Celebrating Berkeley’s first Small Site investment: Stuart Street Apartments open!

On Wednesday September 14, the Bay Area Community Land Trust (BACLT) celebrated the opening of Stuart Street apartments to its first residents with Berkeley leaders, McGee Avenue Baptist Church representatives, and long-time supporters including the Berkeley Rotary Club. After three years of construction, the formerly dilapidated building now has solar panels, an electric vehicle charging station, and a new ADA-accessible unit on the ground floor. Every unit has been updated to ensure modern necessities like high-speed internet access while conforming with the City of Berkeley’s environmental codes, including electric ranges and automatic bathroom fans for ventilation.

The renovation was made possible by a $1 million loan from the City of Berkeley’s Small Sites Program, which helps nonprofits acquire multi-tenant buildings with up to 25 units, as well as support from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, The Bay’s Future Fund, the San Francisco Foundation, and the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Each of the eight units cost about $415,000 to preserve, compared to the regional standard cost of $726,469 for newly-built units. Speakers included Councilmember Ben Bartlett, whose great-grandfather was a preacher at the church. As the cost of housing has gone up, low-income people have been pushed out over time, including Black residents who are disproportionately affected by inequity in the region. The building continues to be owned by the McGee Avenue Baptist Church, and the partnership with BACLT has meant helping stabilize housing for residents of color in Berkeley. Derrick Jourdan, long-time church member and former board chair,

Even with the wonderful investments from funders and lenders, the project ran over budget due to inflating costs during the pandemic. Help BACLT cross the finish line by contributing to the GoFundMe, which will help complete final renovations including landscaping for a garden so that residents can grow food and flowers on-site.

Read the news articles about the apartments from KQED, the Daily Cal, and from Berkeleyside to learn more about the celebration day. For more about the acquisition of the site, read these stories about the partnership between the McGee Avenue Baptist Church and BACLT and the ground-breaking of construction.