Oakland will give $1.6 million to the owner of a property used as a city homeless shelter and left in poor condition.
The city leased the historic Lake Merritt Lodge in 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, opening a shelter for more than 100 medically vulnerable residents. The nonprofit Housing Consortium of the East Bay had a contract with the city to operate the shelter, and property owner Vima Harrison 1 LLC provided meals and custodial services.
The shelter closed and relocated at the end of 2024, when Vima declined to renew the city’s lease. By then, tensions were high between the owner, the city, and the nonprofit service provider, with disagreements over responsibilities, behavior, and conditions at the shelter and property…