UC Berkeley Students to Get More Housing Options

Student housing in Berkeley continues to grow, with the latest offering coming from NX Ventures.

The Berkeley-based firm has submitted plans to build a 214-unit dorm-style student apartment building at 1899 Oxford Street, across the street from the University of California, Berkeley campus, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The project would be composed of dorm-style efficiency apartments with common kitchens, lounges and study spaces for residents on each floor. A fitness room and roof deck is also planned for the site.

It would include 17 very-low-income and 16 middle-income units, giving the project a 96.3 percent density bonus. The Berkeley-based developer and Trachtenberg Architects applied using SB 330, which would expedite approval process, eliminate some restrictions on housing development and limit the number of public meetings for a project.

Just a few years ago, Berkeley’s housing market was one of the most competitive in the Bay Area. UC Berkeley and private multifamily developers have sought to fill that gap, creating thousands of beds and driving down rents up to 25 percent, according to the Business Times. The university provides housing for only a quarter of its student body — the lowest rate in the UC system.

NX Ventures is partnered with property owner Berkland Foundation to bring the Oxford Street development to life. It initially considered building housing on the site’s parking lot, and before the pandemic, it was in talks with the university to either sell the property or develop it into student housing for the university.

With the passing of new state legislation and local zoning code changes that enabled a larger and denser project than previously planned, NX Ventures abandoned its plans with the university and filed its own plans with the city. NX and Berkland Foundation never entered a contract or development agreement with the university.

To make way for the project, the developer would demolish a two-story, eight-unit multifamily building owned by the Berkland Foundation and merge two lots. The residential building was used for Garber House, a professional and educational center for men, though its relocation last year a block away freed up space to increase housing capacity from 167 units to 214.

NX Ventures’ project is slated to come before the Zoning Adjustment Board in the fall. Construction on the project is estimated to begin next spring and complete in summer 2027.

— Chris Malone Méndez