Downtown Oakland's Residential Hotels

676.The average rates in 2002 were 35daily, 199 weekly, and 544 monthly. (Thesefigures have not been adjusted for inflation.)After adjusting for inflation, daily rates haveincreased 34%. Weekly rates have actuallydecreased 4.6%, and monthly rates have decreased 6.4% after adjusting for inflation.Looking back to the 1985 study, the average rates then were 18.50 daily, 77 weekly,and 246.50 monthly. Over the past 30 years,this represents an inflation-adjusted increaseof 51% at the daily rate, 46% at the weeklyrate, and 29% at the monthly rate.Most residents of Oakland’s SROs arepermanent tenants. A full 85% of current residents have occupied their rooms at least onemonth, and 65% have been tenants for at leastone year. An estimated 26% of residents havebeen tenants for five years or more.Several hotels do not accept newguests on a monthly basis. Local residentswho do not have permanent housing mustshuttle around between different hotels every30 days or less in order to comply with thispolicy. (Preexisting permanent tenants mustbe grandfathered in to this policy. For moreinformation about tenancy regulations, seethe “Relevant Legal Statutes for Regulationof SROs” chart.) The maximum stay for newguests at the Hotel Travelers, for example, is28 days. Because the weekly rate at the HotelTravelers is 270, the effective monthly rateis 1,080 per month. This is a full 50% higherthan the average monthly rate for those that doaccept monthly guests.Permanent residents of SROs do notnecessarily pay the market average for rent.Oakland’s rent adjustment ordinance limits rentincreases for permanent residents to the costof inflation. Depending on when a resident hasTable 1Downtown Oakland's Residential HotelsAddress540 28th St644 14th St634 15th St456HotelAvondale HotelThe C.L. DellumsClaridge (formerly Ridge Hotel)Empyrean Towers (formerly MenloHotel)Fremont HotelGrand Hotel (formerly Palm Hotel)789Harrison HotelHotel TravelersLakehurst Residential Hotel123TotalTotal Available Occupied OccupancyUnits UnitsUnitsRate557219755721975570130100%97%65%344 13th St524 8th St641 W. Grand Ave96417796*39*3296*39*32unknownunknown100%1415 Harrison St392 11th St1569 Jackson 95309107260%†100%100%95%90%95%100%45%88%10 Madrone Hotel477 8th StMalonga Casquelourd Center for the11 Arts (formerly Alice Arts Center)1428 Alice St12 Milton Hotel1109 Webster St13 Old Oakland805 Washington St14 San Pablo Hotel1955 San Pablo Ave15 Silver Dollar Hotel2329 San Pablo Ave16 Sutter Hotel584 14th St17 The New Fern's Hotel415 15th St18 Twin Peaks Hotel2333 San Pablo AveTotals*Estimated number, based on visual observations or news accounts.† Recently renovated. Still in the process of securing tenants.moved in, market rents may have increasedfaster than inflation, and the resident may thusbe paying below-market rent.An individual paying more than 30% ofhis or her gross income in rent is typically classified as “rent-burdened,” and an individual6paying more than 50% is classified as “severely rent-burdened.” In order to not be rent-burdened, an individual would need to earn atleast 28,120 per year to afford the monthlyrate. To afford the weekly rate on a yearly basis, an individual would need to earn 40,160

Table 22004 Residential HotelsTOTALROOMSAVAILABLEROOMS278 Jayne Street10101428 Alice Street7474ClosedN/A540 28th Street5252Aztec Hotel583 8th Street5959C.L. Dellums Apartments644 14th Street7268149149415 15th Street3231524 8th Street38389292NO.HOTEL NAME1Alendale Guest Home * †2Alice Arts Center3Asasha Hotel *2541 San Pablo Avenue4Avondale Hotel567California Hotel8Fern's Hotel †9Fremont Hotel10Hamilton Hotel2101 Telegraph Avenue11Harrison Hotel * †1415 Harrison Street908912Hotel Oakland270 13th Street31531513Hotel PalmWest Grand641 Avenue696914Hotel Travelers392 11th Street887815Hotel Westerner * †1954 San Pablo Avenue191916Jefferson Inn1424 Jefferson Street655517Lake Merritt Lodge2332 Harrison Street15715718Lakehurst Residence1569 Jackson Street12712719Madrone Hotel477 8th Street313020The Menlo344 13th Street969621Milton Hotel * †1109 Webster Street585822Moor Hotel *2351 San Pablo AvenueClosedN/A23Oaks Hotel587 15th Street848424Old Oakland Hotel805 Washington Street383725Ridge Hotel634 15th Street20020026San Pablo Hotel1955 San Pablo Avenue14414427Silver Dollar Hotel *2330 San Pablo AvenueUnknownUnknown28Sutter Hotel1068629Twin Peaks Hotel202030Will Rogers Hotel *ClosedN/A31Hotel Royal *ClosedN/A2,2852,237NO. OF SRO UNITSNUMBER STREET3501 San Pablo