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Two Oakland houses for sale for $1

But both of these homes need new homes

By Adam Brinklow
Two gabled Oakland homes with front porches, one red brick one and one green wooden one, both with large yellow signs posted to the front.

Let it never be said that an enterprising buyer can’t find a deal even in this Bay Area home market. Today, two historic Oakland houses are both on the block for the price of a single dollar.

But any buyer who wants to live in them for more than a couple of weeks (the notice says you have to buy by April 30) will have to find a new home for both of these homes.

3007 and 3009 Brook Street sit on the same block as 3000 Broadway, where Southern California-based Lowe Enterprises will soon break ground on a 127-unit apartment building.

Several existing buildings sit in the demolition zone, including this pair of circa 1900 houses on the back side of the lot. The little red one is a three-bedroom affair and the green one is a four-bedroom home. The last time the latter sold (nabbing $925,000) was last November.

Both of these places will see the wrecking ball soon unless an interested buyer with a mighty big truck swoops in to rescue them. A tipster sent in photos of the notices posted to the front porch of each home:

Free Houses, Must Be Relocated From This Site

The houses must be removed to accommodate construction of a new apartment complex. Pursuant to policy 3.7 of the City of Oakland’s General Plan Historic Preservation Element, the developer is offering this house for a nominal fee of $1 to any person who can relocate it from this location no later than April 30, 2017.

The general plan does indeed specify that:

As a condition of approval for all discretionary projects involving demolition of of existing or potential designated historic properties, the city will normally require that reasonable efforts be made to relocate the properties to an acceptable site.

Posting signs on the property is part of what the city considers reasonable effort under the policy.

Nobody at Lowe was immediately available for comment on the offer, but employees of businesses on Brook Street tell Curbed SF that the eye-catching signs are still there as of Friday morning, so it seems that the offer—and both homes—stands for now.

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