Segula tweaks plans for 200-unit apartment tower in Oakland

Segula Investments has upgraded plans to build a larger apartment highrise in Uptown Oakland.

The Berkeley-based developer has requested a permit to build a 19-story, 197-unit apartment complex at 2305 Webster Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The firm led by Avi Nevo has revised plans from 2016 that called for a 24-story, 130-unit apartment tower, which was approved the following year.

Four years ago, Segula had updated its plans to take advantage of state density bonus law that allows developers to build a larger building than allowed by local zoning in exchange for affordable units.

The Uptown Oakland project then became snarled in a legal dispute after Oakland refused to refund permitting fees it charged for the original project.

In early 2021, Segula sued the city to get back nearly $450,000, plus costs of the suit and other damages. The city settled that fall, when Oakland agreed to pay the developer $465,000.

The same year, the developer resubmitted a pre-application for a 26-story project, which it’s now whittled down to 19 stories. The developer bought the quarter-acre lot in 2018 for $7 million.

It’s not clear why the developer is moving forward on the project now. Segula could not immediately be reached for comment by the Business Times

The project is among several from the era that have boomeranged back to the city’s development pipeline, though none have been approved. In recent years, only two housing towers have broken ground in Oakland, namely a 452-unit building at 1900 Broadway and a 222-unit building at 1510 Webster.

In February, Oakland-based R2 Building updated plans for an approved 29-story residential building two blocks from Segula’s project at 2044 Franklin Street, adding 10 more floors for a 39-story building.

Last fall, Los Angeles-based CIM Group submitted plans for a 596-unit apartment building at 325 22nd Street, originally proposed in 2018

In late 2021, Pinnacle Red, a unit of China-based Hengshan, filed new plans for a 22-story, 207-unit highrise at 1261 Harrison Street, first first envisioned in 2017 with 36 stories.

— Dana Bartholomew