Funding has been secured for a new eight-story student housing project at 2538 Durant Avenue in Southside, Berkeley. ACRES Capital, a national real estate lender, is providing the $10.5 million loan. Valiance Capital is the project developer.
“2538 Durant is going to help transform the Berkeley city skyline and provide an incredible opportunity to address a substantial housing need for students”, says Nhan Nguyen Le, Principal & Founder of Valiance Capital. “The ACRES team believed in our vision and provided us with a certainty of execution when it was needed the most as we navigated a shifting market.”
2538 Durant Avenue street view from Durant Avenue looking east, rendering by Studio KDA
The 85-foot tall structure will yield 80,830 square feet, now with around 5,000 square feet for ground-level commercial space. Of the 83 units, five will be designated as Very Low-Income units earning less than half of the Area Median Income.
The dorm-style property will include 270 beds across 83 units. Unit sizes will vary, with 41 studios, 28 two bedrooms, six three bedrooms, and eight four bedrooms. Parking will be included for 49 bicycles and no cars, a decision that will improve the area’s public transit system and traffic.
2538 Durant Avenue lobby entry, rendering by Studio KDA
2538 Durant Avenue ground-level floor plan, illustration by Studio KDA
Highland Realty Capital and ACRES arranged the $10.5 million loan at the Philadelphia offices. ACRES closed the deal with Valiance Capital earlier this month to facilitate the property acquisition and pre-development costs.
“Located just one block from UC Berkeley, 2538 Durant Ave is providing an essential student housing option to the area,” said ACRES Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Fogel. “We are confident that Valiance Capital’s ‘home court’ advantage of being based in Berkeley and their expertise in developing student housing will ensure the project’s success.”
Studio KDA will be managing the architecture for the project. Facade materials will include concrete, board-formed exteriors, cement panels, and painted stucco. Rhoades Planning Group is the project’s planning consultant. Miller Company is responsible for landscape architecture, with Greenwood & Moore consulting for civil engineering. Landscaping will be included at street level, a second-level courtyard, and the rooftop deck.
2538 Durant Avenue, image via Google Street View
The property is in the city’s vibrant, walkable mixed-use neighborhood, one block from the UC Berkeley Campus and two blocks from the People’s Park. Construction is expected to finish by 2025.
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demolishing a beautiful building for an ugly one, yay
and meanwhile UC isn’t building dorms on their surface parking lot next door v__v;;;
Keep the beautiful building and build this new one on the parking lot next door. Now that’s progress!
the surface lot is not UC owned. looking at the building’s width in the renderings, seems like it may redevelop the existing building AND the surface lot?