A Deluge of Dormitories: Construction Activity Strong on UC Campuses

By Thomas York

Like most public agencies, the 10-campus, 197,000-student University of California system is struggling with the fallout from the fiscal crisis in Sacramento.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seeking to cut more than $372 million from the UC system's budget in 2004-05 and is proposing to redirect as many as 3,200 incoming freshmen to community colleges where classroom costs are cheaper.

"Fortunately, those proposed cutbacks are having little, if any, impact on a general boom in student housing construction under way at many UC campuses," because the state does not fund such housing, said Hanan Eisenman, a spokeswoman in the system's Office of the President. "Student residence hall revenues fund the cost of construction, so we really haven't seen much of an impact," she said.

The durability of the student housing market has attracted some of the state's top construction firms.

Jim Gillette, president of San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders, which is involved in housing projects at several UC campuses, said the firm's work in student housing has helped offset the drop in office construction.

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"Obviously, in today's market, there aren't the normal opportunities for such things as office buildings; these projects are few and far between" Gillette added. "We have a big engine to feed, so we have had to look at opportunities in new markets, like multifamily and student housing."

UCLA students want to live on campus

At UCLA--the most populated campus in the UC system with 37,000 students-Swinerton crews are working on two of four projects to ease the chronic shortage of on-campus housing.

That shortage is expected to worsen as enrollment increases 12 percent by 2010. UCLA is trying to increase the number of student beds to 12,000, which would accommodate about a third of its students.

Stephanie Tollenaere, a UCLA principal project manager, said recent surveys found that 90 percent of the 26,000-plus undergraduate students attending UCLA said they would live on campus if housing were available. "We can't build housing fast enough," she added.

Tollenaere is overseeing the first $148 million phase of the Southwest Campus Housing and Parking project. Construction began in August 2002 and should be finished in August of this year. The 1.1-million-sq.-ft. project will provide accommodations for 1,387 students in a series of seven two-, three- and four-story buildings, plus parking for 1,430 vehicles.

Santa Monica-based Von Tillberg Banvard & Soderbergh is the designer. The project has three builders: Los Angeles-based Fassberg Construction, Irvine-based Gordon and Williams General Contractors and Swinerton Builders.

Construction is also proceeding on three other projects at UCLA-the Hedrick North Residence Hall and the nine-story Rieber North and West residence halls. Hedrick North will add 765 beds, while Rieber North and West will add 590 and 765 new beds, respectively.

The projects have varying completion dates, ranging from the spring quarter of 2005 for Rieber West to the fall quarter of 2005 for Rieber North. Hedrick will be completed in winter 2005.

The architect for the three projects-which have a total value of $111 million-is the Los Angeles office of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. The general contractor for the two Rieber residence halls is the Los Angeles office of PCL Construction Services, while the GC for the Hedrick project is Swinerton Builders.

Tollernaere said the Type I concrete structures will feature apartment-style accommodations popular with today's students. Some of the units will accommodate as many as 10 students, though most will feature two-student, apartment-like units.

Berkeley projects to add 900 beds

At UC Berkeley-the oldest campus in the UC system-housing officials are spending $80 million to add an in-fill residence structure immediately south of campus.

This job features the addition of four new concrete structures, two at "Unit 1" and two at "Unit 2." The original four towers at both sites were seismically retrofitted in the 1990s.

When completed, the expanded housing complexes at Unit 1 and Unit 2 will accommodate an additional 900 students. Currently, about 10,000 students live on campus compared to 33,000 students attending at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

San Francisco-based EDHH is the architect and Foster City-based Rudolph & Sletten is the general contractor.

The exteriors are scheduled for completion in May for Unit 2 and by the end of summer for Unit 1, said Kevin Fettig, Rudolph & Sletten's project manager.

Keeping the project on track has been tough because of the work hours. Crews can't start until 8 a.m. when classes are in session and 9 a.m. during final exam periods.

Fettig said the 9 a.m. start time was particularly difficult during the two-week fall semester finals period. "Our schedule is difficult with the work hours especially when it gets dark so early in the winter," he added. "The project site is a busy area of campus with 1,800 students living in and around here.

"With so many people to look out for, we've been fortunate in that we haven't had any incidents, but we've focused on safety and we have been guiding subs in how to do their work properly."

Meanwhile, the $23.5 million Channing-Bowditch student apartment project at UC Berkeley, which will house another 230 students, is expected to open in August. Each of the 57 units in this wood-frame building will have its own kitchen and shared bedrooms and bathrooms. The jobsite is located near Units 1 and 2. Citrus Heights-based J.R. Roberts Corp., the general contractor, began construction in March. The architect is Oakland-based Pyatok Architects.

