BH Properties Plots College-to-Housing Project in Oakland

A former university campus in east Oakland is headed for new life as a housing development.

Los Angeles-based BH Properties filed an application to build 165 single-family homes on the onetime 60-acre campus of Holy Names University, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. BH purchased the property in June 2023 for $65 million.

Holy Names University shut its doors in May 2023 shortly before a scheduled foreclosure following a $49 million loan default. BH swooped in to buy the property and subsequently tried to attract another educational institution to the location. The firm wasn’t successful in its efforts, as schools across the Bay Area like Mills College, California College of the Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute have shut down due to post-pandemic financial woes.

If approved by city officials, BH’s Holy Names transformation would be the second-largest single-family home project in Oakland. The largest, the 918-home redevelopment of the former Oak Knolls Naval Medical Center, has been delayed for three decades. At the same time, another education-to-housing project in the city, the 448-unit redevelopment of the former California College of the Arts campus in Rockridge, is at a standstill because of financial infeasibility.

Not all remnants of Holy Names University will disappear. Approximately half of the 60-acre property will be preserved as open space, and BH will retain the bell tower and chapel as a library and communal space, while the 400-seat performing arts theater is planned to serve as a cultural hub open to the public with performances, talks and classes overseen by a nonprofit.

The existing campus will be converted into a compact residential village surrounding the McClean Chapel and university quad, with about 125 homes ranging from 1,800 to 2,500 square feet. Another roughly 40 homes, each between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet, will rise on the hillside.

The developer is planning to launch a community engagement process to communicate with neighbors and city officials on refining the proposal. Tidewater Capital is serving as development adviser on the project.

— Chris Malone Méndez