La Jolla : UCSD to Begin Talks to Buy Unit for Dorms

UC San Diego officials won approval Friday to begin negotiating to buy a $29-million apartment complex near the La Jolla campus that could eventually be converted into housing for as many as 1,000 students.

The University of California Board of Regents gave the go-ahead to the university to move towards purchasing the La Jolla Del Sol Apartments, located on Regents Road two blocks south of La Jolla Village Drive.

The Regents also approved a $4.9-million expenditure to construct new athletic and recreational facilities at UCSD. The facilities would include a nine-lane track and two fields for intercollegiate and intramural soccer, softball and other field sports.

According to university officials, the 381-unit apartment complex would offer the university 612 single-occupancy rooms. If necessary, the university could convert the units into dormitories housing 1,000 students.

UCSD, with a growing student body, has been plagued by a shortage of affordable housing on or near the campus. Officials have set a goal of housing 40% of the students on campus by the year 2000.

Winifred Cox, a university spokeswoman, said that if the university succeeded in buying the complex, it would house only students and possibly junior faculty members. It was unclear what percentage of the units currently are occupied by UCSD students.

As for the athletic facilities, university officials said they would be built between John Jay Hopkins Drive and Old Highway 101, north of the San Diego supercomputer center. Existing fields were constructed to support a student population of 6,500, but enrollment has grown to more than 14,000.

Construction of the facilities is to begin this summer.