California State University, Long Beach, has broken ground on a five-story residence hall that will provide campus housing to students in need.
The development, next to the Hillside-Los Alamitos residence hall, will be called La Playa, Spanish for “The Beach.”
“With the aging of our current housing facilities and an ever-growing student-housing waitlist, the creation of additional — and affordable — on-campus housing is a high priority for The Beach,” said President Jane Close Conoley.
The university says the $115 million, 108,000 square-foot residence hall will consist of three five story buildings and will feature 424 beds, with a mixture of single- and double-occupancy student housing rooms. Of those, 404 will be set aside for affordable housing.
Each floor will include support spaces such as restrooms, showers, lounges, study rooms, electrical, and mechanical spaces. The building complex will also incorporate two satellite offices for student counseling and psychological services.
The complex also will have a ground-level kitchen in each building, three staff/faculty apartments, a 2,000-square-foot multipurpose/tutoring room, and music practice rooms
About $53 million of the project cost is being funded by legislation that aims to increase the availability of affordable student housing across California. The remainder will come from campus housing funds.
The building is scheduled to be finished and ready to house students by fall 2026.
The architect is Perkins&Will and the construction manager at risk is Swinerton Builders.
