Ninety-seven units on two-tenths of an acre. Structural top-out came less than six months after the February 2026 groundbreaking.
2125 Telegraph Avenue is an eight-story affordable housing building in Uptown Oakland, developed by Mercy Housing California, designed by Gensler and built by Cahill Contractors. It sits between 21st and 22nd Streets, two blocks from 19th Street BART.
Project Scope
Ninety-six affordable studios plus a two-bedroom unit for the on-site property manager. Twenty of the studios are permanent supportive housing for seniors exiting homelessness, with case management provided by LifeLong Medical Care.
The facade will be composite fiber-cement panels with metal-frame windows, chosen to sit against the palette of the century-old Hamilton Apartments next door, a former YMCA that Mercy Housing also operates as supportive housing. Rockridge Geotechnical handled the geotechnical work, which on a 0.2-acre infill site with neighbors on both sides is not a small line item.
Amenities are modest and deliberate: a courtyard, a community room, laundry, bike parking.
Why It Matters
The interesting number here is the schedule. Permits issued in December 2025, groundbreaking in February 2026, topped out by July. Affordable projects in the Bay Area routinely take years to get vertical, and this one didn’t.
The density is the other number. Ninety-seven homes on 0.2 acres, on a transit-served block, is roughly the yield the state’s housing element mandates assume and rarely get. Completion is scheduled for late 2027, with full occupancy in March 2028.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Mercy Housing California |
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| Owner / Client | Mercy Housing California |
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| Architect | Gensler |
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| Consultants | Rockridge Geotechnical (Geotechnical) |
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| General Contractor | Cahill Contractors |
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| Status | Topped Out |
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| Funding Source | Public (State) |
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