BERKELEY | UC Berkeley Channing-Bowdich Student Housing | FT | 26 FLOORS

[38 Geary]

The specs for Channing-Bowdich Student Housing:
- 26 floors, ? ft
- 1,500-2,000 beds for student housing
- 550,000 sq ft of dormitory space
- Amenities include a dining facility, social and recreation services

The site:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQUmJe16b3NaFynr7

UC Berkeley Plans Construction of New 26-Story Dorm Building at Channing Way and Bowditch Street



By: Gabriel Clark-Clough 5:30 am on March 26, 2026

The University of California at Berkeley has made clear its intention to move forward with its largest-ever student housing project. The proposed building would reach 26 stories, rising 3 more above the university’s next largest project, currently under construction at Bancroft Way and Fulton Street.

...

SOM is responsible for the building’s full design and layout. Their plans currently require the partial demolition of the existing property and the integration of its remaining buildings into the larger housing complex. The new structures consist of a split height, with a full height 26-story building at the corner of Channing Way and Bowdich Street, and a 14-story addition stretching further along Bowdich. Early façade designs of the complex show a white and grey cement panel façade with patterned window placement. The first two stories of the buildings are to act as a podium, and they will contain the majority of the student amenities for the site. Design for the base floors is shown as prioritizing light and visibility, with floor-to-ceiling windows and an inset façade. In addition to the indoor spaces, the new complex plans to include an outdoor courtyard space and garden area for the students’ use.

The site’s plans are being promoted by the university as a high-quality solution to the high demand for more student housing. However, there have been some community pushes back against the project. Specifically, preservation-minded community members are concerned about the partial demolition and adaptation of the historic Anna Head School for Girls buildings that are located on the site. While the project plans to partially preserve some of the buildings, there will be significant changes made. UC Berkeley staff chose the site in spite of the raised concerns. The already dense area in Berkeley’s Southside has more limited options for the type of large-scale development demanded by the need for student housing. However, it remains desirable because of its high accessibility, many student-friendly businesses, and a generally social environment. The university likely believes that these many benefits are what make the project worthwhile.

https://sfyimby.com/2026/03/uc-berkeley-...at-channing-way-and-bowditch-street.html

[38 Geary]

And the renderings:







https://sfyimby.com/2026/03/uc-berkeley-...at-channing-way-and-bowditch-street.html



https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/03/23/anna-head-house-uc-berkeley-dorm

[38 Geary]

A potential obstacle.

Preservationists hope UC Berkeley will change course

Founded by one of UC Berkeley’s first women graduates, Anna Head, the private school occupied the site at Channing and Bowditch from 1887 until the university acquired the property by eminent domain in the 1950s. The school moved to Oakland and later merged with the Royce School for Boys, creating the co-ed Head-Royce School. While it has fallen into disrepair, Channing Hall was the first brown-shingle building in Berkeley, where the style would become one of the city’s defining architectural forms. In a letter to the university last December, Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Denise Hall Montgomery wrote that the demolition of Channing Hall “would be among the most significant losses to the architectural and cultural history of the West Coast in recent years.”

Paul Chapman, a historian and founder of the group Saving Anna Head School, said the organization’s members are “terribly disappointed” by UC Berkeley’s plans for the site. As the university solicits public feedback on the plans in its environmental review, Saving Anna Head School is encouraging opponents of the project to weigh in against it, in a last-ditch effort to change the mind of campus leaders.

...

UC Berkeley officials have said it would cost at least $30 million to renovate Channing Hall, and that the university would not have a use for the building if it was restored. Cal will finance the construction of the dorm using bonds that will be paid back with its future revenue, Gibson said, but there would be no such mechanism to finance the restoration of Channing Hall. In a January response to the Landmarks Commission’s letter, Wendy Hillis, the university’s assistant vice chancellor and campus architect, wrote that UC Berkeley is committed to preserving historic resources, but added, “The campus is not a museum.”

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/03/23/anna-head-house-uc-berkeley-dorm

[Dylan Leblanc]

Great info, thanks for posting! I've added the proposal to the database

Too bad about the old Channing Hall building though