Uncategorized

Obama’s HUD Proposes to Cut Rent Subsidies for Low-Income Residents

Published

10 years ago

October 17, 2015

Amid an intensifying housing crisis in Oakland, City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney and Councilmember Desley Brooks are speaking out against a new proposal from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD) to lower the value of Section 8 vouchers that pay for housing of low-income residents.

The HUD proposal was announced last week and would change the formula that calculates how much local Housing Authorities can subsidize rents in their regions. However, experts say the new proposal is based on data that is two years old.

The proposal would increase the burden on residents, especially in Oakland, who are already struggling with rising rent prices and a lack of affordable housing, housing advocates have said.

Currently, over 50 percent of low-income residents in Oakland contribute more than 30 percent of their income to housing, according to the Housing Equity Roadmap produced by the City of Oakland and PolicyLink.

Additionally, the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) says of the 609 residents who were awarded Section 8 vouchers this year, only 115 (18.9 percent) have been able to find places to rent.

“What we’ve found today in the HUD proposal is that (what they say is) fair market isn’t fair. Decreasing fair market rents is the wrong course of action for our city and for our nation at this time,” said Council President McElhaney, speaking at an Oct. 8 press conference at City Hall.

“Section 8 was, most importantly, intended to de-concentrate poverty. Our low-income families won’t be able to secure rental units with the fewer dollars to spend in a skyrocketing market,” she added.

The reduction will place more pressure on affordable housing, McElhaney said, which is already scarce in the city.

The new formula contributing to displacement, forcing more low-income residents out of Oakland, said Councilmember Brooks.

The Housing Equity Roadmap notes that between 2000 and 2010, Oakland’s African American population declined by 24 percent.

“The Section 8 program is supposed to be a program of choice to provide people an opportunity to move to the neighborhoods that they choose to,” said Brooks. “If it’s truly about choice and people’s choice is to live in the city that they were born and raised in, then we need to be able to give them that opportunity.”

“It is merely a matter of the HUD secretary making a decision to really truly allow people in urban neighborhoods to live in dignity and live in a manner in which they should be allowed to like anybody else,” Brooks said.

The City Council is expected to vote on the McElhaney and Brook’s recommendation to oppose the new HUD proposal on Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

“We want our families to stay whole and we want HUD to play fair,” said McElhaney.

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.