New Lawsuit Puts West Oakland Supermarket On Hold

October 9, 2015

Plans for West Oakland’s first supermarket in almost 10 years have been put on hold after a nonprofit supporting the project sued a prominent investor, Thomas Henderson, effectively delaying the development for now.

It is the third lawsuit brought against Henderson by business partners in the last year. Henderson did not respond to a request for comment from the Business Times.

The suit brought by West Oakland Marketplace Advancement Company (WOMAC) alleges that Henderson has has not made required payments on some $3.7 million outstanding from his purchase of the property at 800 Market St. The Jack London Gateway shopping center has long struggled with redevelopment, with the storefront at that property empty since 2007.

The news that the project had hit another obstacle (see coverage above) was met with dismay by civic leaders.

“That’s just horrible,” Council member Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who represents West Oakland, told the Bay Area News Group. “I was concerned about how slow that appeared to be going.”

Henderson told the news group in an email that he blames WOMAC for the hold up.

“Their only interest is to stop the project for their own personal gain to the demise of the West Oakland community,” he wrote. “A food desert with 65 liquor stores and no grocery store/pharmacies. What a shame.”