Berkeley apartment complex is foreclosed at sharply discounted value

"The foreclosure proceeding forced Academy West Investments to lose its ownership of the property, which the real estate firm had bought in 2020 for $34 million. In 2023, Terra Property Trust provided the Academy West affiliate with a loan for the University Park apartments that totaled $28.3 million, the county property files show. This means the foreclosure value was 26.5% below what the prior owner had paid for the property."

"Academy West staged a battle in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to attempt to stall or ward off the foreclosure proceeding. Some filings in the bankruptcy case indicate that Academy West wasn't collecting nearly enough from rents to cover the property's monthly mortgage costs, let alone other crucial expenses such as insurance, maintenance, and property taxes. Academy West was losing money each month for at least a one-year period that ended in September 2025, court papers showed."

University Park is a 97-unit apartment complex at 1709 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley that underwent foreclosure and was placed at a $25 million value during a Jan. 22 trustee's sale. The property had been bought in 2020 for $34 million by an affiliate of Academy West Investments, which focuses on student housing and is associated with Sunstone Development. A 2023 loan from Terra Property Trust totaled $28.3 million. The foreclosure valuation was 26.5% below the 2020 purchase price and 11.7% below the loan. Bankruptcy filings indicate rent collections of roughly $147,600 per month were insufficient to cover mortgage and operating costs, and ownership was lost through foreclosure.

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