Uncategorized

MacroUnits: Answer to Affordable Housing Crisis?

Published

7 years ago

January 30, 2019

A young developer in the Bay Area, oWow, is planning to unveil an emergent home typology to address the need for sustainable “workforce housing” in response to the expanding affordability gap.

oWow is creating “MacroUnits”, affordable and adaptable homes, that will compete with micro units, co-living, as well as the standard one and two-bedroom apartment. These are highly-efficient, factory-built, 750-800 square-foot units that can transform from 1 to 4 bedrooms, depending on the need for affordability, and are designed to accommodate anywhere from one individual to a family.

“We are excited to provide a new housing product that leverages adaptability, density, and modular construction practices to provide affordability by design,” oWow Director of Architecture Jeremy Harris said in a statement. “This is a workforce housing solution that is designed for the people who are teaching our kids in schools, put fires out in our houses, keep us alive in our hospitals, or have to commute 2-3 hours to build our cities.”

Today, traditional developers find it difficult, if not impossible, to build non-subsidized apartments for the middle class, and are typically motivated by the unsustainable returns of high-end, amenity-rich, high-rise construction types. As a result, the affordability gap in the Bay Area continues to widen and the rising costs are pushing the working middle class out of city centers entirely.

“Our mission is focused on creating innovative and affordable homes for the working people to live where they want, how they want, where locals can stay local,” oWow CEO Danny Haber said in a statement.

Some innovative solutions have surfaced over time, such as co-living, micro units, or ADU’s, which have provided a variety of opportunities for working class affordability. SB-35 is a recent creative solution that utilizes California policy to influence the supply of affordable housing. This legislation incentivizes developers to provide more than 50 percent of their units as affordable housing, and in return receive zoning relaxations such as 35 percent higher unit density, reduced parking, reduced setbacks, increased building stories, and streamlined entitlements which can be approved by-right without the influence of NIMBY or other lobbying hurdles.

Since MacroUnit typologies provide such high-efficiency and flexible density, with up to four rooms and lower factory-built construction pricing, all units can essentially qualify as affordable housing by design. oWow intends to build MacroUnit developments that all qualify for SB-35 and provide between 50-100 percent affordable workforce housing units. These units will be built in factories, all with replaceable parts, which can be ordered and shipped for delivery to any developer to build and expand workforce housing across the country.

“MacroUnits are built intelligently, designed for market adaptability, can build more economically using modular construction, and ultimately enable people to have greater access to housing opportunities in the cities they work in,” Danny Haber said in a statement.

oWow is looking to solve the housing crisis, one home at a time, and build its first MacroUnit development with 50 percent affordable housing, by 2021.

Special to the Post

Posts by Special to the Post

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

Posts by Oakland Post

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

Posts by Oakland Post

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

12 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.