University Park, a five story, 97 unit apartment complex at 1709 Shattuck Avenue, just a block from UC Berkeley, has landed back in its lender's hands after a trustee's sale on Thursday. Trustee documents from the sale put the price at $25 million, a sharp cut from the roughly $34 million the current owner paid in 2020. The move drops the building into a growing pile of East Bay multifamily takebacks that are changing hands well below their previous purchase prices.
An affiliate of Academy West Investments, a Sunstone Development division led by Blake Wettengel and Tanya Muro, bought the site in 2020 and later ran into trouble after taking on financing to renovate and add beds. The company later filed for Chapter 11 as defaults piled up, according to The Real Deal. That earlier reporting detailed how the owner was counting on the property's proximity to campus to support higher rents.
Auction Paperwork Lays Out The Discount And Debt Gap
Trustee's sale paperwork placed the University Park property's value at $25 million, according to The Mercury News. That figure amounted to about a 26.5% drop from the 2020 purchase price and roughly an 11.7% shortfall against the outstanding loan, per the reporting. Lender court filings also showed monthly mortgage obligations topping $300,000 while the complex generated about $147,600 in rent each month, a gap that does not leave much room for error. Co founder Tanya Muro told the paper the site's location within a 2 minute walk to campus and near downtown, transit and arts district was central to the investment thesis.
Part Of A Broader East Bay Sell Off
The University Park takeover is not an outlier, as lenders have reclaimed several Bay Area apartment buildings in recent months after owners defaulted on loans or returned properties via deeds in lieu. Coverage in The Real Deal and other outlets documents cases ranging from a 24 story Oakland tower to Emeryville and Brooklyn Basin properties that shifted back to lenders. Those moves have often set new, lower price benchmarks for multifamily assets across the region.
What Happens Next For Tenants And The Market
With the trustee's sale complete, the lender will decide whether to market the asset for a third party sale or keep it on its books, and either path can take weeks to months. Public title records show notices of default and a prior notice of trustee sale filed last year, reflecting the property's long slide into distress, per PropertyShark. Tenants and campus area stakeholders will be watching closely for any changes to management, rent levels and follow on bankruptcy proceedings tied to the prior owner.
