Ground Broken for CSUCI Housing

Ground was broken Wednesday at Cal State Channel Islands on a student housing complex, a trio of three-story buildings expected to help address a local housing shortage and foster a sense of community at the Ventura County campus.

The $20-million project will house about 350 students when completed next summer on a corner of the 670-acre campus near Camarillo.

“A year from now, students from anywhere in this state who wish to attend this beautiful campus will no longer be disappointed [for lack of housing],” said Debra Farar, president of the Cal State University Board of Trustees. “This is the beginning of a new phase for the campus community, when students can live and learn on one of the most gorgeous and serene settings of any university in the country.”

Already, tractors and construction crews are moving earth for the project. The dormitory complex will consist of 93 apartments, each with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchenette. The project also will feature a common area with a recreation room, pool and spa.

Freshmen will be first in line to receive housing. And while officials have yet to determine rent amounts for the units, they say the cost will be attractive to students who otherwise might have trouble finding shelter in the red-hot housing market.

“We want to provide students with the experience of living on campus and being part of the campus community and culture,” Channel Islands President Richard Rush said. “It’s just great to do something that is immediately recognized as benefiting students.”

The dormitory complex is the second housing project to take root at the university, which opened last fall to upper-division students and is set later this month to welcome its first freshman class.

Last year Cal State officials launched the first phase of a sprawling housing development at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains. The University Glen project, a mix of apartments, townhouses and single-family homes available at a discount to the university’s faculty and staff members, will consist of 900 units and be built in phases over the next five years.

At Wednesday’s event, Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) presented university officials with a ceremonial spade, in the spirit of breaking ground for the housing project.

And Channel Islands Vice President Greg Sawyer introduced members of the university’s first freshman class -- first-time college students who just happened to be on campus for a student orientation.

“This is the reason we are here,” Sawyer said of the students, who were greeted with loud and sustained applause. “They are the reason we teach, the reason we show up, the reason we build buildings. The housing is just buildings, but students like these will make it a home.”