A mural on the edge of the fence of a group of tiny home shelters for homeless people at the corner on East 12th Street near Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on March 30, 2023.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATEResidents of a village of tiny homes built for homeless people in Oakland's Eastlake neighborhood were recently told that the program will close in June, after running for less than two years.
LakePoint Village opened on the site of a vacant city-owned parcel on East 12th Street in late 2021, led by City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas. Initially housing about 80 people who had formerly been sleeping on the streets around Lake Merritt, the site is made up of small, heated Pallet shelters known as tiny homes.
Residents living at LakePoint Village received notices earlier this month stating that the shelter will close by June 9, Oaklandside reported.
A group of tiny home shelters for homeless people at the corner on East 12th Street near Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on March 30, 2023.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATEThe closure will come before funding for the project ends on June 30, according to a statement from Bas that was shared with SFGATE. New affordable housing projects are already planned for the site, including a building of 91 affordable housing units run by the nonprofit developer East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation.
The city is working to place LakePoint residents in alternative housing situations, Bas said in the statement. She is also working with the city to secure funding for the program to continue running for the second half of the year, from July to December.
A group of tiny home shelters for homeless people at the corner on East 12th Street near Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on March 30, 2023.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE"We will also ensure the site is used productively with programs that benefit the community, whether they be a homeless intervention or another city or community program," Bas said.
The notice received by LakePoint residents informed them, however, that "all remaining participants must remove their belongings and exit the site" by June 9, according to Oaklandside.
Oaklandside reported that only about 45 to 50 residents are currently housed at LakePoint, and that one resident was concerned that several of the tiny homes were left vacant during this year's nonstop string of storms.
The East 12th Street property has been a site of contention for several years now. In 2015, the city planned to sell the lot to developer UrbanCore, which intended to build market-rate housing on the property. After several roadblocks and years of the city granting UrbanCore extensions to meet funding deadlines, those plans were scrapped.
The earliest construction could begin on the affordable housing project is February 2024, according to Bas' office.
