We are fighting back

1921 Walnut St. Association is a community organization led by the tenants of 1921 Walnut St. and we’re fighting against the University of California and against their billionaire donors to save our homes. 1921 Walnut St. is a 112-year-old rent-controlled apartment building in downtown Berkeley. Some of us have lived here for 20+ years. UC purchased our building on July 15, 2020 and plans to evict us, destroy our homes and community, and redevelop the property for high-end student apartments and commercial space. UCB has pushed through their purchase and their plans during the covid pandemic, causing enormous stress on the tenants and hampering community engagement in the process. UCB has illegally withheld information from the tenants and the Berkeley community and was served a petition in 2021 to release documents. UCB administration led Chancellor Christ has misrepresented the situation to the UC Regents (who will vote on this project). Throughout this process, the tenants have felt harmed, intimidated, ignored and pushed around by UC Berkeley. But we are fighting back!

The Berkeley community is united and clear: we do not want UC dismantling long-term communities and destroying rent-controlled housing to build luxury student housing and commercial space.

We will not back down. We deserve to live in Berkeley too.

Backstory

UC Berkeley Wants to Build Luxury Student Housing Where 1921 Walnut Is, Plans Rushed Through During Pandemic

The new plan (Anchor House or Project #1) will demolish rent-controlled housing to built high-end student housing with luxury amenities. The old plan (Gateway) has more beds and preserved 1921 Walnut. Gateway will mitigate the housing crisis. Anchor House will worsen it.

As of January 2020, UC actually planned to preserve 1921 Walnut St and build student housing around us. See the UC Regents Board meeting here. This project was called Gateway and left 1921 Walnut alone. See map here

Then during the covid pandemic in 2020, UC Berkeley changed their plans. They bought 1921 Walnut, added fancy amenities to the plan, less student housing beds and tried to quietly push through the change. See the second chart here.

Note the new luxury Anchor House includes: 43,000 sq ft of amenities (including a scullery!!), a 8,000 sq ft of fitness center (private gym, even though UC has world-class gyms less than a mile away), 6,500 sq ft for events center, etc…

This is a fancy, high-end and luxury style student housing. This is not the low-cost housing students want and they need to solve the student housing crisis. This is planned for wealthier students with resources to pay and it’s being built at the expense of existing rent-controlled housing. To see a more in-depth discussion on this, check out Berkeley Architectural Heritage Associations 161 page response to UCB’s Long Range Development Plan here.

Community Supports 1921 Walnut and Rejects Anchor House Luxury Apartments

The Berkeley community supported “Gateway” while the Berkeley community rejects “Anchor House” including Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, Berkeley City Council, The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, Associated Students of the University of California, Sierra Club, Berkeley Tenants Union, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and many more. The community is united AGAINST Anchor House. See official statements of support here.

Affordable housing crisis

State Funding Should Support Affordable Housing, Not Luxury Housing

Public University or Private Developer?

UC Berkeley, as led by Chancellor Carol Christ, is attempting to turn UC into a private developer by building high-end and amenity-filled apartments along with commercial real estate in order to diversify revenue sources. However, this is not the UC’s mandate. UC is supposed to be an academic institution, not a private developer seeking to increase revenues through commercial/luxury apartment rents. Under Chancellor Carol Christ, UCB is taking tax payer dollars and availing of state-agency legal loopholes, while also acting like a private real estate developer. This is not only unethical, it also pushes UC into legal trouble. UCB as led Chancellor Carol Christ is destroying the legacy of UC and will create more problems down the road. She only seems concerned with her short-term prestige and is willing to “sell-out” UC to push this project through.

California and the San Francisco Bay Area are in a serious affordable housing crisis. The University of California, who receives public funding, should not be allowed to displace long-term, rent-controlled tenants and permanently destroy affordable housing stock in downtown Berkeley, or in any other community where they have a campus. Especially when they are doing so to build luxury student housing. Berkeley should be livable for everyone, not just students and people able to pay sky-high rents. The rent-control laws need to be honored, respected and maintained.

Rent-controlled housing should not be subject to elimination by a privileged government agency, with our tax payer dollars, in order to build luxury housing.

When UC Berkeley uses our tax payer dollars to destroy affordable housing and replace it with high-end temporary housing, only the wealthy benefit.

UC Berkeley receives money and special exemptions from the state and from taxpayers only if UCB follows certain guidelines. Anchor House does not follow these guidelines.

Our tax dollarS fund U.C.

Make U.C. Accountable

The City of Berkeley has strong tenants’ protections and the State of California passed a new bill in 2019 called SB-330 Housing Crisis Act that supports affordable/rent-controlled housing state wide. However, the University of California refuses to comply with Berkeley rent ordinances or SB-330. We need to tell U.C. that they are not above the law and that they need to respect the voters of California and local communities. Even though the University of California receives public funding through our tax dollars, they are acting like greedy developers who don’t care about the communities in which they operate. Californians’ tax dollars should not be going toward destroying affordable housing in California and evicting long-term tenants.

It’s time to tell U.C. that they are accountable to Californians and the local communities in which they operate.

The City of Berkeley and many other cities have strong rent-control protections to help preserve long-standing communities like 1921 Walnut in the face of increase housing costs and mass displacement. Berkeley is in a housing crisis and also all of Californian is in an affordable housing crisis. In 2019, our elected officials passed SB-330 The Housing Crisis Act to address this crisis and to preserve, protect and create more affordable/rent-controlled housing. However, the University of California thinks that it does not have to comply with this state law. Why does U.C. think this? Because U.C. thinks itself too big and too powerful to be accountable, having so much money and influence, that no one will dare to stand up to them. The University of California thinks that no one can take on U.C in the courts because U.C has endlessly deep pockets which includes our taxpayer dollars. U.C has enormous influence in California politics and politicians are either intimidated by U.C. or helpless against U.C.’s influence.
This is not the California we want.
As Californians, we need to join together to hold the University of California accountable.

If U.C. is able to go through with their plan at 1921 Walnut St, it will give U.C. the green light to do this in any and every community across California regardless of local laws or the S.B. 330 Housing Crisis Act of 2019. Whether you live in 1 of the 10 cities where U.C. has a campus ( San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, etc…) or not – U.C. can purchase your building and you will not be protected by the local ordinances that your local elected officials created nor will you be protected by new bills your elected state representatives pass, such as SB-330. Now is the time to act and to tell U.C. that they are not above the law. U.C. needs to respect the local laws of the communities in which they operate and they need to abide by local laws and the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB-330) to protect affordable housing across California.