Oakland Nonprofit Buys Apartment Building to Offer Teachers Affordable Rent
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Oakland Nonprofit Buys Apartment Building to Offer Teachers Affordable Rent
An Oakland nonprofit is trying a different approach to the teacher housing crisis by buying an existing apartment building and converting it into below-market housing for educators and school staff.
Oakland Fund said it purchased a 33-unit building on Claremont Avenue through its Rooted program for $12.6 million, using a mix of city and private funding.
Leaders behind the project said rents will be capped at about 30% of an educator’s income, rather than tied to standard market rates.
Existing tenants can remain in the building, while additional units will be made available to teachers and school employees as vacancies open up.
Supporters say the idea is faster and cheaper than building new teacher housing from the ground up.
According to Oakland Fund CEO Kyra Mungia, many districts spend years developing new projects and can face costs of more than $1 million per unit, while this model uses already existing housing stock and turns it affordable more quickly.
Oakland school leaders say the housing pressure is directly tied to teacher turnover.
Interim Oakland Unified Superintendent Denise Saddler said 60% to 70% of teachers eventually leave because commuting and housing costs become too expensive, and the hope is that stable local housing will help educators stay in the district longer.
The nonprofit says this is the first acquisition of its kind in the country and plans to expand the strategy.
Its stated goal is to create 150 affordable units for teachers across Oakland over the next three years. KTVU reported the expected rent range is roughly $1,100 to $2,600 a month, depending on household income.
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