East Bay apartment complex in ‘stunning’ building is nearly full and is adding retailers

ALAMEDA — An East Bay apartment complex has nearly filled up its residential spaces and has landed its first retailers, creating a rare success story for apartments in that part of Alameda County.

In February 2025, Strada Investment paid $153.7 million for Star Harbor Apartments, a 372-unit residential hub that was built from the remnants of an old cannery along the Alameda shoreline at 1501 Buena Vista Ave. and 1518 Clement Ave.

The apartment complex is now 96% occupied and is starting to attract merchants to its retail spaces, according to Maven Commercial, a real estate firm that handles leases for the shops and dining at the Star Harbor site.

LuxFit, an indoor and outdoor fitness experience, and Highwire, a coffee roasting and tea merchant, are the first retailers to lease the ground-floor spaces at Star Harbor, said Nadine Whisnant, a principal executive with Maven Commercial.

“It’s exciting to get these retailers in here,” Whisnant said. “Interest in the retail really started to take off once people moved into the apartments and the retail spaces were completed.”

The retail spaces total 10,000 square feet and are mostly full now that LuxFit has leased 5,000 square feet while Highwire rented 1,500 square feet, according to Maven Commercial.

The LuxFit deal represents the fitness studio’s first expansion beyond San Francisco.

“Alameda is home to families, athletes, professionals, and an active community that deserve more than a traditional gym or single-format studio,” said Yotam Israeli, LuxFit’s founder and chief executive officer.

The fitness center’s executives say the new Alameda location won’t simply duplicate the existing LuxFit sites.

“We designed this space around how this community actually lives, trains, and spends time together,” said Amber Woolcock, a LuxFit vice president.

Highwire has eight locations, all in the East Bay: five sites in Oakland, one in Walnut Creek, one in Albany, and one in Alameda. The Star Harbor site will represent Highwire’s second Alameda coffee shop.

“We intend our shops to be welcoming for everyone, a place where we can take a break from our devices and connect with our neighbors in the real world, be part of each other’s community, and share our enthusiasm for coffee,” said Highwire co-founder Robert Myers.

The apartment complex was built on a 10.2-acre historic site and represents an adaptive reuse of a longtime cannery operation.

Wood Partners teamed up with Principal Real Estate Investors to buy and develop the old cannery site. The apartment complex opened in 2022. Wood Partners and Principal Real Estate sold the apartments to Strada.

“This waterfront community is a combination of new construction and the adaptive reuse of a 100-year-old Del Monte warehouse with all residences located within the six-acre historic brick facade,” Wood Partners stated at the time the project opened.

California Packing Corp., which later became Del Monte Foods, built the massive brick warehouse. The heavy timber frame building totaled 240,000 square feet.

The historic look and feel of the site is catching the eye of retailers as well as residents of the apartments.

“It’s a stunning historic building,” Whisnant said. “It has high ceilings, outside seating, a brick facade, and great interiors.”