We BUILD THE STRATEGY. WE RUN THE SPACE.
solfood turns dark ground floors, community rooms, and gardens into neighborhood-serving assets — through consistent programming, trusted local partners, and a measurement layer you can actually use.
Empty space is expensive.
Every month a community room, ground floor, or garden sits dark is a month the asset and the neighborhood both pay for it. The standard playbook — wait for a tenant, apply for a grant — is slow, disconnected, and often doesn't match what residents actually need.
We activate space. Consistently.
At community scale.
solfood is a community-rooted activation partner. We take dark ground floors, spaces and program them with recurring, culturally relevant, food-centered community programming — then we measure what happens.
ASSESS
site scan, stakeholder mapping, programming concept, operating plan
ACTIVATE
pilot programming or ongoing stewardship
MEASURE
utilization, participation, partner return, resident feedback, reporting
Resident voice infrastructure is built into every engagement
Our approach
to space and place
Housing Developers
Make your community rooms do real work. Activate without adding to your operating load.
Property Owners
Test what your ground floor wants to be before you commit capital or lock in a tenant.
City Agencies
A low-risk pilot for corridor activation and neighborhood stabilization — with data.
Faith Institutions + CBOs
A partner who shows up consistently and works alongside what you're already doing.
More than a program. A working partner.
When you partner with solfood, here is what changes:
Improved perception of welcome and activity — the corridor feels different when there's something happening.
A concrete operating partner — not a consultant who leaves after the report. We run the space with you.
WHAT WE TRACK
Weekly utilization hours. Repeat participant rate. Partner return rate. Perception survey scores. Demand signals for future tenanting. You get a monthly dashboard, not a guess.
California Hotel
— the first site.
First site: California Hotel, West Oakland. Partner: EBALDC. 1,100 sq ft community space + outdoor garden. 137-unit affordable housing site. Soft open April 4, 2026. First data report July 2026.
Monthly community meals. Hands-on workshops. Garden stewardship days. Partner programming from trusted local organizations. Resident leadership roles shaping the space from the inside.
What we learn here — what works, what doesn't, what people actually need — shapes how this model grows beyond one site.
Engagements start at $12K for a site assessment. Pilots typically run $24–60K. Ongoing stewardship runs on a monthly retainer. Let's scope yours.
solfood is a fiscally sponsored project of Brotherhood of Elders Network (BOEN), a 501(c)(3).