Berkeley apartments flop into loan default as East Bay woes widen

BERKELEY — A big Berkeley apartment complex has tumbled into a real estate loan default, an ominous new suggestion that the East Bay multifamily market is undergoing some tough times.

University Park, the apartment property whose loan is delinquent, is a 97-unit, five-story multifamily complex located at 1709 Shattuck Avenue, according to documents filed on April 22 with the Alameda County Recorder’s Office.

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The delinquent loan totals $28.3 million and was provided to an affiliate of Academy West Investments, the county records show.

Academy West is a real estate firm based in the Orange County city of Aliso Viejo that specializes in student housing and apartment investments.

The loan default is hardly the only East Bay apartment complex that has been jolted with delinquent loan problems.

In recent months, lenders have seized multiple apartment complexes to satisfy delinquent or failing loans. Among the problem properties:

— A 206-unit, 24-story housing tower at 1700 Webster St. in downtown Oakland was taken back on Aug. 28, 2024, by its lender due to a delinquent $90 million loan.

— The Logan, a 204-unit apartment complex at Telegraph Avenue and 51st Street in Oakland, was taken by a real estate firm that had bought the property’s loan and then foreclosed on the financing vehicle on Nov. 27, 2024.

— In September 2024, Bayview, a 186-unit apartment complex in Emeryville, was seized by its lender, CIM Group, through a deed in lieu of foreclosure procedure.

— In April 2025, Orion, a 241-unit apartment complex in the Brooklyn Basin area of the Oakland waterfront, was taken back by its lender, UBS Realty Investors.

As for University Park, the Berkeley apartment complex whose loan is in default, Academy West Investments bought the five-story apartment complex in 2020, according to the property documents.

The apartment building is in North Berkeley, a couple of blocks from the main UC Berkeley campus.

Academy West Investments, which is affiliated with Sunstone Development, paid $34 million for University Park Apartments in February 2020, the county records show. That was the month before the coronavirus outbreak began to unleash devastating economic disruptions worldwide.

At the time of the purchase, the 97-unit University Park apartments had 112 student beds, and Academy West believed the property offered plenty of upside.

Academy West bought University Park as a value-add opportunity that offered investors the chance to increase rents through wide-ranging renovations and adding new beds, the company stated at the time.

“We thought the location of the property was unsurpassed since it’s within a 2 minute walk to campus and near downtown, a major transportation center, and an arts and cultural district,” Tanya Muro, co-founder and executive with Academy West, said at the time her company’s affiliate bought University Park.

Academy West was also betting on the long-term trend of housing supply constraints in the UC Berkeley area.

“We are excited,” Muro said, that upgrades to the units would help University Park “command premium rents considering the demand for luxury housing within this highly desirable market.”