In about two years, UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College officials plan to open a student housing complex that is expected to revolutionize the way local students live and attend school, and how they pay for their living space.
The $181 million development will be the first student housing collaboration between a California community college and the University of California to be located on a community college campus, UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive said.
To pay for the project, UCSC will issue bonds, and the state of California will pay them. Neither Cabrillo College nor taxpayers will be responsible for the costs.
The 257,000 square-foot project will span three buildings, with 60% of the beds designated for Cabrillo College students and 40% of the beds for UCSC students.
In addition to single-occupancy, double-occupancy, and family units, it will include a childcare center for its residents. All units will be deemed affordable, which is required by state law.
The buildings will be five stories, measuring about 55 feet high.
Each unit will have a kitchen, and the promenade will have a coffee shop with grab-and-go food, as well as food vendors.
While there will be parking on site, students will likely be able to use existing spaces, since parking has not been at capacity since the Covid pandemic, said Cabrillo spokeswoman Kristin Fabos.
A group of educators, elected officials and nonprofit leaders gathered in the multipurpose fields of Cabrillo’s Aptos campus Monday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony on the Costa Vista Student Housing project.
Cabrillo President Matt Wetstein said that the idea for the project came out of the seven-year-old Affordability, Food & Housing Access Taskforce, which is made up of CEOs from community colleges across California.
That group determined that too many students are struggling with the high cost of housing and food, he said.
“Our group sought to lift up the voice of students in California,” Wetstein said. “We know that they struggle to find housing.”
He also praised the efforts of the multiple entities involved in getting the project shovel-ready in less than a year.
“Through dedicated hard work, effort, energy, commitment, we’ve established an award-winning design project that went from design concept to permitting and construction starting in 11 months,” he said. “That is amazing.”
Cabrillo student trustee Grace Goodhue said that the housing development will help students navigate one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.
Some 54% of local students are affected by housing insecurity, and one-quarter are affected by “houselessness,” Goodhue said.
The childcare center, she said, will help students focus on their education.
“Affordable housing for students is critically important to support their success and long-term goals,” she said.
Sen. John Laird said that the 624-bed project will help students struggling to find housing.
“This makes a fundamental difference in people being able to attend college and better themselves and be productive members of our economy in a way that I think everyone that had anything to do with it should have a sense of pride,” he said.
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive said that the project will allow Cabrillo students to live on campus, and then transfer to UCSC without moving and still paying the same rent, which will average $1,150.
Larive said that safe and affordable housing is “a key to student success.”
UCSC currently charges $20,928 annually for on-campus room and board. Based on a nine-month academic calendar, that adds up to roughly $2,325 per month. That’s compared to the average cost nationwide for room and board of $12,986, according to the Education Data Initiative.
“This groundbreaking is a moment to celebrate,” Larive said.
She also spoke of the success to date of Cabrillo students who transfer to UCSC. Some 85% of Cabrillo students who apply are accepted, compared to 75% from other colleges, she said.
“Cabrillo students come to UCSC and they succeed,” she said.
While the groundbreaking ceremony drew more than 100 people, not everyone there was happy about the project.
The project will take the space where the multipurpose field stood, which included a much-used soccer field.
Efrain Espinoza, who stood holding a sign that said “Where will the children play?” said that the teams that use the field have not been given an alternative.
“We’re concerned that every day we keep losing field space for the kids to play soccer,” Espinoza said. “The local club here, I don’t know where they’re going to move to.”