UC Berkeley also is preparing for construction of the $135 million University Village, a mixed-use project on a 26-acre site in neighboring Albany to be built in three phases.

In the first phase, the university will replace aging apartment units that were constructed during the 1940s and '60s and then pressed into service as student housing when the Baby Boom generation went to college. The university will build 650 units of student and limited junior faculty housing in the second phase. Crews will build 70,000 sq. ft. of retail space in the third phase. A start date has not been set, but a tentative completion date has been set for August 2007.

Memphis, Tenn.-based Allen & O'Hara and Ecumenical Association for Housing of San Rafael will serve as co-developers. Berkeley-based ELS Architecture and Urban Design and Pyatok Architects are the designers. Swinerton Builders is the general contractor.

Construction under way in Merced

At UC Merced-the youngest campus in the system-work continues on the first student housing buildings for the campus, which is scheduled to open in August 2005.

The first phase-valued at $31 million-will serve about 600 undergraduate students, graduate students and staff members. Dining space and a parking lot for 340 cars are also included in the first phase.

San Francisco-based BAR served as architect on the project, while the Taylor Group of Fresno is charged with completing the design. The design-build contract was awarded to Mauldin-Dorfmeier Construction Inc. of Fresno.

At UC Santa Cruz, construction is under way on new apartments at Cowell, Stevenson and Porter colleges. The work features 31 apartments at Cowell, 28 apartments at Stevenson and 88 apartments at Porter. The three projects, valued at $66 million, will accommodate 650 students and should be completed this summer. Renderings courtesy of UCSC.

Construction, which began last fall, should be completed by the time the campus greets its first class of students.

At UC Santa Cruz, construction is under way on new apartments at Cowell, Stevenson and Porter colleges. The work features 31 apartments at Cowell, 28 apartments at Stevenson and 88 apartments at Porter. The three projects, valued at $66 million, will accommodate 650 students and should be completed this summer.

BAR Architects of San Francisco is the architect and Milpitas-based Devcon Construction is the general contractor.

UC Irvine, UC Davis pursue large projects

At UC Irvine, construction crews are working on two projects that will increase on-campus beds by two-thirds when completed in 2005, said William J. Zeller, assistant vice chancellor for student housing.

The first, the Palo Verde expansion, features construction of 882 beds in two phases. The project is designed for graduate students and their families.

The design architect is the Irvine office of MVE & Partners and the contract architect is Newport Beach-based JBZ Architecture and Planning.

The general contractor is the Irvine office of Hensel Phelps Construction Co. This first phase is scheduled to open this fall; the second in August 2005.

The second project, the Vista del Campo Apartments, will be a privately owned and managed complex for 252 single graduate students. Construction, which started in the fall, will be completed this fall.

At UC Davis, construction is expected to begin this spring on the new Tercero residence hall for more than 400 students. The project is scheduled for completion in August 2005. Fisher Friedman Associates of Emeryville is the architect.

Under a long-range plan UC Regents approved in November, UC Davis-in the middle of its biggest building boom ever-is planning a 224-acre residential neighborhood with 1,600 units to serve students, faculty and staff.

Two projects being planned at UCSB

Rendering of the San Clemente Apartments project at UC Santa Barbara courtesy of Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers.

At UC Santa Barbara, the San Clemente Apartments for single graduate students is currently undergoing environmental review. When completed, the $124 million project will feature 976 beds in about 300 residential units. Los Angeles-based Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers is the designer for the project.

UCSB is currently planning construction of the Sierra Madre Apartments, with a tentative construction start date in 2006. This project will consist of 151 three-bedroom units for graduate students and their families.

At UC San Francisco, construction continues on a housing complex at the new Mission Bay campus. The $112 million complex will accommodate 750 graduate and post-graduate students and their families. When completed in October 2005, it will offer 431 apartments, plus retail and outdoor space. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Fisher Friedman Associates are the designers. Swinerton Builders is the general contractor.

Swinerton's Gillette said that his firm prefers to work with concrete and steel rather than wood-frame designs, which is a relatively new area for the construction giant.

"Wood-frame construction creates more of a problem in terms of finding good framing crews to do the work," Gillette added. "It's not something we have done a lot of."

Even so, he said Swinerton will remain in the active markets such as student housing, multifamily apartments and hospitality that utilize wood framing. Gillette said the California student-housing market should remain strong for some time to come, especially within the UC system and at urban campuses such as UCLA, which is located within the most densely populated area of Los Angeles, but still has land available for development.

"The universities have the land but it's not developed, so with the shortage of land in urban areas, it makes sense to build more student housing on campus," Gillette said. "When you build off campus it gets expensive, so we'll see schools moving to provide more housing on campus rather than relying on developers to build units off campus."