In April the City of Oakland announced the acquisition of the Extended Stay America at 3650 Mandela Parkway by the city’s partners Memar Properties and The Housing Consortium of the East Bay. The project is now under review for conversation to long-term affordable housing, with a plan of serving very low and extremely low-income classifications.
When acquired the early stage plan for the property was to provide immediate transitional housing for the populations of several encampments in North and West Oakland. However, the property always had the long-term goal of moving into long-term affordable housing usage. The conversation to permanent housing will require renovations to the 149 rooms, including accessibility requirements for disabled tenants.
According to the City of Oakland, “This acquisition was made possible through a combination of state and local funding sources, including a $7 million State of California Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF) grant funds received in November 2024, a $25 million Community Care Expansion (CCE) award, and a $4.6 million grant through the City’s Rapid Response Homeless Housing (R2H2) program.” Furthermore, the development received $8 million which will be put towards the renovations and conversion of the property, with further funding contracts to cover operating costs.
The extended stay building has seen a significant decline in tenancy over the last several years, but its central location makes it a good option for residential. The location will also provide residents with walking access to affordable food and transportation options.
3650 Mandela Parkway Current Building, image via Google Street View
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This was a great idea I don’t know why Richmond did not do the same thing they are already studios it would take so less money to convert them to permanent housing then starting from scratch. I DNT understand the city of Richmond at all.