Niles Bolton Takes Aim at Berkeley With Plan for 111 Apartments

Niles Bolton Associates wants to replace Main Street-style storefronts in Downtown Berkeley with an eight-story apartment building.

The Atlanta-based developer has filed preliminary plans to build a 111-unit complex at 2450 and 2480 Shattuck Avenue, near the UC Berkeley campus, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

It would bulldoze two commercial buildings containing a Tuk Tuk Thai restaurant, a laundromat, Trek Bicycle Berkeley Downtown and Starving Musician, which sells musical instruments.

Plans by Niles Bolton include 111 apartments, 2,000 square feet of ground-floor shops, 3,750 square feet of community rooms, a rooftop terrace and parking for 78 bicycles.

The developer would employ Senate Bill 330 to streamline housing approvals. The number of affordable units, if any, was undisclosed.

A trust controlled by John Gordon and Janis Mitchell bought the single-story building at 2450 Shattuck in 1998. A limited liability company led by the pair bought the building next door at 2480 Shattuck in 2018. The amount paid for each property was undisclosed.

The project adds to the number of apartments planned for Berkeley, which has an acute student housing shortage. Downtown Berkeley is growing taller faster than any other Bay Area city hub, with at least six buildings between 16 and 28 stories proposed in its central core.

Berkeley-based NX Ventures has filed plans to build a 28-story, 599-unit tower at 1998 Shattuck Avenue, which would be the tallest building in town, surpassing UC Berkeley’s Campanile bell tower.

Within the last two years, NX has proposed more than a half-dozen apartment projects in the East Bay city, including a 14-story, 105-unit building at 2109 Milvia Street and a 166-unit complex at 3000 Shattuck Avenue.

NX Ventures is also working to build a 207-unit, eight-story complex at 1598 University Avenue; a 16-story, 146-unit building at 2420 Shattuck Avenue; and a 221-unit project with room for shops and restaurants at 2920 Shattuck Avenue.

— Dana Bartholomew