OAKLAND — In a victory two months in the making, Moms 4 Housing will get a chance to return to the West Oakland home they were squatting in before being evicted last week.

The property owner, real estate investment group Wedgewood, has agreed to negotiate a deal to sell the Magnolia Street house to the Oakland Community Land Trust — a nonprofit that buys property and converts it into affordable housing. The land trust’s intention is to buy the house, fix it up and allow the Moms 4 Housing members to move back in, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who brokered the deal, said during a media conference Monday at City Hall.

Wedgewood has agreed to negotiate in good faith and not ask for more than the property’s assessed value.

Supporters of the “Moms 4 Housing” members stand in front of the home that they had illegally occupied in West Oakland before being evicted in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) 

“These three parties have come together to send a message that everyone cares about this crisis of homelessness,” Schaaf said.

The move marks a major win for Moms 4 Housing, which from the beginning had been pressuring Wedgewood to sell the house to the land trust.

“This is what happens when we organize, when people come together to build the beloved community,” Moms 4 Housing founder Dominique Walker wrote in a news release. “Today we honor Dr. King’s radical legacy by taking Oakland back from banks and corporations.”

Members of activist group Moms 4 Housing had been squatting in an empty house owned by Wedgewood for two months, in protest of real estate speculators they say drive up housing prices, leave homes vacant and exacerbate the city’s homelessness crisis. Alameda County deputies arrived at the house before dawn Tuesday, broke down the door and evicted the squatters, arresting two Moms 4 Housing members and two supporters in the process.

Moms 4 Housing founder Dominique Walker, left, hangs out with supporters in the dining room of a vacant house in West Oakland, Calif., on Monday, January 13, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) 

But the Moms 4 Housing movement struck a chord with many in the Bay Area who are fed up with the region’s shortage of affordable housing, as well as city leaders’ inability to shelter the thousands of people sleeping in tents, cars and RVs around the region. The night before the Moms 4 Housing members were evicted, about 200 people showed up at the house to support their cause.

In a “historic agreement,” Wedgewood also has conceded to change the way it does business in Oakland, Schaaf said. Going forward, Wedgewood and the city will negotiate a policy that will require the company to offer community groups like the Oakland Community Land Trust the option to purchase all properties the company owns in Oakland, and convert them into affordable housing. The policy would likely give community organizations a certain amount of time to work out a deal, Schaaf said. If no deal is reached within the timeframe, Wedgewood will be able to flip the property.

“These are huge wins in our fight to address the humanitarian crisis of homelessness,” Schaaf said.

The mayor’s office hopes to expand that arrangement to encompass all real estate investors in the city. Wedgewood has agreed to work with other investors and attempt to convince them to follow suit.

Schaaf said she initially reached out to Wedgewood CEO Greg Geiser, and then learned he was trying to reach out to her at the same time. Their first conversation lasted an hour, Schaaf said. What followed was a meeting between Schaaf, Assemblyman Rob Bonta, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s staff and Carroll Fife, regional director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which has been working closely with Moms 4 Housing.

An Alameda County deputy escorts Moms 4 Housing founder, Misty Cross, away in handcuffs. Four people were removed from a home on Magnolia Street in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday, January 14, 2020. (Marisa Kendall/Bay Area News Group) 

Despite the efforts she made to secure the Magnolia Street house for Moms 4 Housing, Schaaf said she cannot condone squatters illegally occupying property.

“I cannot condone unlawful acts,” she said, “but I can respect them.”

Wedgewood initially had refused to negotiate with Moms 4 Housing members, who it called criminals stealing property, or with the land trust. But after meeting with state and local officials, Wedgewood changed its tune.

“This is progress that everyone should agree is a step in the right direction in helping to address Oakland’s homelessness and housing crisis,” Wedgewood spokesman Sam Singer wrote in a news release.

Newsom on Thursday praised the group, saying it takes a “tremendous amount of courage to do what they’ve done.”

Some Oakland officials, including City Council President Rebecca Kaplan, Councilwoman Nikki Fortunato Bas and Councilman Dan Kalb also expressed support for Moms 4 Housing. Kaplan’s office threatened to seize the house unless Wedgewood agreed to attempt to negotiate a sale that would allow the activists to continue living there.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.