Bay Area

Former Black Panther Leader, Elaine Brown, Champions Affordable Housing with New Complex in West Oakland

West Oakland is now the proud location for the new 100% affordable housing complex for low-income families. The Black Panther Apartments gets its name from developer and former Black Panther chairwoman Elaine Brown, who says she intends to honor the party throughout the building. Brown helped raise $80 million for the project, which features 79 units and includes ground floor businesses for residents and the community.

Published

2 years ago

August 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Although they cannot house everyone, Brown and her team say that this goes to show the urgent need for more affordable housing projects in the city. They have heard of too many people and families either living on the streets and their cars or packing themselves into a tight living space with not enough room for everyone to be comfortable.

By Magaly Muñoz

West Oakland is now the proud location for the new 100% affordable housing complex for low-income families.

The Black Panther Apartments gets its name from developer and former Black Panther chairwoman Elaine Brown, who says she intends to honor the party throughout the building.

Brown helped raise $80 million for the project, which features 79 units and includes ground floor businesses for residents and the community.

The complex is a brief walk from the West Oakland BART Station, making it an ideal location to access other parts of the city and region within a few minutes.

The upper levels of the complex are almost or completely parallel to a BART track, which can be a disturbing and noisy distraction with how often the trains pass by, but future residents should not worry. Every apartment has a triple-pane window that muffles the sounds of the passing train and traffic from the street below.

Brown said that she had conversations with BART to build a cover over the train track to dampen the noise, but her efforts came to no avail.

The ground-level businesses will feature a grocery store, gym, restaurant, and tech space. The restaurant will be called “Taste of Power.”

The businesses are co-owned by formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs and will allow those in the building to possibly apply for available jobs.

The complex will also feature three greenhouses that will be maintained to sell to the downstairs grocery store. Residents will have the opportunity to apply for jobs here as well.

But Brown emphasized that this apartment complex was not a transitional housing service or “survival program,” if people want to make their way in this capitalistic world, they have to work for it, she says.

“This is not a charity,” Brown repeated throughout the tour.

She said everyone is entitled to housing regardless of their background, but she would not be providing therapy, substance abuse programs or case work management. This is a place to give people a much-needed roof over their head.

There are studios and 1- to 2-bedroom apartments available to rent. Each apartment will come furnished with a dining table, a sofa bed in the living room, and beds for each room. Bathrooms can also be adapted for ADA accessibility.

A community room and kitchen will also be available to residents for socializing or hosting their own private events. Each residential floor also has water fountains, laundry rooms, and trash chutes.

West Oakland was once a thriving hub for Black folks, featuring restaurants, bars, music clubs and more. The area was made up of a majority of Black people and their families, but the population has slowly dwindled over the years.

It did not take long for people online to criticize the development, saying that it was a waste to build in West Oakland and the apartment complex would soon “turn into a drug den.”

Brown said she does not respond to petty comments about people who are not making any change in their community.

“What I’m hoping for is that this will inspire developers to actually develop beautiful housing for poor people who can’t afford market prices,” Brown said.

The limited amount of units available has not stopped people from applying. The complex currently has received over 7,000 applications that will be filtered through the county’s coordinated entry program.

The development is one of the few affordable housing projects in the area to successfully pan out from start to finish.

Residents will begin to move into their units starting in September.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

4 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.