UC’s Original Plan Preserved 1921 Walnut

The new plan (Anchor House or Project #1) will demolish rent-controlled housing to built high-end student housing with luxury amenities.

As of January 2020, UC actually planned to preserve 1921 Walnut St and build student housing around us. See the UC Regents Board meeting here

This project was called Gateway and left 1921 Walnut alone, see the first chart below. This project was ready to go!

Then during the covid pandemic in 2020, UC changed their plans. They bought 1921 Walnut, added fancy amenities, less student housing beds and tried to quietly push through the change. See the second chart below. Note* 43,000 sq ft of amenities )including a scullery!!), a 8,000 sq ft of fitness center (private gym, even though UC has world-class gyms less than a mile away), 6,500 sq ft for events center, etc… This is a fancy, high-end and luxury style student housing. This is not the low-cost housing students want and they need to solve the student housing crisis. This is planned for wealthier students with resources to pay and it’s being built at the expense of existing rent-controlled housing. To see a more in-depth discussion on this, check out Berkeley Architectural Heritage Associations 161 page response to UCB’s Long Range Development Plan here.