OAKLAND — An unused parking garage in downtown Oakland that’s been empty for six years could get new life as a site for a 100% affordable housing complex.
To make that happen, the City Council would have to declare the city-owned parcel bounded by 14th Street, Clay Street and Oakland City Hall as surplus property, then notify housing developers of its availability.
The three-story, 335-space Clay Street Garage hasn’t been used since December 2016, when it was deemed seismically unsafe and closed down.
Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife have proposed that the site be transformed into a housing complex with all rental units priced below market rate.
“It is on public transit, it is near jobs and services, and it could help with our housing crisis,” Kaplan said.
Council members Dan Kalb and Loren Taylor joined Kaplan and Fife in a committee meeting earlier this week to support the proposal. In April, the full council is to consider declaring the land available for development.
But developing the parcel could be a challenge. A 2015 analysis estimated the cost of demolishing the garage at roughly $3.3 million to $4.1 million. To entice affordable housing developers, the city may have to pay for the demolition costs, which would come out its affordable housing fund, according to a staff report.
The staff also noted that since the garage abuts City Hall, which is a designated Oakland landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, a developer may face extra costs and regulations to avoid impacting the historic building.
Still, the council members view the site as a promising opportunity to increase desperately needed affordable housing in the city.
In a memo to their council colleagues, Kaplan and Fife noted Oakland needs to create 6,511 units of very low-income housing and 3,750 units of low-income housing to meet its December 2021 regional housing needs allocation goals.
Oakland leaders are exploring how to do that with city-owned properties. In June, staff will ask the council to review and prioritize 13 other city-owned sites that could potentially be developed for affordable housing.
