[BTinSF]

Friday, October 17, 2008
Protopappas forges ahead despite struggling market
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen and Blanca Torres

Longtime Oakland developer John Protopappas is pushing ahead with projects despite a weak market that has forced other developers to delay or abandon their plans altogether.

His firm, Madison Park Financial Corp., has three projects in the pipeline in Oakland and Emeryville, with plans to start more and eventually expand to Southern California.

“What is driving our optimism and confidence? We are producing rentals,” Protopappas said.

The firm’s current projects in development include a 92-unit live/work residential project at 1614 Campbell St., 101 for-rent residential and live/work units plus 1,000 square feet of retail space at the corner of 39th and Adeline streets in Oakland, and the third phase of its Bakery Lofts development in Emeryville, which will add 61 residential and five retail units.

In the last few months, the firm leased 10 of its 24 live/work units at its latest rental project, the Packard Lofts in Oakland’s up-and-coming Uptown neighborhood. A wine bar called Mimosa will open early next year on the ground floor. Protopappas wants to begin construction on the project at 39th and Adeline streets early next year if he can secure a construction loan — a huge challenge in today’s tight credit market.

Even so, Protopappas maintains his focus on creating assets that will provide returns over time. His company still owns the first property he developed — the David Gray Building, a 27-unit live/work development at 1155 Fifth St. in Oakland.

“The beauty of real estate is that it starts to appreciate as soon as you build it,” Protopappas said. “I’m old enough now to renovate a building I already built.”

Source: http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/...ml?t=printable