Alameda May Pledge $1M a Year for Homeless Housing

The Alameda City Council will decide on Sept. 1 whether to promise up to $1 million a year, every year, for the next two decades, to keep a new supportive housing project at Alameda Point affordable for the people who'll live there. It's the last big piece the project needs before it can move forward.

What the City Is Actually Being Asked to Sign

The item on the agenda asks the city manager to sign a commitment letter to MidPen Housing and the Alameda Point Collaborative. The city would promise an operating subsidy of up to $1 million a year, going up 2.5% annually, for 20 straight years. That's not money the city hands over tomorrow. The payments wouldn't start until fiscal year 2028-29 and would keep going until roughly 2048.

Here's why that matters: rent alone from the building's low-income tenants won't cover what it actually costs to run the place. The subsidy is there to close that gap so people don't get priced out of their own supportive housing.

What Stardust Gardens Actually Is

Stardust Gardens is 80 apartments planned for people who've experienced homelessness, along with other low-income households. It's the first phase of a much bigger plan called RESHAP, short for Rebuilding Existing Supportive Housing at Alameda Point, which is eventually supposed to bring 332 homes to the old Naval Air Station site.

The team behind it includes:

• MidPen Housing, the nonprofit developer building it
• Alameda Point Collaborative, the local group that's worked with formerly homeless Alameda families for years
• Building Futures and Operation Dignity, which provide on-site services

Why This Vote Is the Big One

The City Council already approved the RESHAP plan back in 2017, and most of the construction money for Stardust Gardens is already lined up. What's been missing is a guarantee that the building can actually stay open and affordable once it's finished. That's what this commitment letter is for. Without it, the project stalls even with the building money in hand.

If you want to see the full staff report or weigh in yourself, the meeting is open to the public. You can find it along with everything else happening around town on our events page.