moorish fortress-like building to go on the vacant lot on the north-east corner of Telegraph and Haste in Berkeley. Read the details in our story published today.
What do you think of the designs, which were created by local architect Kirk Peterson? Take our (unscientific) poll and we’ll publish the results Friday afternoon.
Telegraph Ave property owner shows plans for vacant site
The owner of a blighted lot at Telegraph and Haste that has been vacant for more than two decades presented his plans for a fortress-like building on the property, although he said he wouldn’t build anything there as long as the city of Berkeley had a lawsuit hanging over him regarding the site.
Ken Sarachan, who bought the north-west corner lot on Telegraph and Haste in 1994, has visions for a Moorish palace-like structure inspired by Italian hill towns, Tibetan forts and the rock-cut architecture of Petra in Jordan. Architect Kirk Peterson introduced the blueprints and renderings for the project, known as “La Fortaleza” (as in “fortress” or “stronghold”), on Tuesday evening to a small group of interested parties gathered at Caffe Med a few doors down from the lot in question on Telegraph Avenue. … Continue reading »
Telegraph site owner plans for temporary resurrection
The owners of the old Sequoia Building site on the corner of Telegraph and Haste last week submitted plans to the city of Berkeley to enable them to reopen Raleigh’s and Café Intermezzo, two restaurant businesses that were gutted by the fire that destroyed the 1916 building on November 18th, 2011. If approved, the plans would also allow them to launch Gabriella’s, a restaurant they owned but had not yet opened on the site, and which also burned down.
Designs, drawn up by Oakland architect Kirk Peterson for owner Greg Ent, call for three canopy-like tents fixed to concrete pads, along with three shipping containers which would be used to house kitchens. The idea is to resurrect the restaurants on a temporary basis while planning a new apartment building to replace the one lost to the fire.
“It will have an ad hoc quality, but could be really fun,” said Peterson. ”It’s a unique application and no-one has ever done this here which puts it into its own category. The owners want to get their businesses up and running again and the city is interested in moving things along as quickly as possible to help the neighborhood.” … Continue reading »
Berkeley files suit against owner of blighted Telegraph lot
The city of Berkeley has filed a lawsuit against Ken Sarachan, telling him they intend to seize his lot at the intersection of Telegraph and Haste to pay off the $640,000 he owes in liens and interest.
Berkeley filed the suit against the businessman in Alameda County Superior Court on January 28th and served Sarachan’s place of business, Rasputin Records, on Monday, according to Zach Cowan, the city attorney.
“The city is alleging that Mr. Sarachan has not lived up to his agreement to pursue development of the site in a diligent and timely manner,” said Cowan. “As a result, we want to recover the liens we offered to waive if he did so.”
Mr. Sarachan could not be reached for comment. The suit also names Laurie Brown, his wife, as a co-defendant since California is a community property state. … Continue reading »
Friday’s fire ‘another hit in the face’ for Telegraph Avenue
The city of Berkeley and the merchants of Telegraph Avenue are encouraging the community to shop on Berkeley’s most famous street this holiday season after a devastating fire left many people homeless on Friday and closed down one section of the commercial strip indefinitely.
“The message we want to put out is that most stores on Telegraph are open for business. We would like to encourage shopping on Telegraph in part because of this terrible blow,” said Dave Fogarty, Berkeley’s economic development project coordinator.
Several businesses have been directly impacted by the five-alarm fire at the historic building at 2441 Haste Street. Café Intermezzo and Raleigh’s Bar & Grill, both located in the building at street level and owned by the Ent family, the building’s landlords, have been shut down indefinitely, as has the nearby Thai Noodle II.
Amoeba Music lost $20,000 worth of business over the weekend because the store, which is across the street from the building, had to close, according to owner Marc Weinstein. Amoeba re-opened in a limited way Monday morning but customers were only able to enter using a side door. … Continue reading »
