NEW YORK: The one hundred and seventieth entry for the seniors housing Global Awards 2016 has been received.
For decades, development investors didn’t want to touch Oakland. In 1997, one economist called the city an “ugly duckling in a bay of swans.”
And developers want in on the action: there are more than 15,000 housing units in the pipeline right now – triple the number built over the last fifteen years. Anti-displacement activists see an opportunity for the city to demand public benefits from developers – things like pitching in to pay for affordable housing, hiring only local workers, or investing in public beautification. The city has leverage. But how far can it push developers before they back out?
One deal the city just made says a lot about the climate of negotiations. The land is a city-owned parking lot at 23rd and Valdez near downtown. It’s two blocks from the strip of Telegraph that was put on the map by the popular First Fridays festival, and it’s close to gentrified residential neighborhoods.
Curbing the housing shortage is one of the Schaaf administration’s top priorities.
