Bridgewater

Constructed in the late 1980s as the Emery Bay Club and Apartments, Bridgewater spent its first two decades operating quietly as a rental community in the urban heart of Emeryville. Despite being built with a forward-thinking "condo map," it took until 2007 for the massive six-story complex to begin its transformation into privately owned condominiums. The timing collided with the 2008 financial crisis. Between 2009 and 2011 the project's momentum came to a grinding halt as unsold units were lost to foreclosure. But much like Emeryville itself, Bridgewater mounted a striking comeback. When sales resumed, the complex became a magnet for a new generation of homebuyers seeking an affordable slice of resort-style living near San Francisco, eventually selling out entirely by 2015 and cementing its legacy as one of the city's most resilient real estate success stories.