Avenue584 14th Street2333 San Pablo Avenue371 13th Street2000 San Pablo Avenueper year. To afford the daily rate on a yearly basis, an individual would needto earn 75,433. Area Median Income (AMI) in Alameda County is 65,450 in2015. A person earning 50% of AMI would bring home 32,550 annually. Residents of SROs would need to earn at least 45% of AMI in order to not be rentburdened living in an SRO.Demographic data on sources of income for SRO residents indicatesthat most residents rely on Social Security and disability payments as theirprimary source of income. The income generated from such payments wouldput most residents below the 25% AMI threshold. This evidence suggests thatthe majority of SRO residents qualify as extremely rent burdened.SROs and Affordable DevelopersSince the 1989 Loma-Prieta earthquake, affordable housing developershave continued to acquire and rehabilitate residential hotels. These developers, which are usually mission-driven nonprofit organizations, receive a mixof funding from city, state, and federal agencies to rehabilitate the hotels andlease them out to low income residents. Developers must adhere to a set ofrequirements when they accept such funding: Tenants sign year leases, rather than staying on a weekly or nightly basis. Occupancy is restricted to low-income residents, usually those earning 50%or less of Area Median Income (AMI). The maximum rent that can be charged is restricted to levels set by thevarious regulatory agencies. The units must remain affordable for a set periodof time, usually 55 years under current state regulations. (See Table 6, “SROswith Affordability Requirements” for affordability expiration dates.)State and Federal policies directed toward rehabilitation of SROs intorehabilitated affordable housing have included the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation SRO Program, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This program was designed to help house homelessresidents. The program was later folded into a larger program directed towardsthe homeless, Continuum of Care (CoC). California also sets aside 4% of LowIncome Housing Tax Credit funds towards either Special Needs or SRO project types.Characteristics of SROsOakland’s residential hotels vary widelyin terms of size, cost, quality, and population served. Among the chief distinctions: Size — The Claridge is currently the largest residential hotel, with 197 units.The Silver Dollar and Twin Peaks hotels, meanwhile, have only 20 units each.7

Table 32015 Residential Hotel Survey ResultsNumberHotels Receiving Tax Credits or Owned by NonprofitDeveloperMarket Rate HotelsMarket Rate Hotels receiving bulk of clients through socialservice referralsOnly accepts new residents less than 28 daysOnly accepts new residents for month/year leasesAccepts Daily RentalsAccepts Weekly RentalsAccepts Monthly RentalsRooms with private bathroomRooms with private kitchenBuildings with common kitchenBuildings with private mailboxes for tenants†Landlords that accept Section 8 vouchersRooms occupied for less than 1 month‡Rooms occupied for less than 1 year‡Rooms occupied for more than 1 year‡Rooms occupied for more than 5 years‡Average Daily Rate*Average Weekly Rate*Average Monthly 2%33%67%34%9%32%47%42%15%17%65%26% 62 251 642*Some rent levels are set in accordance with Oakland Housing Authority requirements.†Buildings without private mailboxes typically hold all mail at the front desk in individualslots.‡Where known. Some respondents provided only rough estimates or did not discloseinformation.8 Demographics — The Fremont Hotel andMilton Hotel served an almost exclusively Chinese-American population, with few Englishspeakers among the residents or the staff. Ahandful of the hotels primarily serve populationswith specific needs such as mental health care.Our survey of hotel management did notinclude any questions about the race, gender,or origin of SRO residents. The Housing andCommunity Development Department was ableto separately obtain detailed demographic datafor 240 units, or 22% of all SRO residents. Theresidents of these units were 71% male and 28%female, in keeping with the traditional genderbreakdown of SROs. Residents of these unitsidentified as 66% black, 27% white, and 4.5%Asian. The majority of residents reported socialsecurity and/or disability benefits as their solesource of income, with a smaller group receivingpension payments or general assistance. Needs — Some buildings, such as the Lakehurst, the Avondale Hotel, and