Landmark Properties has paid $27.7 million for a mixed-use commercial building in Downtown Berkeley it wants to replace with a 25-story apartment tower.
An affiliate of the Georgia-based developer bought the two-story building at 2190 Shattuck Avenue and filed plans to build a 326-unit apartment complex, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The building now containing a Walgreen’s drugstore would be demolished.
The seller was an affiliate of PGIM Real Estate, a New Jersey-based unit of Prudential Financial that has been steering the project through the city approval process. It bought the property in 2015.
The 25-story tower would replace previously approved plans for an 18-story highrise with 274 units and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants, according to SFYimby.
The previous project by Mill Creek Residential was fought by neighbors for being so tall it blocked views of the Golden Gate Bridge from Campanile Way. The Berkeley City Council in 2019 rejected several appeals to stop development.
Recent changes to the state density bonus law allow developers to build progressively denser than local zoning allows, which has led several developers to update proposals to build the tallest buildings in the city.
Twenty-five stories seems to be the going range.
Landmark Properties’ plans to build its 25-story project, originally floated by PGIM, include 326 studio-to-five-bedroom apartments, 33 of which would be set aside as affordable. Each apartment would have stainless-steel appliances, hardwood-style floors and a bathroom connected to each bedroom.
The beige-colored tower, designed by Trachtenberg Architects, would include 7,500 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants. To top it off, a 9,700-square-foot roof deck would host a dog park, hot tub and lounge. Construction would be completed by fall 2026.
Landmark’s other Berkeley buildings are a 318-unit apartment complex at 2580 Bancroft Way and a 98-unit building at 2010 Milvia Street, according to its website.
Elsewhere in Berkeley, Chicago-based developer Core Spaces submitted a 25-story, 551-unit project in June at 2128 Oxford Street after first proposing a 17-story version with 268 fewer units, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
This week, Laconia Development updated plans to build a 25-story, 219-unit project at 2015 Blake Street after first proposing 161 units.
— Dana Bartholomew
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