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Oakland's Uptown Apartments 60% Vacant; Get One Cheap, If You Dare
One of the biggest gambles (or corrupt city investments, depending on how you see it) in Oakland Redevelopment history, the 665-unit mixed-use development known as the Uptown Project, remains only 37% occupied more than a year after opening, according to recent management reports obtained by the East Bay Express. Arguably 25 of that 37% are occupied by low-income tenants as part of the city-mandated group of units set aside as affordable units.
For those who are unfamiliar, "Uptown" is a section of downtown Oakland smack between the 12th and 19th Street BART stations, adjacent to the recently reopened Fox Theatre. Smaller units at the Uptown are said to be going for $725/month, and the developer's website is currently advertising two-month rent concessions (meaning you get two months rent free as part of signing a lease, thereby bringing your actual annual rent down 15%).
Early critics of the project pointed to the enormous subsidy given to it from Oakland Redevelopment Agency funds ($53.4 million), despite the fact that none of the other developments in ex-mayor Jerry Brown's 10K initiative received any subsidy. Granted, the majority of those developments were condominiums in and around Jack London Square, some of which have had to convert to rentals as the economy turned. Rising incidents of street crimes the last two years and Oakland's recent spate of horrible PR also aren't helping the place fill up.
The developer, Forest City Developers, who are also responsible for the Westfield Centre in San Francisco, were significant contributors to Jerry Brown's campaign to become CA Attorney General, so you do the math.
Our recommendation: if you're in the market for an apartment and aren't scared of downtown Oakland, you may want to check this place out in a few months. Rents should hit their floor pretty soon, and if you're there when the developer decides to condo-convert in an act of desperation, you might just get a deal you can't refuse and in 5 to 10 years the neighborhood might be cool and vaguely safe.
Or you can just sit back and chuckle at the folly of our elected officials and the misguided use of property tax dollars.