the Hotel TwinPeaks, primarily acquire tenants through referralsfrom social service agencies such as Bay AreaCommunity Services (BACS). These tenantsoften have mental or physical disabilities limitingtheir ability to secure employment and housing.Unfortunately, most residential hotels do notoffer onsite supportive services such as mentalhealth professionals, medical staff, job training,or enrichment activities. The Lakehurst Hoteldoes employ a kitchen staff to serve two meals aday to residents, and the Hamilton Apartments,operated by Mercy Housing, offers Shelter PlusCare service. Moreover, many residents may bevisited by social workers and other professionalsindependently of their relationship to housing. Mail Delivery — All of the hotels had some

form of mail delivery for tenants. Roughly halfhad private mailboxes, while the other halfkept tenant mail in individual slots maintainedby the desk clerk. One hotel, the Silver Dollar,had a common slot for all mail delivery to thebuilding. Ownership Status — Many of the hotels areprivately owned. As mentioned above, however, nonprofit housing organizations have takenan increasing interest in acquiring residentialhotels. Not all buildings that receive subsidiesare owned by nonprofits, however. The Claridge Hotel, whose affordabilty requirementsexpire in 2023, is privately owned. The Madrone Hotel is owned by a nonprofit housing developer and receives city rehabilitation fundingbut no state tax credits. Management — The majority of the residenTable 4Residential Hotel DemographicsTotal Units tiracialNumber24067170154699Percentageof Total22.4%27.9%70.8%64.2%28.8%3.8%104.2%Available data indicates that residential hotels continue to primarily serve single men, in keeping withhistoric patterns.tial hotels employ full-time staff during business hours to manage the property. There werea few exceptions. Staff was unable to reach amanager or desk clerk at the Silver Dollar Hotel, despite multiple attempts. Tenants reportedthat the management visits the building regularly but does not employ a desk clerk duringbusiness hours. (A tenant helped us completethe survey.) The Fremont Hotel also did not appear to have onsite management. City staff visited the hotel with a translator but were unableto find a manager on duty or a knowledgabletenant willing to discuss the hotel. Statistics forthis hotel were compiled by observing visualclues, such as counting the number of mailboxes, and shoes at the entrance of rooms. Occupancy Rate — The average occupancy rate is 88% among residential hotels. Thisaverage was distorted by a handful of outliers. Buildings that received guests primarilythrough social service agency referrals tendedto have a lower occupancy rate. In addition,the Malonga Casquelorde Center for the Arts(formerly the Alice Arts Center) recently completed a large renovation and is still in themidst of completing its lease-up process. Theyexpect to fill these vacancies shortly and befully occupied. The Claridge Hotel is anotheroutlier, with an occupancy rate of just 65%.Staff at the hotel gave vague responses aboutwhy the occupancy rate was so low; while insisting that they were all available for rent, theyalso made reference to the units being cleanedup due to damage from former tenants. Taxcredit requirements state that a building’s management must make a “reasonable attempt”to fill any vacancies before allowing a unit toremain vacant or be filled by a market-ratetenant. The occupancy rate of all other affordable housing SROs is 98%.9 Length of Stay -- Some residential hotelsrent only by the day and week, while othersrent only by the month. Overall, 65% of dwellings accepted monthly rentals.Under city law, guests who stay longerthan 30 days are considered permanent residents. This entitles them to certain legal protections: they cannot be evicted without justcause, and rent increases are tied to inflation.For this reason, some hotels have instituted apolicy of not allowing new guests to stay morethan one month (or 28 or 21 days, in certaininstances). Long-term tenants at these hotelsare grandfathered in as permanent residents,while new guests are limited in their stay. TheHotel Travelers is one such example--fifty ofthe seventy units are occupied by permanentresidents, while the remaining units are dedicated to short-term rentals.Private mailboxes at the Fremont Hotel. Roughlyhalf of all SROs have private mailboxes, while therest keep all mail behind the front desk, to be distributed by the desk clerk.

