On Friday, March 2nd Bay Area leaders and community members gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of Casa Arabella, the largest affordable housing project in East Oakland.
The event speakers included Rosy Davalos, Board Chair at The Unity Council; Mayor Libby Schaaf of the City of Oakland; Councilmember Noel Gallo of the City of Oakland; Wilma Chan, Supervisor Board President, Alameda County; James Head, Executive Director, East Bay Community Foundation, and Arabella Martinez, Founder & Former CEO of The Unity Council.
Casa Arabella is Phase II-A of the Fruitvale Transit Village (FTV), the transit-oriented development is the result of a long-term vision to convert the circle of land surrounding the Fruitvale BART Station from commuter parking, light industrial, and single family homes into dense, mixed-use, transit accessible.
During her speech at the groundbreaking, Arabella said she was proud of the project and stated,
“We were able to say, what we are going to do is revitalize the Fruitvale economically, physically and socially.”
Special thanks to Citi Bank, Union Bank, US Bank, Latino Community Foundation, and A2Z Media Group for helping make this event possible.