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UC Irvine hosts California’s lieutenant governor as it prepares to add student housing

California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis walks while listening to UC Irvine political science student Kylie Halliday.
California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, left, listens to UC Irvine political science student Kylie Halliday talk about the history of Mesa student housing during a tour of the Mesa Court expansion on Monday.
(James Carbone)
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Housing is a vital need in Orange County, and college campuses are not exempt from that need.

UC Irvine is preparing for an $80-million expansion of its Mesa Court residence halls. On Monday afternoon the university welcomed California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis for a tour of the residence hall site and two other projects, a medical complex construction site and a forensic exam site.

The new housing will be located on the north end of campus, off of Campus Drive near University Drive. It will provide about 300 new affordable residence hall beds for lower-division undergraduates.

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California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis listens to UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman on Monday.
California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis listens to UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman explain the Mesa Court residence housing expansion project during a tour on Monday.
(James Carbone)

“We should be breaking ground within the next six months here,” said Tim Trevan, the UC Irvine assistant vice chancellor for student housing, adding that the five-to-six-story structure is slated to open in the fall of 2026. “Students are coming from a far enough distance that they really need to have a place on campus to live. And then a lot of our students who are even local choose to live on campus for that kind of full college experience. The local housing market has been pinched for rental units.”

Students in the Mesa Court expansion will be predominantly first-year students, Trevan said; UC Irvine houses about 80% of its freshmen.

Of the $80 million for the expansion, about $65 million is coming from state student housing grants, UC Irvine associate vice chancellor of auxiliary services Brice Kikuchi said.

The area for the Mesa Court residence housing expansion at UC Irvine.
The area for the Mesa Court residence housing expansion at UC Irvine.
(James Carbone)

Kounalakis’ visit was part of a mini-tour this week of campuses that have received state grant money. She visited Sierra College in Rocklin on Tuesday and is also set to go to San Francisco State.

On Monday, she was joined on the UC Irvine tour by officials including Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan and Vice Mayor Tammy Kim, as well as UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. A group of several resident advisers led her around the Mesa Court Towers, which were completed in 2016. She even stopped by the dorm room of four UCI students who live on the fifth floor of the Caballo Tower.

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, left, Chancellor Howard Gillman, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Irvine Vice Mayor Tammy Kim.
Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, left, UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman, California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Irvine Vice Mayor Tammy Kim during a tour of the Mesa Court student housing on Monday.
(James Carbone)

“Billions of dollars were allocated by the governor and the Legislature for basic needs across the CSU, UC and community college systems,” Kounalakis said. “Irvine is one of the larger recipients of grant money, and it’s clearly being put to good use. The bottom line is that students deserve to be able to focus on their studies and not worry about where they’re going to sleep at night.”

Housing is an issue close to Kounalakis’ heart. Before serving as President Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 2010 to 2013, she was president of AKT Development Corp., one of California’s largest housing development firms. It was founded by her father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, in 1964.

“We need more housing in California,” the lieutenant governor said. “We need more affordable housing in California. The grant funds allocated here will help students from lower-income, underrepresented communities to have housing. It’s a great project.”

California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis walks with UC Irvine students during a tour of the Mesa Court towers on Monday.
(James Carbone)

Third-year UC Irvine student Ella Lee, an education sciences major, was one of the RAs chosen to lead the tour.

“It was definitely an interesting opportunity,” Lee said. “It was very fun to have a genuine conversation with her, where she’s asking us about our experiences too. It just felt like she cared about us.”

Lee is plenty knowledgeable about the UC Irvine campus, as a two-year RA as well as a campus representative who does tours. But she was still happy that her room wasn’t on Kounalakis’ itinerary.

“If she went into my room right now, it would be a mess,” Lee said with a laugh.

California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis meets UC Irvine students in their dorm room with Chancellor Howard Gillman.
California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis meets UC Irvine students in their dorm room with Chancellor Howard Gillman during a tour on Monday.
(James Carbone)

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