Oakland Plans to Build 36,000 New Homes in Decade

Oakland, which is mandated by a new state law to produce a housing growth plan by Jan. 31, is preparing to unveil plans to increase the number of houses in the city by almost a quarter in the next decade.

The city already has produced a map indicating where it plans to build 36,000 new homes in the next decade, according to a report in the East Bay Times.

Oakland’s new 132-page housing plan has designated more than 600 sites for new housing, most of which are concentrated in downtown and West Oakland. Major transportation arteries, including Foothill and MacArthur boulevards, will see transit-oriented housing development.

The city’s planners also have identified parcels spread across suburban and urban areas throughout Oakland.

The city partnered with a regional advocacy group, East Bay Housing Organizations, which explained in a city-produced video that the new housing plan is designed to serve the city’s 440,000 residents without gentrification that would drive out lower-income people.

“The city needs to focus explicitly on how to increase production and preservation of housing for the lowest-income folks where the needs are the greatest,” said Jeff Levin, the advocacy group’s policy director, in the video.

California’s new housing law has set a goal for Oakland to produce more than 26,000 new homes for residents of all income levels between 2023 and 2031, a 78% increase from the last eight-year housing goal set by the state. Oakland is not required to build the new homes itself, but the law requires it to specify sites that could accommodate the minimum number of units set by the goal.

By the end of January, all Bay Area cities must get state approval of individual housing plans or become ineligible for grant funding and face several other penalties, including the possibility of losing local control over approving new homes.

City officials told the East Bay Times that it has already approved pipeline projects it expects to generate 13,000 new homes. They said the plan designates “opportunistic sites” the city believes new projects are suitable.

Oakland’s 10-year plan also aims to meet a new requirement in the state law that mandates cities to plan for more affordable housing in “high-resource” neighborhoods—which is a euphemism for wealthier communities with a history of keeping out low-income residents.

In its plan, Oakland says it will rezone parcels in wealthier areas of the city including Rockridge, Trestle Glen and Crocker Highlands to allow more duplexes, apartments and low-income housing projects.