Ten affordable housing projects, including five in Oakland and two in Berkeley, will get a collective $53 million boost from highly anticipated Alameda County sales-tax money, the Board of Supervisors voted this week.

The money comes from Measure W, which increased the county’s sales tax by 0.5% for 10 years. Measure W was narrowly passed by voters in 2020 but held up for years by a lawsuit filed by the Alameda County Taxpayers Association. The association sought to void the measure and prevent the county from collecting and using the tax money. After the legal matter was resolved, county officials decided last summer to use 80% of the funds on homeless programs and housing, and the rest on other “essential services.”

While it was stuck in court, Measure W brought in $810 million, which the county held in escrow.

The 10 projects awarded funds on Tuesday, and another Oakland building that got Measure W money in January, aren’t brand new proposals. The projects are what the government calls “shovel-ready” or close — in a position to apply for state money or tax credits and break ground soon.

Here’s what county supervisors approved Tuesday, from the largest award to the smallest:

Berkeley: People’s Park Supportive project (Satellite Affordable Housing Associates) – $8.1 million

Berkeley: Ephesian Legacy Court (Community Housing Development Corporation and Ephesian Church of God in Christ) – $7 million

Oakland: Liberation Park project (Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation) – $6.75 million

Livermore: Downtown Livermore project (Eden Housing) – $6.1 million

Oakland: 3135 San Pablo (Satellite Affordable Housing Associates) – $5.63 million

Alameda: 1247 McKay (Mercy Housing and Alameda Point Collaborative) – $5.5 million

Oakland: Brighter Bancroft Senior project (Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation – $4.38 million

Oakland: 500 Lake Park (EAH Housing) – $3.65 million

Oakland: East 12th Circle (Unity Council and Self Help Ventures Fund) – $2.98 million

Newark: Thornton Avenue project (Satellite Affordable Housing Associates) – $2.92 million

In January, the board also approved $18.73 million from Measure W for an East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation project on county property.

Altogether, the funding supports 946 new affordable housing units, including 310 for formerly homeless people. Another $3.7 million will go toward administrative costs.

At a press conference Wednesday, elected officials from across Alameda County and people who’ve experienced homelessness all applauded Measure W as an extraordinary boon in a moment of shortfall and uncertainty.

The deep homelessness fund “is a timely resource we have locally to ensure people don’t lose housing that might be funded by federal sources,” said Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, who represents parts of Oakland.

“Measure W is a lifeline for our town,” said Mayor Barbara Lee. 

Oakland, at the center of the homelessness crisis, will get the biggest chunk of Measure W
Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas speaks at a press conference on Wednesday announcing the award of millions in Measure W funds for affordable housing in Oakland and other cities. Credit: Natalie Orenstein/The Oaklandside

Oakland leaders have long called for the city to get its fair share of the funding, seizing all opportunities to remind the county that Oakland is home to an outsized unhoused population. About 22% of all county residents live in Oakland, but 58% of its homeless residents live there. The mayor also pointed out on Wednesday that Oakland has 74% of the Black homeless residents in the county, and said all decisions about funding and services should prioritize racial equity and take that into account.

“Oakland is the epicenter of this crisis, and it’s not by coincidence,” Lee said, referencing the city’s history of redlining and disinvestment.

The framework approved by the board distributes Measure W funding based on where the homeless population is concentrated, but also prioritizes spreading it out to different regions of the county. As a result, Oakland projects dominate the list approved this week, while there are also projects located in other cities and districts.

And not all of the Oakland projects are likely to pop up immediately. While the projects were selected for their readiness, “some of the Oakland projects still have funding gaps that will need to be filled in order for them to apply for tax credits,” Oakland’s housing director, Emily Weinstein, told us.

Lee’s new Office of Homelessness Solutions just released a draft plan with an ambitious goal of cutting unsheltered homelessness in half in the city, but this strategy relies on significant support from Measure W. 

Berkeley projects received the two largest awards, including $8.1 million for the supportive housing portion of the controversial People’s Park development. UC Berkeley recently selected a new developer, Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, after the previous developer pulled out.

Several people who spoke at Wednesday’s press conference explained the difference it makes to move into a stable living situation from the streets or from insecurity.

“I had a very comfortable apartment. Then I woke up one night to fire,” said Jean Toney. When she tried to find a new home after the disaster, “it was a shock to find out how rents had escalated.”

She was able to crash with friends and family, in rooms that were “shelter, but not home.” Eventually, St. Mary’s Senior Center helped Toney find permanent housing.

So far, the county has spent $146 million in homelessness funds from Measure W, according to a county spokesperson. 

Some Oakland councilmembers have complained that the funding is being doled out too slowly. At a board meeting this week, officials said they plan to put out a call for applications for additional Measure W money by the end of the year — this time for expanding shelters and acquiring buildings to rehabilitate.

While the county anticipates another $500 million or so in Measure W sales tax revenue, it’s impossible to know the final tally.

“Please shop Alameda County and spend your money here,” Supervisor Elisa Márquez urged at the press conference.

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