Faith-Based Group and Affordable Housing Developers Break Ground for Senior Housing in West Oakland
By Carla Thomas
Donald Gilmore, executive director of the Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC) and Rev. Gerald Agee, founder and pastor of Friendship Christian Church (FCC) recently hosted the groundbreaking of a property at 1904 Adeline St. preparing for a 50-unit affordable housing complex in West Oakland.
Special guests at the June 6 event featured Senator Nancy Skinner, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Supervisor Keith Carson, along with representatives from Alameda County, the Oakland Housing Authority, and funders.
“In 2017, the community affordable housing developer and our faith-based organizations forged a partnership to collaborate on a common goal: to provide affordable housing to one of our most precious, vulnerable, and underserved populations – the seniors of the West
Oakland community,” said Agee.
Also known as the Friendship Senior Housing project, the affordable housing project is the realization of the vision of CHDC, a regional, Black-led community development corporation, and the Friendship Senior Affordable Housing organizing committee.
Located in the heart of the West Oakland, construction of the project began in the Fall of 2023. The Friendship Senior Housing project will provide housing opportunities in a comfortable, convenient, and affordable contemporary style setting.
“This project represents CHDC’s first faith-based Initiative project to break ground. As well as the first State Tax credit, BIPOC project to be developed in the City of Oakland. The project is situated within one mile of the West Oakland BART Station, and steps away from DeFremery Park, West Oakland Senior Center and West Oakland Library Branch,” said Gilmore.
The Friendship Senior Housing Development will offer 50-units of modern, secure, and convenient living for senior households age 62 and older, earning at or below 50% Area Median Income (AMI).
The four-story, garden-style building provides a variety of unit types ranging from studios to one- bedroom floor plans. The project will include 15 studio units, 34 one-bedroom units, and 1 two-bedroom unit for the onsite resident manager.
Amenities include onsite parking, laundry facilities, elevators, community room with kitchen, computer lab, office space for the onsite manager and resident services staff, and indoor and outdoor common areas to promote social interactions between the residents.
Development and construction of Friendship Senior housing is being made possible through a variety of financial resources, including, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee & California Debt Limit Allocation Committee, City of Oakland, California Department of Housing and Community Development, Oakland Housing Authority, Alameda County Health Care Services, Citibank, CREA, Department of Toxic Substances Control and Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
