A Hard Nut to Crack (has been cracked)

Blog readers who have followed our coverage of Regents meetings will know that the issue of displacement of tenants in an older Berkeley building on Walnut Street to build a new student dorm has been an area of controversy.* It appears now that the controversy has ended. From Berkeleyside:

The remaining tenants at 1921 Walnut St. have agreed to move out, setting the stage for UC Berkeley to tear down a 112-year-old rent-controlled building so a new $300 million, 772-bed, 14-story dorm for transfer students can go up. The decision to leave was a hard one, according to a few of the residents, who said they ultimately felt they

had no choice as an array of factors were aligned against them. Ever since Cal purchased the building in July 2020, the tenants have fought its destruction and their eviction. They have held rallies, marched through downtown, made videos, set up a website outlining the situation, and garnered support from the Berkeley City Council, the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) and others. UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley even said in July, as part of their newest agreement, that they would explore moving the building, but that effort never really got far...

Full story at https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/09/22/walnut-street-rent-controlled-building-uc-berkeley-anchor-house.

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*Example:

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2021/05/watch-regents-meetings-of-may-12-2021.html.