Cal State Campus Housing Development Approved
Opening the way for the building of a mini-city at the Cal State Channel Islands campus, officials on Monday approved the development of 200 homes.
The CSU Channel Islands Site Authority approved the homes on the campus, which will be part of a development for faculty and staff with a town square, bike and pedestrian paths, a child-care center and an elementary and middle school.
Brookfield Campus Housing, which was awarded the contract for the $49-million project, will begin building the roads, sewerage and utilities next month.
In the fall, ground will be broken on the 200 homes--a mix of apartments, townhomes and single-family residences. Over the next five years, the 150-acre community is expected to have 900 housing units.
“This is terrific,” CSUCI President Handel Evans said. “I think it’s the first tangible result of all the meetings and planning for the new university.”
Because the non-rental housing will be offered at slightly below market rates, officials hope administrators will have an edge in recruiting staff and faculty to the campus, which could open in fall 2002 if enrollment goals are met.
The 36 single-family homes, which will average between 1,700 and 2,200 square feet, are estimated to sell between $225,000 and $275,000, below the $293,370 county average selling price. The average selling price of the 24 townhomes, between 780 and 1,260 square feet, is estimated between $120,000 and $155,000. Such homes in the county typically sell for $185,000.
“We have to be competitive with the best and brightest in the country,” Evans said. If the university offers a faculty member a salary paying $40,000 or more, it can offer a home for a lot less than other communities, he said.
The Channel Islands Site Authority, a seven-member panel of state and local officials, serves as landlord and financial manager for the campus. It is responsible for developing ways to generate money for expanding the campus, eventually expected to attract 15,000 students. The 900-unit project is the second-largest faculty and staff housing development in the state, after one at UC Irvine. CSUCI is also developing a 350,000-square-foot research-and-development center on campus to lease to various businesses.
CSUCI’s ownership of the land for homes means it can offer them for lower prices, said George Dutra, associate vice president for facilities, development and operations. If the homes are not filled by faculty and staff, they will be available for lease to the general public, he said.
Student housing is planned for the main campus, with 250 beds scheduled to open by 2003.
The architectural style of the new residential community will mimic the Spanish Mission-style features of the main campus buildings, formerly the site of Camarillo State Hospital, built more than 60 years ago.
The homes and apartments will have red-tile roofs, shutters and stuccoed exterior walls.
“The features are lifted from the designs of the campus to continue the ambience,” said J. Patrick Drohan, assistant vice president of capital planning, design and construction for the CSU system.
