Oakland housing tower is grabbed by lender over failed property loan
OAKLAND — An Oakland housing tower has been seized by its lender due to a delinquent real estate loan for the highrise, which has become an eye-catching addition to the city’s skyline.
A residential highrise at 1700 Webster Street in downtown Oakland has been seized by its lender through a process known as a deed in lieu of foreclosure, according to documents filed on Aug. 28 with the Alameda County Recorder’s Office.
ZO Oakland Apartments, as the 206-unit housing tower is known, soars 24 stories above downtown Oakland, according to a post by Suffolk Construction, the highrise’s general contractor.
An affiliate of real estate firm Gerding Edlen developed the tower, a notable addition to the downtown Oakland skyline when it was completed in 2019. At the time, it was the first highrise to break ground in Oakland since 2008, according to Suffolk Construction.
In 2020, Portland, Ore.-based Gerding Edlen, acting through its affiliate, obtained a $90 million loan from The Union Labor Life Insurance Co., a 97-year-old insurer based in Washington, D.C.
That loan had an unpaid balance of $89.8 million at the time Union Labor Life Insurance took back the highrise.
What the life insurance firm intends to do with the residential tower wasn’t immediately clear. Lenders, however, typically prefer to find new owners for properties they seize due to a non-performing or delinquent loan.
ZO Oakland Apartments offers studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, according to the primary website for the tower.
The apartment complex’s amenities include a roof deck pool, indoor and outdoor lounge, a lobby with outdoor access, an outdoor terrace with firepits and grilling stations, a boutique fitness center, outdoor play spaces for pets, and a pet spa.
“Our rooftop pool and lounges bring people together and our location in downtown Oakland supports an active lifestyle, both within our walls and out around Lake Merritt,” states the website for the ZO Oakland Apartments.