Ongoing projects to build tall buildings in Downtown Berkeley are currently seeking to address the ongoing housing crisis in Berkeley.

Trachtenberg Architects, developer of various housing projects in Berkeley, is currently working on multiple mixed-use housing projects, including a 25-story building at 2190 Shattuck Ave., a 26-story building at 1998 Shattuck Ave. and a 17 story building at 2274 Shattuck Ave., which are all in the planning stages. These projects intend to provide housing specifically for students.

“Our sense is that the current dire lack of housing supply, especially student housing, ends up affecting all types of housing across Berkeley including single-family homes that end up rented effectively as large apartments,” said Isaiah Stackhouse, principal design director at Trachtenberg Architects, in an email. “Each and every project contributes to providing new homes and lessening the housing crisis.”

These projects are expected to provide more vibrancy to the downtown area as it is anticipated that they will bring more customers to local businesses, according to John Caner, CEO of the Downtown Berkeley Association.

Caner added that the city is still in recovery from the pandemic. Berkeley lost many of its retailers and restaurants and pedestrian counts are still around two-thirds of what they were before the pandemic. Caner noted that this is partly due to a significant increase in vacancies and people not returning to offices.

Caner added that since most of the housing projects are transit-oriented housing, this means that people will likely walk past merchants instead of heading straight to garages.

“I think most store merchants are supportive,” Caner said. “I talk to some of the merchants regularly and they say, ‘When is this building going to get built?’ ”

Caner noted that while there is some displacement with the construction of a new building, the city and the Downtown Berkeley Association work to help merchants relocate when necessary.

In terms of the housing market, Caner said that in general, an increase in the housing supply would drive prices down and relieve some of the pressure to offer more affordable housing, while transitional housing is also needed to relieve houselessness.

“We’re supportive in building more housing to support the students, and we want students to be close to campus and enjoy our downtown and be part of the community,” Caner said. “We’re particularly sensitive to the fact that for Cal students, the housing supply is pretty stressful. I think this hopefully will go a fairly long way to help provide additional housing for the undergrads as well as grad students.”