Formerly homeless residents from three big encampments are already moving into a newly converted transitional housing project in West Oakland after the city helped its nonprofit partners buy the building earlier this month.
The $36.6 million purchase by Memar Properties Inc. (MPI) and the Housing Consortium of the East Bay (HCEB) was made using funds from state and local sources, city officials announced Tuesday.
“This acquisition will provide much-needed shelter and stability, offering individuals a pathway to essential services and, ultimately, permanent housing,” said Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins.
The money included a $7 million state Encampment Resolution Funding grant, a $25 million Community Care Expansion award, and a $4.6 million grant through Oakland’s Rapid Response Homeless Housing program.
Staff from Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department worked closely with MPI and HCEB to secure the financing, which also includes $8 million for renovations and roughly $23 million for operations and other expense, according to city officials.
Residents of what’s now called Mandela House will have access to mental health services, rental assistance and other programs and services during their interim housing stay and when they move into long-term housing.
The former Extended Stay America hotel is at 3650 Mandela Parkway and is in an area that includes a Target store, a Pak N’ Save Foods and several other retail outlets and is within walking distance of a Trader Joe’s and other shops in Emeryville.
The building initially will be used as interim housing for up to 150 people in 105 units and plans are to convert it into 125 units of permanent supportive housing, run by HCEB, within the next year, according to city officials.
Currently, residents of three large encampments — the Mosswood Park and East 12th Street encampments and the now-dismantled Martin Luther King Jr. Way encampment — are being contacted for possible move-ins.
“We have made demonstrable progress over the past several years to slow the growth of Oakland’s unhoused population and projects like this will allow us to continue on that positive trajectory,” said said Jonathan Russell, director of Alameda County Health Housing and Homelessness Services.
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