People's Park Dorm Takes Shape: Heumann House Facade Is Done, With 1,100 Students Due in Fall 2027

The most fought-over construction site in Berkeley is starting to look like a finished building. Berkeleyside reports that UC Berkeley has finished installing the facade panels on Judith E. Heumann House, the 12-story student apartment building at People's Park.

What's built so far

Drone photos published by Berkeleyside show the prefabricated-panel building running along the north side of the park on Haste Street, with a shorter wing extending toward Dwight Way. University spokesperson Kyle Gibson told Berkeleyside that crews are still working on exterior windows, doors and lighting, and installing interior plumbing and electrical systems. The building is scheduled to open by fall 2027.

Who will live there

UC Berkeley's project site says Heumann House will be apartment-style housing for more than 1,100 sophomores, juniors and seniors. Units will be studios and two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments. The university says the apartments will be priced like existing campus housing, which it describes as below market for Berkeley. UC Berkeley will develop, own and operate the building. Plans include a ground-floor grab-and-go market, and rooftop solar panels will help power the building. The campus announced in August 2025 that the building would be named for disability rights leader Judith Heumann.

The rest of the site

A separate building will hold about 100 units of affordable housing, some of it supportive housing for formerly homeless people, developed by Berkeley-based Satellite Affordable Housing Associates. The university has said 60% of the site will stay public green space, according to Berkeleyside.

The election angle

The supportive housing has become an issue in the District 7 City Council race. Berkeleyside reports candidate Aidan Hill wants it scrapped to keep more open space, while opponent Syrak Micael and Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra support it. "At this point, People's Park as we knew it is gone, and I would rather the permanent supportive housing be there than not be there," Lunaparra told Berkeleyside.

Part of a dorm boom

Heumann House is one of several big campus housing projects. A 23-story dorm is going up at Bancroft Way and Fulton Street, and the university plans a 1,500-bed complex with a 26-story tower at Channing Way and Bowditch Street. Berkeleyside says the new housing helped make this year's entering class the first guaranteed campus housing for their first two years.