Berkeley Hotel Faces Foreclosure After Sale Attempts Fail

The University Inn & Suites at 920 University Avenue in Berkeley is facing imminent foreclosure as lender Wilmington Trust moves to end bankruptcy protections and push the property to an auction.

The 113‑room hotel, owned by Kubera Hotel Properties, defaulted in February 2025 on a $10.5 million loan, Mercury News reported. The default triggered a financial spiral emblematic of the East Bay’s post‑pandemic hospitality distress, with Kubera filing for bankruptcy in June to stall foreclosure and begin seeking buyers.

Court filings show four failed sale attempts, including two before and two after the bankruptcy filing.

Wilmington Trust’s April 2026 motion to lift the automatic stay accuses Kubera of using the bankruptcy process merely to delay repayment, citing “empty gestures” rather than genuine progress toward liquidation. The lender’s filing details how Goldfin Ventures briefly emerged as a buyer in September 2025 before withdrawing, followed by another prospective purchaser in March 2026 proposing to convert the hotel into affordable housing — a plan that also collapsed.

Wilmington argues that Kubera’s inability to close a sale underscores the property’s declining value and the futility of continued court protection.

Kubera Properties CEO Pradeep Khatri acknowledged in an August declaration that the pandemic devastated operations, leaving the hotel unprofitable and unable to recover amid sluggish travel demand.

If the court grants Wilmington’s request, the University Inn & Suites could soon join a growing list of East Bay hotels sold at auction, marking another chapter in the region’s commercial market correction, as properties are foreclosed, repurposed or liquidated to adjust to economic realities.

Kubera Properties belongs to a solid list of distressed companies in the East Bay hospitality sector and Berkeley in particular. In September, lender Invesco took back the Oakland Marriott City Center. A month later the Moxy Oakland Uptown, a Marriott International property, defaulted on a loan from Acore Capital Mortgage. At nearly the same time, Academy West, a student housing developer in Berkeley, filed for bankruptcy.

– Joel Russell