Nearly three years after Holy Names University shut down amid declining enrollment and rising costs, the 60-acre campus nestled in the East Oakland hillside is set to be reborn for a new purpose: housing.
On Friday, BH Properties, which purchased the property in 2023 for $65 million, is expected to file an application to build 165 single-family homes on the property while retaining the university’s 400-seat theater, as well as the iconic mid-century chapel and belltower designed by architect John Pflueger.
Los Angeles-based BH Properties purchased the 60-acre campus in June 2023, just before a scheduled foreclosure after the university had defaulted on a $49 million loan. After purchasing it, the real estate investment firm worked without success to attract another educational institution, a tough sell in an environment where Bay Area colleges like Mills College and California College of the Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute have been going out of business after heavy post-pandemic financial losses…