Casa Arabella: Working Together to Address the Housing Crisis

December 2020

45 Stories for 45 Years

Contributor: Chris Iglesias, Chief Executive Officer, The Unity Council

At The Unity Council, we believe that vibrant communities where everyone can work, learn, and thrive must include education opportunities, youth and senior programming, employment services, career readiness, financial services, arts and cultural events and more. In other words, they require more than affordable housing. 

When The Unity Council opened the Fruitvale Transit Village 17 years ago, it instantly became an international model for transit-oriented development. Located at the Fruitvale Plaza at the Bart Station, the project combines mixed-income housing, retail space, and community space around a mass transit hub, and provides 400 permanent jobs to the community. Given the enormous success for the first phase of the Fruitvale Transit Village, we knew we had to keep going and growing the development to continue to serve the needs of Fruitvale residents. 

After securing the entitlements for the development in Phase II, entitling Phase II in 2010, and taking a huge hit in the great recession, we decided to partner with EBALDC in 2016 to help us keep the development moving. 

The Unity Council found a natural partner in EBALDC which has also worked for over 45 years toward building healthy and vibrant neighborhoods across Oakland and the East Bay based on the belief that stable neighborhoods require more than affordable housing. This made for a powerhouse, Oakland-based collaboration. This is about Oakland CDCs coming together. 

EBALDC and The Unity Council each applied our specific expertise to the next phase of the community development, and together, built an Oakland-based development team, including the architect and contractor (PYATOK and Branagh). Together, this brought hundreds of Oakland jobs and revenue to the Fruitvale neighborhood. 

Named for The Unity Council’s founder and former CEO Arabella Martinez, Casa Arabella celebrated its grand opening earlier this year. The building includes 94-units of transit-oriented affordable housing, with 21% reserved for formerly homeless U.S. military veterans as well as onsite support services to residents, including a full-time resident services and workforce coordinator who connects residents with economic empowerment services, and a full-time veteran services specialist. 

The Unity Council would not have been able to complete Casa Arabella alone. In order to truly address the urgent and historic issues facing the communities that we serve and call home, we have to work together to increase opportunities and improve outcomes for our residents. It is an honor to work alongside EBALDC towards our shared mission.

As EBALDC marks our 45th anniversary, we will be gathering more stories like this one from our friends, family, community members, partners and more stakeholders that have made our impact possible. We would be honored for you to join us:

  • Follow us on social media: @EBALDC

 

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