The developer planning 125 supportive housing units for extremely low-income, unhoused or formerly housed people at Berkeley’s People’s Park has pulled out of the project, citing the ongoing court battle surrounding construction.
This is another hurdle in the controversial quest to build on the 2.8-acre park after UC Berkeley lost a lawsuit earlier this year concerning environmental impacts at the site. The university also plans to build a 1,100-bed student housing development on the park, with 2 acres of preserved green space.
The UC is appealing the decision at the state Supreme Court.
Resources for Community Development said its decision was a direct result of the court’s ruling. “RCD continues to be deeply committed to providing housing solutions for low-income individuals and families, unhoused people, and those at risk of being unhoused,” RCD said in a statement sent to SFGATE. “With this commitment in mind, RCD is reallocating our non-profit organization’s limited resources to other developments.”
The statement said the court ruling “sets a dangerous precedent for housing development, especially for the creation of new affordable housing which is so desperately needed.”
UC Berkeley said it will work to bring another nonprofit partner on board. “We are confident that the campus will secure the partnerships and funding necessary to honor our commitment to unhoused people in our community who have an urgent need for all that a new supportive housing facility can provide,” a statement provided to SFGATE reads.
The city of Berkeley continues to offer its support for the project. “The blame does not fall on RCD, but rather the minority of people who are determined to stop progress,” Mayor Jess Arreguín wrote in a statement May 10 provided to Berkeleyside. “They have used the homeless as a prop to support their campaign of obstruction, all the while denying 125 units of needed permanent supportive housing for our formerly homeless neighbors.”
The fight against housing at People’s Park has been ongoing for over two years. Up to 100 people gathered in the space and tore down fences when they first went up in January 2021. Just a month later, 20 to 30 students started taking shifts occupying the park in an effort to encourage the university to choose a different location for housing. In August 2022, the university was forced to halt construction due to “the destruction of construction materials, unlawful protest activity, and violence.”
Located in the center of the Bay Area’s high-priced and famously tight real estate market, UC Berkeley faces a student housing shortage. According to a 2017 survey, it “has the lowest percentage of beds for its student body of any campus in the UC System.” The survey also found that 10% of respondents self-identified as having experienced homelessness at some point while attending UC Berkeley.