Bay Area

Over 1500 Oakland Hotel Rooms Sit Empty as COVID-19 Pandemic Spreads

Published

5 years ago

April 9, 2020

The Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Downtown Oakland is one of the many hotels in Oakland which has seen a decrease in business since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The hotel has shut down its third, forth and fifth floors. Rooms on the second floor remain open. Photo by Zack Haber.

After calling to inquire at 30 different Oakland hotels and motels, The Oakland Post has identified approximately 1,625 rooms that sat vacant on April 5 and 6. Unhoused residents, housing activists, and some local politicians have called for these rooms to be used to shelter those currently living on the streets to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“We should be using hotel rooms rather than big shared spaces in order to prevent the spread of disease,” said Oakland’s City Council President Rebecca Kaplan.

Seven of the 30 hotels the Oakland Post contacted refused to say how many rooms were empty, and two hotels never answered the phone after multiple calls.

While the state of California has helped secure 393 rooms in two Oakland hotels for the purpose of sheltering unhoused residents during the pandemic, the vast majority of these rooms still sit empty as the county of Alameda, which controls access to these rooms, won’t admit those who have not tested positive for the virus, shown COVID-19 symptoms, or been knowingly exposed to COVID-19.

In addition to those living on the streets, unhoused residents and their advocates worry about the crowded conditions within Bay Area shelters that make it impossible to follow six feet social distancing recommendations, especially as 70 unhoused residents in shelters in San Francisco have recently tested positive for the virus.

Kaplan says she’s encouraged Governor Gavin Newsom and county leaders to make use of empty rooms.

“We should be using hotel rooms already, immediately, and not wait until people are sick,” said Kaplan.

Those who have studied COVID-19 insist that while the virus is fatal for some, others who have the virus and can transmit it to others show no symptoms.

“We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms and that even those who eventually develop symptoms can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms,” says a recent recommendation on the Center of Disease Control’s (CDC) website, which lists eight studies to support its claim.

Iceland, which has tested about 5% of its population for COVID-19, has reported that 50% of those who’ve tested positive say they felt no symptoms.

In order for more of the 393 currently available Oakland hotel rooms to be filled, the county of Alameda would have to ease its requirements for who’s allowed to live in them.

Governor Newsom has the power to open the 1,625 rooms that The Oakland Post has identified as currently sitting empty — to unhoused residents. He also has the power to open over 4,000 rooms to unhoused residents, some of which are vacant and some of which are occupied, that the county of Alameda has identified throughout the East Bay.

Newsom declared a state of emergency on March 4. Chapter 7 and article 3 of California’s Emergency Services Act allows him to “commandeer or utilize any private property or personnel deemed by him necessary.”

While the article also requires that the state “pay the reasonable value” of utilized private property, it does not define what “reasonable value” means.

It is unclear what the reasonable value would be to use a room in the Ramada INN which reported that all 64 of its rooms were empty on April 6, to help in a public health emergency. Nor is it clear what the reasonable value would be for the state to use one of the over 120 rooms that sit empty at Courtyard by Marriott, in downtown Oakland, who’s reported that it has closed its 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th floors and is only currently renting out rooms on its 2^nd floor.

California and Alameda County are currently sharing the cost of 186$ per day to rent rooms the 393 rooms at The Radisson and The Comfort INN and Suites, but that price matches the most expensive highest quality room at The Radisson. The county and the state are overpaying for standard rooms, which make up the vast majority of rooms they’re leasing and typically cost $85–$160 per day.

The City of Oakland’s communications team says “we are currently exploring opening one or more additional hotel to respond to COVID-19, with an emphasis on hotels that could be acquired and permanently used as homeless programs in the future,” but did not offer a timeframe for acquiring them.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

3 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.