Housing
Oaklanders who frequent the waterfront paths along Lake Merritt are accustomed to seeing encampments and trash heaps. Last spring, though, they came upon a surprising sight. A small hand-built cabin suddenly appeared in a grassy clearing on the lake’s western shore, just a short walk from the swanky Lake Chalet restaurant. The structure looked as if it was made with permanence in mind. Sturdily built of measured wooden planks, with plexiglass windows and a corrugated steel roof, it was big…
When Alameda County voters go to the polls in November, they may be asked to decide how affordable housing is financed for decades to come. At Tuesday’s Oakland City Council meeting, local and regional housing experts stressed the importance of an upcoming $20 billion regional bond measure that could bring as much as $765 million to Oakland. “It really is the most ambitious affordable housing program that we have ever embarked upon in the region and even in the state…
As Oakland confronts an ongoing homelessness crisis, one strategy that has shown promise is buying hotels and motels and converting them into permanent housing. Oakland received $31.5 million from California’s Homekey program, a statewide initiative that supports this strategy, in March 2022. The city has used the funds for the conversion of the Piedmont Place Hotel, the Kingdom Builders Transitional Housing and the Inn by the Coliseum into permanent housing for homeless people. While the first two projects have successfully…
Residents of Oakland’s 100-bed cabin shelter program on Wood Street have raised concerns about the program’s effectiveness, saying that it is unclear whether they will be able to move into permanent housing. Last April, the city shut down the Wood Street encampment and removed the 60 remaining residents from the site. Thirty-nine people moved into the cabins at 2601 Wood St., and 11 moved into the adjoining RV safe parking lot, according to a city news release. Some spread into…
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Wednesday that allows churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious organizations along with nonprofit colleges to build affordable housing on their properties. The bill, SB4, introduced by State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, allows religious organizations to build housing without conducting environmental reviews, receiving approval from local governments or requesting zoning changes. “It’s simple math — California needs to build more housing and ensure the housing we have is affordable,” Newsom said in a statement. “In partnership with the Legislature,…
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted for the first time on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency regarding the homelessness crisis, a move that could unlock additional state and federal resources. Four of the five supervisors approved the declaration, with Lena Tam absent. The declaration directs the Alameda County Health Services Office of Homelessness Care and Coordination to meet with cities and relevant agencies to draft an emergency response plan to the supervisors within 60 days. The…
The Wood Street homeless encampment closed last week, forcing many who lived there into city-run shelters. But more permanent housing solutions are a long way off, including the development planned for the 3-acre lot where the encampment has sat for years. Thursday marked the end of the month-long sweep of the encampment near 18th Street, one of the city’s largest, where people had been living in tents, trailers and recreational vehicles. The city said about 70 people were living at…
Oakland’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium is set to expire on July 15, the council decided Tuesday, passing an ordinance that also will add permanent tenant protections to address housing instability in the city. The City Council voted 7-1 for the ordinance, which will sunset the moratorium that prohibited landlords from evicting tenants for non-payment of rent. Authored by Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Council President Pro Tempore Dan Kalb, the ordinance adds new and permanent protections to keep evictions from…
Dozens of displaced Coliseum Connections Apartments residents protested Wednesday, the 95th day of their displacement from a Jan. 1 flood, calling on the city and landlord to do more to get them back into their homes. Chanting “Home, not hotel” and carrying placards that read “No More Lies,” they rallied in front of the West Oakland Senior Center and demanded to know why the apartment complex is still not repaired and why they are being pushed out of the temporary…