Rob AriasThe Extended Stay America Hotel adjacent to the Oakland Best Buy has been acquired by the City of Oakland to convert to a homeless shelter.
105 of the 149 rooms at the hotel will be used to provide shelter and services for as many as 150 unsheltered individuals and couples within Oakland (The balance of these units are already being occupied through other programs).
The property will initially serve as interim housing and then be converted into 125 units of permanent supportive housing. This conversion tentatively scheduled to begin in spring 2026.
“This is one part of a multi-faceted strategy, and we will continue to pursue innovative solutions to support our most vulnerable residents,” said Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins in a press release provided by the city.
“This is one part of a multi-faceted strategy, and we will continue to pursue innovative solutions to support our most vulnerable residents,”
Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins
Cost of the acquisition was $36.6M which came from three sources including $32M from the state ($7M from Encampment Resolution Funding and $25M from the Community Care Expansion program) and $4.6M through Oakland’s Rapid Response Homeless Housing (R2H2) program. Oakland will also contribute $8 million in funds from R2H2 for rehabilitation of the building.
Another $24M has been allocated to support operation of the facility including mental health support, wraparound services, and rental assistance to help residents transition to other stable forms of housing. Operation of the facility and services will be provided through the Housing Consortium of the East Bay (HCEB).
Funding for the facility will come from a variety of local and county resources, including:
- $2,640,250 – CCE Operating Support
- $6,035,445 – City of Oakland’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA)
- $5,239,939 – Alameda County’s Local Housing Support Program (LHSP)
- $9,447,969 – Alameda County Supportive Services Funds
- $564,730 – Opioid Remediation Funds from the City of Oakland
The city initially pursued the purchase of the Jack London Inn in Jack London Square but received pushback from local businesses as well as other legal and fiscal constraints. The Jack London property was slated to replace the Lake Merritt Lodge shelter that the city operated during the pandemic.
With the acquisition complete, move-ins are already underway, prioritizing unhoused individuals from three large encampments including Mosswood Park, the East 12th Street median and the former MLK Way corridor encampments.
The site at 3650 Mandela Parkway is just a block from the Mandela Cabin Community that the city has been operating since 2019. Additionally, it is situated near the expansive Wood Street Encampment.
Leadership of West Oakland Neighbors (WON), a coalition of residents and businesses that works to address neighborhood issues, expressed concerns that the property would not be used to house local unsheltered residents.
“We are not protesting because it is so needed,” noted WON Chair Nancy Nadel. “But the whole system has some serious problems in that none of the people currently unhoused in our neighborhood will be accommodated there.”
Nadel, a former D3 Councilmember, still resides in the district and owns and operates the nearby Oakland Chocolate Company.
“Our main concerns are the unmanaged/uncontrolled camps on Beach St, 5th Street east of Mandela, the tents on San Pablo and West Grand, and the myriad of individual campers and RVs throughout the neighborhood,” Nadel added.
According to this 2024 city report, Oakland has nearly 1,500 encampments accounting for over 5,000 unsheltered residents spread out throughout its borders. 29% of these, the highest concentration, were in the city’s District 3 which includes West Oakland and Downtown.
Outreach efforts at the three camps that this shelter will accommodate began over a year ago with the Mosswood Park encampment and its 41 residents slated for closure beginning April 21 and take up to two weeks. The East 12th Street encampment, with 79 core residents, is anticipated to be closed in May. 5 individuals of the former MLK corridor are expected to receive units.
Oakland’s MACRO and Alameda County Housing and Homelessness Services will participate in the encampment closure operations which are expected to take up to two weeks. Residents will be allowed up to two pets.
“This long-awaited achievement is a powerful marker in our mission to provide safe, supportive housing to those who need it most.” said Oakland District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife who won reelection last year.
Apr 28 Update: A zoom meeting (previously announced as “in-person”) will be held on Tuesday, April 29 at 6 p.m. For those that have questions about its operation. You can RSVP by emailing MandelaHouse@hceb.org.
Say goodbye to the neighborhood
Will look like drug den and a run down place in no time
I know this is a complex problem and some action must be taken, but the cost/gain ratio is always what raises my eyebrows and wish more impact could be gained from this spend. No judgement, but the rough math to me reads:
+$36.6M initial spend
+ $8M in rehab cost
+ $24M operational/wraparound
/ 150 individuals+couples
= $457,000 per each individual/couple
Yes it mentions some are supposed to transition to more permanent housing so this cost could be reduced.
It just seems like $457K is such a high cost to help one individual/couple, there has to be a more efficient way so more can be helped, or the money can be better allocated to help others in need in the community.
Just an unqualified observation
The math is a little more complex here – where the cost to acquire and rehab the property is a one-time only expense. It’s also not clear how long the $24M fund is expected to last (if it includes rental assistance and operations, that is an ongoing cost). Where there is capacity for up to 150 individuals/couples, this is starting out as a temporary housing solution – so rooms will turn over to support other people in need, until it is finally converted to a permanent housing solution. By the calculations above, *if* you put that entire cost on the first residents, future residents would have $0 cost.
Hope this helps!!