EAST OAKLAND, CA – California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) today joined state partners, local leaders and community organizers to celebrate the groundbreaking of 75 new state-funded affordable homes in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. The housing development at 2700 International Boulevard will include 22 apartments for formerly homeless veterans.
This project is just one of several significant investments in affordable housing along the historic International Boulevard Corridor, the center of Oakland’s Latino community.
“The transformation along International Boulevard shows what is possible when environmental cleanup, affordable housing and community leadership work together. For decades, these sites stood vacant because of pollution. Today, they are becoming homes and places of economic opportunity,” DTSC Director Katherine Butler stated.
DTSC provided nearly $300,000 to The Unity Council to plan the environmental cleanup of contamination left behind from prior uses, which included automotive services and a utility service yard.
The celebration marks more than the start of one development—it represents the visible momentum of five major state-funded cleanup projects for affordable housing in the Fruitvale neighborhood, all within walking distance of one another.
Thousands of properties across California sit vacant because of pollution left behind by gas stations, auto repair shops, dry cleaners and industrial facilities. Cleanups of these sites are made possible through DTSC’s Equitable Communities Revitalization Grant program.
DTSC is part of a statewide effort, led by Governor Gavin Newsom, to address homelessness and the need for affordable housing. The department has invested more than $130 million in the cleanup and reuse of more than 150 sites across 49 cities, preparing them for new life in communities that have historically faced environmental and economic barriers.
This effort showcases the Governor’s commitment to addressing California’s decades-in -the-making housing crisis by turning pollution into possibility.
The four other DTSC-funded cleanup projects in the Fruitvale neighborhood are:
- 3073 International Blvd – This project will provide affordable housing and a community‑serving commercial hub. The site was previously impacted by a 2016 fire; historic auto uses and nearby dry cleaners.
- 2221 Fruitvale Ave (Posada de Colores Senior Housing) – Formerly the site of a dry cleaner, this project now provides 100 housing units for seniors.
- 2372 International Blvd – This site, which was impacted by possible underground storage tanks, will provide 60 units of affordable housing for seniors.
- 3050 International Blvd (Flicker Bird Homes) – This 76-unit affordable housing and Native American community health center used to house an auto repair center.
