City of Oakland Awarded $14.8M to Convert Motel into Homeless Housing

Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland has been awarded $14.8 million of Homekey funding to acquire and convert the Piedmont Place motel into housing that will address the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors.

Located on MacArthur Boulevard near the base of vibrant Piedmont Avenue, Piedmont Place will offer 44 units of housing and wrap-around services for people experiencing chronic homelessness. The development team, comprised of MPI Homes and Bay Area Community Services (BACS), bring deep experience in service-enriched affordable and supportive housing.

“Piedmont Place is another example of the City scaling up a model that works: coupling housing with services that support our unsheltered neighbors transition from the streets to housing,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “Our City staff works tirelessly to end homelessness in our streets, and I’m grateful for Governor Newsom’s leadership and his partnership as we all work together to urgently address this crisis.”

Piedmont Place’s central location is accessible via several main bus lines, and is nearby MacArthur BART, Kaiser Hospital, grocery stores, and other key service amenities. Due to the property’s excellent condition and low rehabilitation needs, the project expects to welcome residents by Fall 2022.

“This project demonstrates how state and local funding merges with projects rooted in community, supported by non-profit providers, to develop sustainable solutions for combating the homeless crisis,” said Shola Olatoye, Housing & Community Development Director for the City.

The success of this project was a true cross-departmental effort. The City has dedicated $3.3 million of local Measure KK funds from the Housing & Community Development Department (HCD) towards the acquisition and rehabilitation of the property, as well as $3.35 million of the Human Services Department’s (HSD) allocation of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant funds to support operations. Alameda County has also committed services funding for the project.

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