OAKLAND -- Jerry Brown, as mayor of Oakland, launched an ambitious "10K Plan" to build new housing and draw residents to populate deserted, blighted blocks of downtown. Now, as the building boom is in full swing and more and more people flock to Oakland, Mayor Libby Schaaf on Thursday will unveil what could be called the "34K Plan" to make sure the city's faithful don't get pushed out.

"This is a city that values diversity ... but we also want to keep this city as a city that has income diversity and is able to house all of its workers," Schaaf said Wednesday.

In Oakland where rising rents have scattered longtime residents, the mayor's proposal would shield low-income renters in 17,000 units, and build another 17,000 units of new homes over the next eight years.

The artwork has been removed in preparation for the new development project that includes a high-rise condo building and hotel at 1911 Telegraph Avenue, photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group) ( Laura A. Oda )

Laws and support to protect renters would be strengthened and fees from new housing developments and a possible bond measure on the November ballot would be used to preserve and create affordable houses, according to the plan.

The new 17,000 units would be a mix of housing for the poor, middle class and wealthy residents, with roughly 28 percent dedicated to affordable housing, the mayor said.

The proposal comes as one of the missing pieces of Brown's plan for a vibrant, 24-hour downtown neighborhood was approved Tuesday -- a 27-story high-rise and seven-floor hotel at 1911 Telegraph Ave. in Uptown. The prime space is next door to the Fox Theater and across the street from the former Sears building, soon to become Uber's headquarters.


The Telegraph Avenue high-rise, considered the first of its kind in a decade, one day will have company, as several large residential towers planned in downtown and Uptown promise to change the city's skyline.

Estimates now place Oakland as the fourth most expensive rental market in the country, where average rents for a one-bedroom home have soared to $2,190 a month, outpacing income increases. Census data shows Oakland and Alameda County were the fastest growing region in the state over the past five years.

In a city where education, infrastructure and crime have historically been pressing issues, housing has emerged as perhaps the most talked about issue of the day. The new report says 22.5 percent of Oakland households are vulnerable to displacement with many spending 50 percent or more of their income on housing.

"My hairdresser has had her place converted, my housekeeper has been threatened with eviction for no good reason ... my next-door neighbor died and his widow is not sure she can still afford to live there. It goes on and on," said Heather Hood of Enterprise Community Partners.

Hood and Assistant City Administrator Claudia Cappio co-chaired the Oakland Housing Cabinet -- a collection of 110 housing experts, advocates, and business and city leaders -- who since last summer crafted a framework that will be used by city leaders.

Construction material has been placed at the site of a new development project that includes a high-rise condo building and hotel at 1911 Telegraph Avenue, photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group) ( Laura A. Oda )

The mayor's plan would be financed in part by a potential $500 million bond measure on the November ballot, raising service fees landlords pay annually per unit to fund the city's rent control program, and a proposed impact fee paid by developers to be used for affordable housing. The plan estimates $61 million could be generated by impact fees over eight years, funding the construction of between 300 to 600 affordable units.

Another proposal would create a program for nonprofit housing organizations to buy and rehabilitate buildings for lower-income residents, with potential seed money from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and a proposed City Infrastructure Bond.

"That to me is the most promising part to everything that was done in the package, but it's not enough," said Bill Rosetti of J&R Associates, an Oakland-based real estate investment and management group. "My concern is this is going to be trumped up as 'we saved Oakland.' This is a big continuing problem that has to be at the forefront of every policy change the city makes."

There are already about 14,000 units of new housing in the pipeline, 6,600 of which are approved and ready to go, city officials said. Even if all are not built, city officials still anticipate they can reach the 17,000 unit mark over eight years.

Greg McConnell of Housing and Jobs Coalition and a member of the housing cabinet, said charging an impact fee could scare away developers, and he suggested the city set aside tax revenues for affordable housing instead.

"In every speech, affordable housing is the most pressing issue in the city," McConnell said. "If that's the case, when you are doing your budgeting, why don't you dedicate some of that money to solving that problem."

The East Bay Rental Housing Association is also opposed to raising fees on landlords. "The vast majority of rental owners in Oakland own only a few units and live on-property," said Jill Broadhurst, the association's executive director. "Driving these owners from the city would only destabilize Oakland's neighborhoods."

David DeBolt covers Oakland. Contact him at 510-208-6453. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt.