- Caroline Hunt | Staff
- Aug 29, 2025 (DailyCal.org)
Construction for student housing at the People’s Park site is advancing into its next phase as the last steel beams marking the top floors of the structure were added early this month.
Following name proposal submissions from the community, the student housing project will be named the Judith E. Heumann House, after the disability rights advocate and Berkeley School of Public Health alumnus, according to Berkeley News on Thursday.
The “Heumann House” will house 1,100 undergraduate students, with rooms being built to accommodate people with disabilities, a message Heumann championed.
The construction will now shift to the exterior of the structure, as well as the mechanical and electrical installation, according to Berkeley News.
This next step of construction is planned for completion mid-December this year, according to a July 31 project update. The entire housing project is expected to be completed to accommodate students for fall 2027.
“Even after they put up the shipping containers, which was Jan. 3, 2024, it was kind of vague,” said community member and Southside resident Lisa Teague. “But this is really real. It’s more than halfway done.”
According to Teague — who has also been an activist with the People’s Park movement — one continuing impact on nearby residents is the noise of the construction, which has caused Teague to file complaints to the city. Teague noted that when they first complained, noise settled down for approximately one or two weeks, before the noise levels returned.
According to the July 31 campus project update, installation work was to be limited to evening hours “in order to minimize impacts on nearby residences and businesses.”
“It’s been noisy early in the morning all summer long,” said community member and People’s Park activist Ian Hunt. “There is the giant, ‘Beep beep beep,’ trucks, cement water, there’s been all kinds of noise, pile driving. There’s all kinds of noise and disruption.”
According to Unit 2 resident Natalie Arias, the construction sounds wake her up in the morning and she says the noise is “loudest in the morning.”
Another Unit 2 resident, Steve Lee, said he isn’t bothered by the noise, noting he hears the sounds in the morning but it isn’t “too hard” for him.
“The work that’s going to be done from now on is not going to be as intrusive as it has been,” Teague said. “There will be noise, but it’s (not) going to be quite as intense.”
