Landmark Place is one of four downtown pilot projects initiated by the City to attract middle-income residents back to downtown Oakland and to demonstrate the "elegant density" promoted by Mayor Jerry Brown. Located on a site immediately adjacent to Preservation Park and the Pardee Home, and across Martin Luther King Jr. Way from a future office tower and public plaza. The project straddles the transition between the residential scale of West Oakland and the rapidly growing downtown. On Martin Luther King Junior Way the building presents a formal public façade addressing the future office development proposed immediately opposite. On the 11th and 12th Streets the massing steps down to reflect the intricacy and rhythm of the neighboring historic Victorian houses and resolves into a series of "large houses" facing the Pardee Home. At the ground level live/work lofts with street entries front Martin Luther King Jr. Way. A café and outdoor terrace provide a common living room for the residents and a public amenity cattycorner from the redeveloped Lafayette Square Park.
