Update on Alternative Housing Sites
In our last issue (Spring 2025), Berkeley Speaks reviewed the status of the unhoused community in Berkeley, and of the Struggle in the Court and the Council.
The new development, beyond the continuing series of sweeps and advocates’ court challenges, was the Council referral to the city manager to identify a list of potential alternative housing sites, both City-owned and private.
In October 14, City Manager Paul Buddenhagen sent the requested list of housing sites to the Council. It can be found in that day’s city council meeting agenda packet on pages 97-116. There are some 24 private and 33 City-owned sites listed.
What will it take to create “alternative housing?”
There are a number of steps the City would need to do to turn the list of ideas into actual living spaces for the unhoused. Among them are:
- City Council agrees on which site or sites to dedicate to alternative housing. It may be that they begin with a small number of residents, then scale up to accommodate more people.
- Money will have to be found to pay for the expenses of this housing, depending on whether it is private property, if staff are needed, and needs for construction, maintenance, services and programs. Fortunately, there should be significant funds coming from Alameda County’s Measure W, which is mostly devoted to homeless services. That money should be available early in 2026.
- The City government, the unhoused community, and all other stakeholders will need to be clearly aligned on what rules and processes will govern the housing sites.
- The dignity of all people—which is central to human rights—and full accessibility must be guaranteed. For the alternative housing program to succeed, the unhoused and their advocates need to be fully engaged in its design.
- The three steps above may take considerable time, and the timelines seem unpredictable at this moment; they could be further stalled by opposition by council members or community members.
“Home Together Fund – Our Priorities“
See these slides prepared by Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas for her recent Measure W Town Hall. Over a period of years, the largest part of the Measure W revenue will be go into the “Home Together Fund.” That money, estimated at $1.4 billion, will be dedicated to address homelessness across the county. The Supervisor has stated that these are her priorities for the use of the Home Together Fund:
● Invest in housing for those with the greatest barriers
● Strengthen the homelessness system:
- Accountability & transparency
- Improve experience for people who engage with homeless system
- Robust shelter standards and outreach standards
- Reduce administrative burden for providers
● Engage people with lived experience of homelessness
● Create a regional approach to encampment resolution that centers human rights and public health
But we can’t wait!
Given the uncertain timeline, it is crucial to improve the experience of people who are still living on the street. There must be a parallel track to treat the unhoused with humanity. What does that mean? Here is a starting place:
- Stop the sweeps.
- Provide essential services where the unhoused live.Listen to the unhoused and their advocates. Involve them in decision-making about solutions.
- Listen to the unhoused and their advocates. Involve them in decision-making about solutions.
- Stop demonizing the unhoused. Give moral leadership to community members to accept–or welcome!–the homeless as their neighbors.
Speaking of sweeps:
On October 28, the pharmaceutical company Bayer, which is worth $30 billion, evicted unhoused residents from a short stretch of Carleton Street that it just acquired from the City of Berkeley. At the predawn raid, about a dozen people were threatened with arrest if they did not depart, and one person was arrested. A Bayer spokesperson told Berkeleyside that Bayer would not allow the unhoused to return to claim their belongings lost in the eviction.
Earlier, on July 6, BPD and other City staff cleared Ohlone Park, also in a predawn action, and two days earlier a vacant lot owned by the City near the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club.
And on September 3, the City of Berkeley ordered “persons encamped in the Ohlone Greenway between Gilman and Santa Fe” to vacate the Greenway by September 8.
The Eighth and Harrison site is still protected by a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). It was recently extended until January 13, 2026 due to the illness of an attorney.
The next several months will be filled with promise and risk. Will government leaders truly listen to the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness, understand he barriers they face in securing housing, and include them in the decision-making?
Will money flow to meet people’s needs or be siphoned off to high-paid consultants?
Will the city and county move with the speed that is necessary in an emergency threatening hundreds of our neighbors?
The answers are in our hands.
