Publication: San Francisco Chronicle
By Rachel Swan
Photo: Michael Short
After years of scrapped plans and benign neglect, Oakland’s moldering Kwik Way Drive-In is on the brink of demolition.
The midcentury diner, which over the last decade has intermittently shuttered and reopened on Lake Park Avenue, may soon be replaced by a five-story housing and retail development that will stand as tall as the nearby Grand Lake Theater. Though the project is still in its early stages, it appears to have near-unanimous support from a neighborhood where residents have quibbled for 12 years over what to do with the site.
“This site has been pretty controversial in the past,” said Councilman Abel Guillen, who represents the Lake Merritt district. “But you fast-forward to now, and we’re in this housing crunch, and this (property) is way underutilized.”
