Hasta Muerte Coffee Building

In April 2018, the tenants in the building at 2701-2703 Fruitvale Ave received notice from the property manager that the building was for sale with a pending offer. The commercial tenant — Hasta Muerte Coffee, a worker-owned cooperative — had the foresight to include a first right of refusal in their lease just a year earlier. Fearing possible displacement for both their cooperative and the two low-income families upstairs, Hasta Muerte reached out to OakCLT for support. Despite the incredibly challenging terms of the existing offer (a 45 day escrow period), Hasta Muerte exercised their right to purchase and assigned it to OakCLT. With just over one month to secure financing, OakCLT and Hasta Muerte leveraged the deep community support of the cafe and set up a private securities offering to solicit community-based investments. In just 30 days, nearly $600,000 in very-low interest debt was secured from 22 individuals, over $150,000 in donations was crowd-funded from over 800 people, and OakCLT closed the remaining gap with an equity contribution. The two apartments are now permanently affordable for families earning <80% AMI, and the commercial space will always house community-serving organizations. OakCLT hopes to transition ownership of the commercial space to Hasta Muerte, and create ownership opportunties for the two residential households.