Media
January 2019

Kaiser Permanente Announces Three Initiatives to Improve Community Health by Tackling Housing Insecurity

From Cision PR Newswire
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Kaiser Permanente today unveiled several major initiatives that will improve health outcomes by creating stable housing for vulnerable populations. The initiatives — including seeding a real estate investment in Oakland, anchoring a $100 million national loan fund for affordable housing and kicking off a plan to end homelessness for more than 500 Oakland-area residents — are part of a comprehensive strategy to advance the economic, social and environmental conditions for health in the communities that Kaiser Permanente serves. At a press conference with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and several partners, Kaiser Permanente Chairman and... View article
Media
January 2019

This healthcare giant invests millions in affordable housing to keep people healthy

From Fast Company
In an East Oakland neighborhood on the verge of gentrification, when an affordable apartment complex went up for sale–and tenants there risked steeply rising rents–Kaiser Permanente, the largest private integrated healthcare system in the U.S., helped put up the money to buy the building and keep rent low. It’s the first impact investment for the Oakland-based company’s $200 million Thriving Communities Fund, and one of three major projects the company announced today. Along with the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, Kaiser created a new joint equity fund called the Housing for Health Fund and contributed $5.2 million... View article
Media
January 2019

Kaiser Announces 3 Initiatives To Fight Homelessness During Event With Mayor Schaaf

From SF Gate
Kaiser Permanente leaders on Tuesday announced three major initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes by creating stable housing for homeless people in Oakland and across the country. Bernard Tyson, the chairman and chief executive of Kaiser, which is based in Oakland, said, “Housing security is a crucial health issue for vulnerable populations.” Joined by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and others at a news conference at City Hall, Tyson said, “Access to affordable housing is a key component to Kaiser Permanente’s mission to improve the health of our members and the communities... View article
Media
January 2019

Kaiser Permanente to spend $5.2 million on affordable housing in Oakland

From East Bay Times
OAKLAND – Kaiser Permanente announced Tuesday it will spend $5.2 million to purchase a 41-unit apartment building in East Oakland, the health care giant’s first step in its aggressive effort to shelter the homeless and improve health care for the poor. The Oakland-based company also revealed plans to partner with the city and community aid groups to identify, house and provide services for 500 vulnerable homeless people over the age of 50. “Kaiser Permanente believes that in the 21st century there are certain things we should resolve and certain principles we should stand... View article
Media
September 2018

Former crime-ridden West Oakland liquor store to become community center

From KRON4 News
OAKLAND (KRON) – A former liquor store, once the hub for drugs and crime, will soon be a destination for young people learning how to make it in the music business. It is part of a major neighborhood makeover. San Pablo Avenue between 34th and 35th streets is ground zero for SPARC, the San Pablo Area Revitalization Collaborative in West Oakland. The Oakland landmark California Hotel is SPARC’s revitalization centerpiece. “The California hotel was built and opened in 1930,” Associate Director of Neighborhood Collaborations at East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation Romi Hall... View article
Media
September 2018

BART to build 519 new homes at Lake Merritt

From Curbed
Last week, the BART Board of Directors voted to advance a plan to develop hundreds of new homes near the Lake Merritt BART station, a proposal that’s been in the works for years and continues the agency’s foray into transit-adjacent housing on potentially choice plots of land it owns throughout the Bay Area. Technically, the motion at the board’s September 13 meeting (which passed unanimously) only authorizes negotiations with potential developers, a process that could take up to two years. A press statement from BART provides some additional details:... View article
Media
September 2018

BART trading parking for housing, offices at Oakland’s Lake Merritt Station

From San Francisco Chronicle
With nary a word of opposition, BART has green-lighted a high-rise housing, office and retail development at its Lake Merritt Station that will probably completely transform the area around Oakland’s Laney College. “I’m on cloud nine,” BART Board President Robert Raburn said after the board voted 8-0 to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corp. and Strada Investment Group. The goal is a transit-oriented development that includes a plaza and a pair of apartment and office high-rises — one 27 stories and the other 21 stories.... View article
Media
September 2018

BART Board Approves Stronger Surveillance Oversight, Lake Merritt Housing

From CBS SF Bay Area
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – BART’s Board of Directors approved a new ordinance governing oversight of surveillance technology as well as a new transit-oriented residential and commercial real estate development near the Lake Merritt Station during a busy meeting Thursday morning in Oakland. The new surveillance rules, which were proposed as a policy, but passed through a unanimous vote as an ordinance, will require annual reports on the use of each specific surveillance technology the district uses.... View article
Media
September 2018

BART seeks to construct massive new mixed-use complex at Lake Merritt station

From Hoodline
BART is seeking to build a massive new housing, office and retail complex around its Lake Merritt station in Oakland. This week, the transit agency’s Board of Directors approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with two developers to construct four new buildings on BART-owned lots above the station. As proposed, the buildings would include 519 units of housing — 44 percent of them designated as affordable — and 517,000 square feet of office and retail space. 20 percent of the office and retail space would be offered at below-market-rate prices for “community-serving organizations and... View article
Media
September 2018

Bart Board Approves Surveillance Ordinance, Development At Lake Merritt

From SF Gate
OAKLAND (BCN) BART’s Board of Directors approved a new ordinance governing oversight of surveillance technology as well as a new transit-oriented residential and commercial real estate development near the Lake Merritt Station during a busy meeting this morning in Oakland. The new surveillance rules, which were proposed as a policy, but passed through a unanimous vote as an ordinance, will require annual reports on the use of each specific surveillance technology the district uses.... View article