March 22, 2004

Residence halls moving forward

The University’s goal of becoming a more residential campus takes a big step forward this week, as would-be developers of new apartment-style residence halls visit campus to refine their proposals.

The developers will be here this Tuesday for a site visit that’s required of any firm hoping to handle the project. They’ll have a chance to ask questions of CSUS officials and get a firsthand look at the location before submitting their proposals in late April.

At least one new structure is expected to be built and ready to house students by fall 2007. The remainder will likely be finished within the following four years.

Eventually, as many as 5,000 students will be able to live on campus, up from just 1,100 now.

The complete rebuilding of residence halls is part of CSUS President Alexander Gonzalez’ “Destination 2010” initiative. Allowing more students to live on campus is a key part of the effort, which seeks to make the University a “destination campus for the West and a flagship of the CSU system.”

Matthew Altier, the University’s associate vice president for facilities management, says the top three or four proposals will be scrutinized by a campus committee, with the winner chosen in the fall. It will then be taken to the CSU Board of Trustees to seek approval.

More than 30 developers have been given a series of requirements for what the project should include, but they will have a lot of flexibility about how it should be done. The developer will be responsible both for building new halls and tearing down the old ones.

The project is expected to be completed in stages so that student housing doesn’t dip below its current level. It will also be self-funded, so it won’t require waiting for state bonds or other funds to become available.

Altier says the self-funding approach is the key to making the residence hall project happen sooner rather than later.

Though other options are possible, in all likelihood the land would be leased to the developer, who would then either lease the buildings back to CSUS or collect rent from students. After an agreed-upon number of years, the University would take ownership of the buildings.

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