Bay Area

Mayor London Breed Celebrates Grand Opening of Treasure Island’s New 100% Affordable Housing Project

On Wednesday, Mayor London N. Breed and representatives from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) joined City officials, community leaders, and housing advocates to celebrate the grand opening of Star View Court, a new 100% family-oriented affordable housing project on Treasure Island.

Published

7 months ago

October 18, 2024

Oakland Post

One Treasure Island logo.

Star View Court offers 138 new affordable homes for formerly homeless families and legacy Treasure Island households

S.F. Mayor’s Press Office

Located at 78 Johnson St., Star View Court is a seven-story, 138-unit development offering homes designated for formerly homeless families, legacy Treasure Island households, and households earning between 50-80% of the area median income.

It’s also the second affordable housing project to finish construction as part of a larger plan to revitalize and further develop Treasure Island.

“We are transforming Treasure Island into a premier, 21st century neighborhood right in the middle of the San Francisco Bay,” said Mayor London Breed. “Star View Court will deliver affordable housing as part of our broader revitalization project that will serve all San Franciscans.

“This is an exciting milestone in our long-term vision that will include more than 300 acres of parks, open trails, restaurants, public art, and the future home of Bay FC’s training complex. But it takes more than the City to do this work – I want to thank the community for their support, as well as our state partners who are providing critical financial support for this project and others throughout San Francisco.”

Star View Court is part of the greater Treasure Island Revitalization Plan, a development agreement between the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) and Treasure Island Community Development (TICD).

This plan includes 8,000 new residential units for more than 18,000 residents, including a minimum of 435 new units that will be prioritizing homeless households to be developed by One Treasure Island member organizations, such as Mercy Housing and Catholic Charities.

The entire Treasure Island project, once completed, will add more than 2,000 below-market-rate homes to San Francisco’s affordable housing portfolio.

“Treasure Island is becoming a model for San Francisco’s future, where growth and community go hand in hand,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “The opening of Star View Court marks a significant milestone as one of the first 100% affordable housing developments on the Island. This project is not only helping to address our city’s housing needs but will also provide a stable and supportive community for current and future residents for years to come.”

“Star View Court represents a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to provide stable, supportive housing for those in need. Overall, our vision is that Treasure Island will become a lively, diverse, mixed-income neighborhood with Star View Court at its heart,” said Nella Goncalves, co-executive director of One Treasure Island.

Increasing housing affordable to lower-income and vulnerable residents is a key priority in the City’s Housing Element which calls for additional funding for affordable housing production and preservation, as well as Breed’s Housing for All Executive Directive that sets out the steps the City will take to meet the bold goal of allowing for 82,000 new homes to be built over the next eight years.

Star View Court was developed by Mercy Housing California in collaboration with Catholic Charities. The new building features a secure courtyard and bicycle parking, parking garage, laundry facilities, and community-serving spaces, including a teen lounge and a community kitchen.

With residents now moved in, Mercy Housing will continue to provide property management services while counselors from Catholic Charities provide on-site support to residents in their new homes and connect households to social services.

“I have been working at Catholic Charities for nearly 30 years. This is one of my proudest days. There are solutions to homelessness when you dream big and get things done,” said Ellen Hammerle, Ph.D, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of San Francisco. “Catholic Charities plays a key role in keeping families housed in the Bay Area. Our partnership with Mercy Housing, the Treasure Island Development Authority, and One Treasure Island means that 138 households now have a future full of dignity, permanency, and belonging.”

“This beautiful, newly constructed building is a crucial step toward ensuring that all individuals, regardless of age or background, have access to safe, affordable housing in San Francisco,” said Doug Shoemaker, president at Mercy Housing California. “Treasure Island is a more vibrant place now that residents have moved into Star View Court.”

Star View Court was funded in part by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) through the voter-approved 2019 Affordable Housing General Obligation Bond, with additional financing support from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) via the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program and the California Housing Accelerator fund, a state program that aimed to reduce the backlog of affordable housing projects that were stalled in the funding pipeline.

“The Accelerator program does just what the name implies,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “This program lets us kick-start shovel-ready projects that otherwise may have been derailed by funding gaps. Now Star View Court stands as the core of what will grow into a revitalized Treasure Island community and a true home for so many who have fought to remain in San Francisco despite rising costs.”

The name “Star View Court” highlights the building’s view of the San Francisco Bay and pays tribute to the former Star Barracks that housed enlisted military personnel when Treasure Island was an active military base. Star View Court was designed by Paulett Taggart Architects, a woman-owned San Francisco firm, and constructed by local general contractor Nibbi Brothers. Local firms Community Economica Inc., Gubb & Barshay, and Rockridge Geotechnical were also enlisted on the project.

Both Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island are being transformed into an environmentally sustainable new 21st-century San Francisco neighborhoods in the middle of San Francisco Bay.

In addition to Star View Court, the larger revitalization project also includes 300 acres of parks, trails and open spaces, with new restaurants and shops, and public art installations.

Bay FC, the new women’s professional soccer franchise representing the Bay Area in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), in September announced the franchise’s plans for the location of Bay FC’s new permanent training facility on Treasure Island.

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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

5 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

2 weeks 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

2 weeks 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.