Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Kinsell Commons

History

Tassafaronga Village is owned and being redeveloped by the Oakland Housing Authority. Over an acre of land has been given to Habitat for redevelopment. This burgeoning development shares a block with one of the few public parks in the area. The facility has a field with baseball diamond, tot lot, an indoor basketball court and a recreation center with small classrooms and a large community room, offering afterschool and summer camp programs.

Completed in 1965, the old Tassafaronga housing project was the last severely distressed large public housing development in Oakland. The OHA’s plan to build Tassafaronga Village and Kinsell Commons on land that is zoned residential, located within an active redevelopment area, and in close proximity to public transportation, a public park, new elementary schools and a new community library is the most appropriate strategy to mitigate the severely distressed conditions, both aesthetically and socially, that existed at the Tassafaronga public housing site. The development is located on a previously developed, formerly brownfield site with existing utility infrastructure. Brownfields are abandoned or underused industrial sites where redevelopment can be complicated due to environmental contamination. A portion of the site was re-zoned from industrial to housing, thus eliminating the potential for one more Brownfield to remain underutilized and undeveloped. The site is in close proximity to educational, employment (Coliseum Sports Complex, Oakland International Airport, A&B Steel Foundry) and retail centers (Pac n Save, WalMart, Walgreen's) and is well-served by frequent public transit. The site is less than a mile from the Coliseum BART Station.

Habitat’s development of Kinsell Commons will further stabilize the neighborhood by creating a mixed-income community and entry-level homeownership opportunities for low-income families. The target population consists of displaced Tassafaronga residents and local renters. Kinsell Commons' homeownership units are an important part of how Tassafaronga will clean up the former industrial sites, improve pedestrian and vehicular linkages to the neighborhood and beautify the site which will improve the adjacent public park.

About the Development

This twenty-two townhome development is part of a larger development at Tassafaronga Village. The development will feature two homeowner sites. The 84th Avenue Site will be located next to Tassafaronga Park and will consist of fourteen home parcels with a common parking area for homeowners. The 81st will be located on a portion of the former pasta factory and will consist of eight home parcels and a common parking area. One homeownership association will manage both groups of Habitat-developed homes. Most of the homes will be affordable for buyers at less than 70% AMI. The rest of the homes will be sold to moderate buyers.

Each Habitat site will have amenities including landscaped areas, play areas, and allotment gardens. Each home will have a front porch leading into the home from a street, pathway, or the parking courtyards and will have a fenced, private back yard. The homes are designed by award-winning architecture firm David Baker and Associates and will be simple and modestly sized.

The entire Tassafaronga project is registered in the LEED Neighborhood Development Pilot Project (LEED ND) and the LEED for HOMES program. The Project plan has obtained the Stage 2 GOLD certification from the LEED ND program and Habitat has a goal of obtaining no less than a silver certification from the LEED for HOMES program. Sustainable building techniques for the project include: site within walking distance to schools, public transportation, parks and services, project uses existing infrastructure, 100% stormwater filters through soil before going to sewer system, no invasive plants, drought tolerant plants, high efficiency irrigation systems, buildings are 15-35% more energy efficient than required by code, extra building insulation, dual paned Low-E windows, bath and kitchen exhausts provide adequate air changes, efficient wood framing designed to reduce waste, recycling 80% of construction waste, low VOC paints and sealants, composite wood materials, fly ash concrete, photovoltaic panels, and buildings designed with emphasis on durability and homeowner education.