Nearly seven weeks after a historic flooding inundated the $60 million Coliseum Connections apartment complex, nearly every tenant of the 110-unit building remains evacuated in hotel rooms.
OAKLAND — Built four years ago over a neighborhood in distress, the Oakland Connections apartments was once a beacon of hope in East Oakland — a gleaming new development with millions of dollars in public funding. California Gov. Gavin Newsom even used it as the backdrop for the high-profile signing of 27 bills in 2021, promising to aid in the creation of 84,000 new homes across California.
Coliseum Connections Apartment resident Faviola Ramos spends time with her children Sapphire, 8, right, and Sureneity, 11, in their temporary housing at the Residence Inn by Marriott Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. The Oakland City Council approved $2 million in funding to continue to house residents in hotels after the complex flooded during a recent storm, but there’s no clear date when they can return.
Oakland’s housing director is adamant that Coliseum Connections can be salvaged. Oakland and Alameda County housing officials are considering additional allocations of about $2 million to pay for repairs at the building and to help the displaced residents. Tenant Josue Franco places a candle during a vigil at the Coliseum Connection Apartments in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. The Oakland City Council approved $2 million in funding to continue to house these residents in hotels after the complex flooded during a storm, but there’s no clear date when they can return.
Water poured into the building’s below-ground parking garage, and residents said they saw at least a dozen vehicles submerged in several feet of water that evening. Another 10 inches of water flooded the apartments’ front lobby as 71st Avenue and Snell Street transformed into slow-moving canals. “It was just crazy, everyone was worried” Ramos said. “All the street was flooded — you couldn’t ride through there at all.”
“I don’t know to do it. It’s stressful for them, as well as for me,” Ramos said. “They’re just tired of being there. They want to go back home.” Mun said the city is working to pay each tenant $500 in assistance guaranteed to them through a tenants’ rights ordinance. The city said it will recoup that roughly $55,000 tab from the project’s owner and developer, UrbanCore Development.
BART officials disputed that claim, arguing the company was required to carry flood insurance “for the entirety of the lease term, not just construction,” according to Alicia Trost, a BART spokesperson.Sapphire Mendez, 8, right, and her sister Sureneity, 11, make signs during a tenant’s vigil at the Coliseum Connection Apartments in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023.
Tenants spell out “No Love” with candles during a vigil at the Coliseum Connection Apartments in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. The Oakland City Council approved $2 million in funding to continue to house these residents in hotels after the complex flooded during a storm, but there’s no clear date when they can return.
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