OCHI - History

OAKLAND COMMUNITY HOUSING INC. was created in 1973 to serve Oakland residents whose homes were demolished for the Oakland Redevelopment Agency’s construction of the City Center Project. The nonprofit agency was a collaborative effort of a grassroots, community-based coalition of local residents, churches, the Oakland Citizen’s Committee for Urban Renewal, the Black Panther Party and the Oakland Legislative Council for Seniors, who came together to advocate for affordable replacement housing.

In 1978, OCHI and the Oakland Redevelopment Agency signed an agreement that allocated $3 million to OCHI for the development of 300 units of replacement housing for those displaced by the downtown redevelopment. Since then, OCHI has developed over 1,000 units of affordable housing in 18 properties, including multifamily rental and homeownership projects. Some of these properties have been developed in partnership with less experienced community housing developers as an investment in community capacity building. Funding has been provided by local, state and federal agencies in addition to developers fees. OCHI has received a number of organizational awards for the quality of its properties and its contributions to the community.

Over the years, OCHI has looked for creative ways to solve the housing needs of East Bay residents. Properties range from newly constructed family-oriented townhouses to renovated single-room occupancy units for very low-income adults. OCHI developments are home to families, single adults, the formerly homeless, persons with substance abuse issues, and mentally challenged adults.

Although originally created to develop rental properties, in 1997 OCHI became the first nonprofit housing developer in Oakland to pursue affordable for-sale housing development on a significant scale with the completion of the Villas at Jingletown. This 53-unit townhouse development was honored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for innovative construction techniques that lower the cost of homebuilding. OCHI will continue developing both rental and homeownership properties in the future.