Oakland parking garage could become affordable housing

OAKLAND — An unused parking garage in downtown Oakland which is been empty for six several years could get new daily life as a web-site for a 100% inexpensive housing complicated.

To make that materialize, the Town Council would have to declare the metropolis-owned parcel bounded by 14th Road, Clay Avenue and Oakland City Hall as surplus assets, then notify housing builders of its availability.

The a few-story, 335-area Clay Road Garage has not been made use of because December 2016, when it was deemed seismically unsafe and shut down.

Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife have proposed that the web-site be reworked into a housing advanced with all rental models priced beneath market fee.

“It is on public transit, it is near work and companies, and it could assistance with our housing disaster,” Kaplan reported.

Council associates Dan Kalb and Loren Taylor joined Kaplan and Fife in a committee assembly earlier this week to support the proposal. In April, the complete council is to take into consideration declaring the land offered for improvement.

But establishing the parcel could be a problem. A 2015 evaluation believed the price of demolishing the garage at approximately $3.3 million to $4.1 million. To entice affordable housing developers, the city may perhaps have to spend for the demolition costs, which would come out its affordable housing fund, in accordance to a personnel report.

The employees also pointed out that since the garage abuts Town Hall, which is a specified Oakland landmark on the Countrywide Sign-up of Historic Areas, a developer may possibly confront excess costs and restrictions to stay clear of impacting the historic building.