Developer pitches 23-story apartment building near UC Berkeley

One block of University Avenue could soon be home to two of Berkeley’s tallest buildings.

A Walnut Creek-based developer has submitted a proposal to build a 23-story, 240-apartment tower at 2029 University Ave., a few steps from the corner lot where another developer has pitched a 26-story building that would stand taller than the UC Berkeley Campanile.

Laconia Development plans to include 36 below-market-rate apartments in the 2029 University Ave. project, half of which would be affordable for very low-income renters and half for moderate-income tenants. The project will replace a two-story commercial building and a rear parking lot. It will also have a garage with 29 parking spaces.

City records show a pre-application for the project was submitted Dec. 10, though a full application and renderings were not available. The project was first reported by SF YIMBY.

Berkeley once had years-long battles over whether to build high-rise apartments of up to 18 stories tall. But with those fights settled and new state laws in effect that let developers unlock a “density bonus” of taller height limits if they include a share of affordable housing, there are half a dozen projects of 20 stories or more in the city’s housing pipeline.

The tallest structure downtown today, the SkyDeck building at 2150 Shattuck Ave., is just under 200 feet tall.

In addition to the two projects along the 2000 block of University Avenue, the city has approved a 25-story project planned at Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way, as well as a 26-story building at Center and Oxford streets. SF YIMBY has also reported on plans for a 20-story apartment building on Durant Way near Telegraph Avenue, and a proposal to increase the height of a project planned for the site of the shuttered California Theatre to 23 stories.

UC Berkeley, which is not bound by city zoning rules, is also moving to build a 23-story dorm tower at Bancroft Way and Fulton Street, where construction could start later this year.

It’s unclear when any of the other projects might break ground, however. Private housing construction in Berkeley, which was at its highest levels in decades a few years ago, has slowed significantly since interest rates rose in 2022.