Nellie Hannon Gateway adds 90 new homes at central intersection where longtime Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program is based
EMERYVILLE (3/25/26) – California state representatives joined Resources for Community Development, local officials, partners and community members today to celebrate the grand opening of 90 affordable homes near transit and other amenities.
Named after the founder of the Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program (ECAP), a critical organization that provides food and donations to local families in need, Nellie Hannon Gateway is seven stories tall and offers one-, two- and three-bedroom affordable apartments.
The Development
Nellie Hannon Gateway is centrally located at the prominent “gateway” intersection of San Pablo Avenue and 36th Street, making it close to shopping, schools, dining and jobs.
The complex is at the site where Hannon, who was a former Emeryville Council member, and others have been feeding the community for decades.
“In 1985, I solicited food from grocery stores and passed out donations from my garage on Ocean Avenue in Emeryville,” said Hannon at the 2023 groundbreaking. “More people kept coming and the need for assistance outgrew my individual effort.
“Friends, family and neighbors volunteered and we formed ECAP. With support from the city of Emeryville, we moved into an abandoned firehouse in 1992. In 1997, we moved to 3610 San Pablo Ave.”
That legacy of giving will continue now from a new, 5,900-square-foot dedicated space on the ground floor at the site.
Half of the units are permanent supportive housing for formerly unhoused individuals, eight are affordable to 21-50% Area Median Income (AMI) households, and 36 are affordable to 51-60% AMI households.
The development was made possible in part through $83.6 million from the State of California, including:
- $20 million from the California Strategic Growth Council’s (SGC) Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program, which is implemented by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). AHSC is currently accepting applications for Round 10. The program is funded through California Climate Investments, which uses cap-and-invest dollars to support projects that reduce emissions, strengthen local economies, and advance equity and economic development in communities most impacted by pollution.
- $44.1 million through the HCD California Housing Accelerator program, which fills financing gaps to keep shovel-ready affordable housing projects on track for timely completion.
- And $19.5 million through HCD’s No Place Like Home program.
“Built on Nellie’s legacy of giving, Nellie Hannon Gateway has transformed the historic Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program (ECAP) site into much-needed affordable housing, while creating a state-of-the-art space for ECAP to continue its critical community work,” said Erin Curtis, executive director of SGC. “Coupled with the transportation improvements, this prominent intersection can now become a thriving community hub with shopping, schools and jobs nearby. We’re proud to support the timely completion of these community-centered projects and the strong partnerships that bring the region together to strengthen resilience.”
“We’re thrilled that multiple HCD programs and our partnership with the Strategic Growth Council could come together to help create this tremendous community resource,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “This property will provide safe, sustainable, affordable homes for so many in Emeryville, while connecting them to transit, opportunity, and the nutritional resources at the heart of its namesake’s life’s work.”
The Nellie Hannon Gateway was once the site of a dry cleaner, which left behind contamination. Thanks to funding from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) Equitable Communities Revitalization Grant Program, the site was cleaned up, and the project was able to move forward.
“Cleaning up contamination is an essential but often invisible part of solving California’s housing crisis,” said DTSC Director Katherine Butler. “We are transforming places once dominated by pollution into places of endless possibilities. This complex will be more than a place to live. It will be home for dozens of new residents.”
Additional Investments
Amenities at the development include bike and automobile parking, a courtyard, and a full kitchen and community room. Residents get free transit passes for three years, and there is funding for two workforce development programs.
Transportation components include two new rail cars for Bay Area Rapid Transit, bikeways, a pedestrian path, lane striping, urban greening, bus stop canopies and enhancements to lighting to improve safety.
The project is estimated to prevent 29,007 metric tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to removing 24,809 gas-powered passenger vehicles from roads for one year, and create 68 jobs.
About California Climate Investments
California Climate Investments funding is part of the state’s cap-and-invest program, which requires polluters to buy allowances for the greenhouse gases they emit. The funding puts billions of dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — especially in disadvantaged communities.
California Climate Investments includes 117 programs administered by 27 state agencies, with funding directly supporting the governor’s work to build a California for All, meeting the housing needs throughout the state while also protecting California’s climate.
A Housing Approach that works
From the very first moments of the Newsom administration, the national crisis of housing and homelessness – which were decades in the making – has been addressed with ingenuity, seriousness, and expertise. No other state has devoted as much time and attention to these twin problems – and California is a leader in producing positive results.
About the California Strategic Growth Council
The SGC is part of the governor’s Cabinet, a team of state leaders who work closely with the governor to advance sustainability, equity, and quality of life across California—connecting housing, transportation, climate, and community investment.
The 10 distinguished members of the council include state-agency secretaries and directors, and three appointed members of the public. The Director of the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation acts as its chair.
The collaborative structure of SGC provides a pathway for broad implementation across state agencies to prioritize uplifting community voices into the type of projects and resources to receive state funds.
About the California Department of Housing and Community Development
HCD helps to provide stable, safe homes affordable to veterans, seniors, young families, farmworkers, tribes, people with disabilities, and individuals and families experiencing homelessness so that every California resident can live, work, and play in healthy communities of opportunity. Since 2019, the Newsom administration has invested over $15.4 billion through HCD’s many programs to fund development of more than 66,000 affordable multifamily rental homes across the state.