While maybe not at the rate of New York City or Houston, Oakland, California, has seen its share of distressed apartments over the past couple of years.
Now two more apartment properties, less than a mile apart in the city, are heading to auction, according to The East Bay Times. The assets were owned and developed by Trumbull Property Fund, an affiliate of the investment company UBS, which did not respond to Multifamily Dive's request for comment.
The 78-unit, five-story Moran defaulted on a $20.7 million loan, while the 97-unit Telegraph Arts defaulted on a $31.6 million loan issued to its owner. Both properties fell into default in July 2024, according to the Alameda County Recorder’s Office.
CBRE Capital Markets provided the financing packages for the apartments in 2020 and now plans to foreclose on the properties in the spring, The East Bay Times reported.
As the Trumbell assets prepared to hit the market, The Leamington sold for $14.4 million after it was foreclosed upon, according to The Mercury News. That was a 58.3% discount from its prior value, according to the outlet.
Real estate investor Edward Hemmat purchased the historic 11-story tower through an affiliate, according to The Mercury News. CIT Bank executed a deed in lieu of foreclosure in January 2025. At the time, it was valued at $34.5 million.
Recent issues
Moran, Telegraph Arts and The Leamington are only the recent properties in Oakland to change hands due to financial distress.
In January, Parkview Financial REIT foreclosed upon a new 102-unit residential property at 1919 Market St. in West Oakland after a loan failure, SiliconValley.com reported on Jan. 15.
The outlet reported that an affiliate of the property’s developer, oWow, lost the asset through foreclosure. At that time, the unpaid debt was $58.5 million. Parkview Financial spent $37.5 million to take control of the property in early January.
In 2024, UDR assumed the ownership interest of a 173-unit lease-up Residences at Lake Merritt in Oakland, built by developer Mill Creek Residential after the Atlanta-based developer told the REIT it would not fund its share of a capital call.
In the Residences at Lake Merritt submarket, two to three months of concessions and rent declines of 30% compared to before the pandemic were the norm, according to former UDR President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Fisher.
Oakland multifamily operators have also seen their share of issues amid heavy supply. Rents have plummeted as 10,000 housing units were delivered in just a few years, making it challenging for developers to refinance construction loans, according to CoStar.
But there have been some recent hopeful signs of a turnaround. After peaking in November 2020 at 18.1%, vacancies in the city dropped to 6.9% in January 2026, according to data from Apartment List. Rents in the city have risen nine of the last 12 months, with a 2.9% year-over-year increase as of February 2026, according to Apartment List.
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