BERKELEY — The real estate firm that had proposed Berkeley’s tallest building has come up short on the site’s loan, a financial setback that raises questions about the project’s future.
NX Ventures, which owns the downtown Berkeley development site through an affiliate, defaulted on the property’s loan, documents filed on Aug. 17 with the Alameda County Recorder’s Office show.
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First Republic Bank is threatening to seize the property through a foreclosure if the bank isn’t repaid in full on a $2.2 million loan the finance firm provided to NX Ventures’ affiliate in 2018.
The development site has addresses of 1950, 1974, 1984 and 1998 Shattuck Ave. in downtown Berkeley and stretches along Shattuck from Berkeley Way to University Avenue.
NX Ventures, headed up by business entrepreneur Nathan George, has proposed several housing development projects in Berkeley.
The loan default applies only to the 1974 Shattuck property, a site where Spats Bar operates. A McDonald’s restaurant is also a tenant on the development site.
Groups other than NX Ventures own the remaining three parcels that would be needed for the project as currently approved.
At the time Berkeley officials approved the project in 2025, the development was poised to become Berkeley’s tallest building, if it were to be constructed.
NX Ventures has yet to break ground on the project, an endeavor that is now under the shadow of the loan default and potential foreclosure.
To further complicate matters, public records indicate that NX Ventures has yet to buy all of the parcels that are needed to accommodate the housing tower.
If the tower is built as proposed, the 28-story high-rise would contain 599 units, city planning files show. An estimated 58 units would be set aside for low-income residents.
The NX Ventures affiliate paid just under $2.1 million for the parcel in 2014. The delinquent loan matured in February 2025, county real estate files show.