State-Funded Cleanup Enables New Affordable Housing

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Opening of new affordable housing made possible by successful state-funded cleanup

DATE: March 6, 2026

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: More than 200 new affordable homes come to low income and unhoused residents thanks to state funding for cleanup of contaminated land in the Bay Area.

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Richmond – At a grand opening today in Richmond, state leaders and local officials celebrated 43 new affordable homes for families at Legacy Court. Thirteen units are reserved for individuals exiting homelessness.

The Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) provided funding for the removal of contamination at the Legacy Court site.

“Cleaning up contamination is an essential but often invisible part of solving California’s housing crisis. DTSC helps communities remove environmental barriers so land can be safely reused for affordable housing and other community benefits.”

DTSC Director Katherine Butler

Legacy Court is one of three projects in Richmond, Emeryville and Oakland, expected to open this year on land that could not have been used for housing unless contamination from prior use was removed. The three projects will provide 209 affordable homes.

Thousands of properties across California sit vacant because of pollution left behind by gas stations, auto repair shops, dry cleaners and industrial facilities. The Legacy Court site was once a junkyard. Cleanups at these sites are made possible through DTSC’s Equitable Communities Revitalization Grant program. DTSC is the state agency that oversees the investigations and cleanups of contaminated properties in California.

The State’s environmental work has made once unusable land safe for future residents — an often-overlooked opportunity for developers who otherwise see an insurmountable obstacle to building affordable housing in communities with high pollution burdens and economic disadvantages.

DTSC helps local governments, nonprofits and developers clean up and reuse contaminated properties — known as brownfields — for housing, parks, retail and community spaces. Statewide, DTSC is investing more than $130 million for the cleanup and reuse of more than 150 sites across 49 cities, preparing them for new life in communities that have historically faced environmental and economic barriers.

East Bay developments opening in 2026:

✅ Legacy Court — Richmond — Provides 43 affordable homes for families earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of area median income. Thirteen homes are reserved for individuals exiting homelessness.

✅ Nellie Hannon Gateway — Emeryville — Provides 90 affordable apartments, with 39 units set aside for people who have experienced homelessness. The development will also include a food bank on the ground floor.

✅ Native American Health Center — Oakland — Provides 76 affordable homes alongside a health center offering medical and dental care, community gathering space, and new jobs.

Statewide, implementing the vision of Governor Newsom, DTSC is supporting cleanup efforts that will eventually make available close to 5,000 affordable homes once development is complete.

Reversing decades of inaction on homelessness

Governor Newsom is creating a structural and foundational model for America:

✅ Creating shelter and support — Providing funding and programs for local governments, coupled with strong accountability measures to ensure that each local government is doing its share to build housing, and create shelter and support, so that people living in encampments have a safe place to go. This week, through a $77 million investment from California’s cap and invest program, Los Angeles announced the expansion and redevelopment of the largest public housing project in the region, the Jordan Downs Project.

✅ Addressing mental health and its impact on homelessness — Ending a long-standing 7,000 behavioral health bed shortfall in California by rapidly expanding community treatment centers and permanent supportive housing units. In 2024, voters approved Governor Newsom’s Proposition 1 which is transforming California’s behavioral health systems. When fully awarded, funding from Proposition 1 bonds is estimated to create 6,800 residential treatment beds and 26,700 outpatient treatment slots for behavioral health care.

✅ Creating new pathways for those who need the most help — Updating conservatorship laws for the first time in 50 years to include people who are unable to provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care, in addition to food, clothing, or shelter, due to either severe substance use disorder or serious mental health illness. Creating a new CARE court system that creates court-administered plans for up to 24 months for people struggling with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, often with substance use challenges.

✅ Streamlining and prioritizing building of new housing — Governor Newsom made creating more housing a state priority for the first time in history. He has signed into law groundbreaking reforms to break down systemic barriers that have stood in the way of building the housing Californians need, including broad CEQA reforms.

✅ Removing dangerous encampments — Governor Newsom has set a strong expectation for all local governments to address encampments in their communities and help connect people with support. In 2024, Governor Newsom filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court defending communities’ authority to clear encampments. After the Supreme Court affirmed local authority, Governor Newsom issued an executive order directing state entities and urging local governments to clear encampments and connect people with support, using a state-tested model that helps ensure encampments are addressed humanely and people are given adequate notice and support.

In 2025, just a year after he issued an executive order urging local governments to better address encampments, the Governor announced his SAFE Task Force to address encampments in California’s ten largest cities. In just a few months, the task force has addressed encampments in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Sacramento, and Fresno — connecting dozens of people with shelter. Since 2021, Caltrans has removed more than 19,000 encampments on state right-of-way and collected approximately 354,000 cubic yards of litter and debris.

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FOR GENERAL INQUIRIES: Contact the Department of Toxic Substances Control to report illegal handling, discharge, or disposal of hazardous waste, or other environmental concerns using the CalEPA Environmental Complaint System.

DTSC’s Mission is to protect California’s people, communities, and environment from toxic substances, to enhance economic vitality by restoring contaminated land, and to compel manufacturers to make safer consumer products.

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