Loss of SRO UnitsWhile the number of SRO units in Oakland conTable 5tinues to decline, the reasons for such loss are multiWhat Has Happened to Former Residential Hotels?faceted. Many former SROs continue to house or serveFormerCurrentlow-income populations. The California Hotel, OaksSROs in Operation in 2004AddressUnitsUnitsCurrent UseHotel, Hamilton Apartments, and Jefferson Inn were renoAlendale Guest Home278 Jayne Ave10unknown Market-rate apartment rental units.vated by nonprofit affordable developers, with bathroomsAztec Hotel583 8th St5958 Transitional Home for Veterans.Affordable housing apartments with private kitchens andand kitchenettes installed in each room. These upgradedCalifornia Hotel3501 San Pablo Ave149137 bathrooms.apartments are no longer classified as “single room occuAffordable housing operated by Mercy Housing. Supportivepancy,” but they provide a much higher quality of housingHamilton Apartments*510 21st St16092 services, private kitchens and bathrooms for all residents.Demolished. Parcel was incorporated into larger market-rateto low-income residents. Other properties have beenHotel Westerner1954 San Pablo Ave19n/a apartment project (The Uptown).converted into housing with onsite supportive services.Savoy Apartments, a project-based Section 8 development withJefferson Inn1424 Jefferson St65101 private kitchens and bathrooms.Operation Dignity, a transitional home for veterans, is atLake Merritt Lodge2332 Harrison St15797 Student Housing for Hult International Business School.the site of the former Aztec Hotel.Oaks Hotel587 15th St85n/a Combined with Jefferson Inn to form Savoy Apartments.Where residential hotels are extensively renovated, some loss of units is customary in order to provideSROs Closed Prior to 2004AddressCurrent UseProject Pride, a development for women in recovery withmore space and amenities. The Lake Merritt Lodge, forAsasha Hotel2541 San Pablo Aveunknown20 children.example, was rehabilitated to provide student housingHotel Royal2000 San Pablo Aveunknownn/a Alameda County Social Service Center office.Henry Robinson Multi Service Center, providing transitionalfor the Hult International Business School. It now has 97housing and supportive services for the homeless. Each unit hasrooms instead of its former 157.Hotel Touraine559 16th Street10862 individual restrooms.As Oakland gentrifies, rumors have spread aboutMoor Hotel2351 San Pablo Aveunknownn/a Vacant building.investors making plans to renovate residential hotels inWill Rogers Hotel371 13th St9663 Clarion Hotel, a tourist hotel.order to market them to wealthier customers. In May of908630Totals†2015, the San Francisco Business Times reported that*The Hamilton Apartments were rehabilitated and converted to affordable studios prior to 2004. They have been reclassified in this report.Hotel Travelers may soon be converted to an upscale†Totals are approximate. Because the number of units at some hotels is unknown, actual totals are higher for both former and current units.boutique hotel. (See “Oakland’s Residential Hotels in theNews” on page 11 for more information.) Sutter Hotelmanagement has also expressed to city staff their interestTable 6in converting their building to upscale apartments. Unlikeresidential hotels managed by affordable developers,there are few restrictions in place to preserve for-profitmarket-rate residential hotels. Oakland currently has asection of its municipal code aimed at preserving SROClaridge634 15th Street2023units (see “Preservation Efforts for Oakland’s ResidentialHotels”, page 16). However, this code relies largely onSan Pablo Hotel1955 San Pablo Avenue2024the discretion of City staff in choosing to issue or denypermits for demolition or conversion.Harrison Hotel1415 Harrison Street2026The M

Residential hotels do not typically require a security deposit, credit references, proof of income, or long-term lease agreement. For these reasons, residential hotels can provide housing for vulnerable populations with unstable finances or little access to credit. In recent decades, residential hotels have gained a reputa-