How an accessory dwelling could turn into a 20-story tower

The project’s evolution captures how quickly Berkeley’s housing landscape can change, as the city and state embrace pro-housing policies. It also shows how one California community can switch its approach to solving its housing problems. 

For years, Berkeley’s shortage of student housing near campus has caused ripples throughout the broader rental market. Students were pushed to live far from campus, which drove up rents citywide. 

It’s a student housing crisis within a citywide housing crisis.

In 2023 Berkeley adopted a major upzoning plan for the Southside neighborhood, after years of debate over how to relieve the housing shortage. The rezoning campaign, launched when I was a student at UC Berkeley and completed during my tenure on the City Council, allowed taller and denser buildings near campus. 

The final vote was contentious. Some council members proposed last-minute restrictions. But a pro-housing majority advanced the plan.

At the same time, lawmakers in Sacramento were rewriting rules to help cities grow and meet their housing needs. Changes to the state’s density bonus law, including Assembly Bill 1287, signed in 2023, allow developers to exceed local height limits if they include additional affordable units on site.

Together, those reforms transformed what was possible at the Berkeley site, at 2425 Durant Avenue. Yes Community Architects included additional affordable homes into the project, triggering the density bonus and unlocking additional height beyond Berkeley’s new zoning limits.

But the journey to project approval has been complicated.

Once plans for the site were in motion, the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association tried to make the existing property at the site a landmark, a move consistent with its pattern of targeting sites slated for new housing. 

The city council unanimously rejected the landmarking attempt. Now, the project has its permit but an appeal has been filed.

When built, the 20-story structure will undoubtedly make some Berkeley residents uncomfortable. But after decades of restricting growth, the city has little standing to object.

Berkeley’s political culture has shifted, slowly but decisively, from resistance to responsibility. That shift didn’t come easily.

For years, progress was stymied by neighborhood opposition and a city council wary of change. But cycle after cycle, pro-housing candidates won elections, reshaping the city’s politics and setting a new course.

And on campus at UC Berkeley, Chancellor Carol Christ championed new student housing, a cause her predecessors had neglected. From Anchor House to People’s Park, the city’s skyline is being remade by new housing for students.

The result is a city that has become one of California’s most surprising housing reform success stories: a community that, after years of hesitation, is building with urgency.

That progress remains fragile. Across the state, local resistance continues to stall housing projects. Perhaps it’s best exemplified by the resistance of Los Angeles’ city leaders to the recently signed Senate Bill 79, which encourages the development of dense housing around public transit locations.

We have much work to do to move public consciousness around solutions to the housing crisis. 

Berkeley’s experience shows that change is possible when local and state reforms align, and when communities are willing to let go of outdated fears about growth. The 169 new homes coming to 2425 Durant are the product of years of advocacy and persistence from residents tired of watching their friends and neighbors priced out.

Progress in city halls and the state Capitol can be slow. But once reform takes hold, transformation can come fast. When the political will exists, even a two-unit idea can grow into a 20-story solution.

Rigel Robinson is a former member of the Berkeley City Council. He wrote this for CalMatters, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.