The State - News from Jan. 2, 1989

Members of a small Oakland church have bought a neighboring motel plagued with prostitution and drug dealing and plan to reopen it as a low-cost apartment house. The Rev. George Epps, pastor of the Greater Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church, said a nonprofit corporation formed by the church paid $550,000 for the property with the help of a redevelopment loan from the city. “We saw this as a great opportunity to try to get in there and make a change,” Epps said. The 300-member congregation plans to first overhaul the motel’s 22 units.