Oak Park gentrification: $5 million Aggie Square fund to protect tenants from displacement

Hoping to address concerns of gentrification stemming from the UC Davis Aggie Square development, Sacramento will set aside $5 million to fund anti-displacement programs designed to prevent homeowners and tenants from being pushed out of Oak Park.

Since the announcement of the $1 billion medical technology hub at at Second Avenue and Stockton Boulevard, city officials and university representatives have lauded the development as a major economic catalyst, bringing thousands of jobs and significant financial investment to the neighborhood.

But community advocates have repeatedly warned that those benefits may not be experienced by low- and middle-income residents and residents of color. Those concerns led to the creation of a sweeping Community Benefits Partnership Agreement that would invest several hundred million dollars in Oak Park and Tahoe Park through new affordable housing, local hiring requirements, job training and eviction protections.

As part of a deal reached with a group of local organizers called Sacramento Investment Without Displacement, the city is required to allocate $5 million from its housing trust fund and general fund to efforts that would alleviate resident displacement and stabilize the housing market.

Specific details on how funding from the Stockton Boulevard Housing Anti-Displacement Program, set to be approved by the Sacramento City Council Tuesday evening, will be delivered into the hands of residents has yet to be determined.

But city officials and community organizers say it could take any number of forms: Down payment assistance for longtime residents looking to buy a home; direct checks to tenants to help temporarily cover back rent; repair money available for low-income homeowners to avoid code violations, and to landlords in exchange for keeping rents affordable.

“The housing crisis and displacement is real, and for people who are going to be most impacted and who have the least resources ... this fund is really going to support (them),” said Kendra Lewis, a member of SIWD.

A historically Black neighborhood that’s experienced disinvestment and economic hardship for decades, Oak Park is already in the midst of ongoing gentrification, according to data analysis released by the Urban Displacement Project.

Rents and home prices that were already on the rise prior to the pandemic have soared. Young professionals and higher income earners are increasingly moving in, taking advantage of the growing business renaissance and the neighborhood’s proximity to the central city grid.

The median rent in the 95817 ZIP code, which covers Oak Park, the UC Davis Medical Center and parts of Elmhurst and Tahoe Park, is now about $2,300 — nearly double the median rent last year, according to data from RentHub.com. The typical home value of a home in North Oak Park in October was roughly $519,000, according to Zillow data, a nearly 19% increase over the past year, and nearly double the home values recorded in 2015.

“It’s evident that it has been gentrified,” Lewis said. With Bay Area residents flooding the rental and housing market in Sacramento during the pandemic, “it’s a perfect storm right now.”

The city plans to start spending funds “in early 2022” after receiving community input from neighborhood associations, SIWD members and individual residents on specific programs that should be created, according to city spokeswoman Jennifer Singer.

“The City looks forward to continuing conversations with the community on areas of greatest need and impact for use of this anti-displacement funding,” she said in an email.

This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.