San Diego State University is planning a major expansion of student housing in an effort to lower its greenhouse gas emissions and meet the skyrocketing demand for on-campus housing.
Earlier this month, SDSU released a draft environmental impact report (EIR) for its Evolve Student Housing project. The plans include seven new dormitory towers — one on a surface parking lot on Montezuma Road and six at the northern end of 55th Street on a peninsula of Montezuma Mesa.
Bob Schulz, SDSU's associate vice president of real estate, planning and development, said the university has long outgrown its reputation as a commuter college. Each year it sees the demand for on-campus housing increase, he said, even as enrollment has remained steady.
"(Students) don't want to drive, they want to walk," Schulz said. "But I think they're also pinched by the affordability of student housing. It's just getting to be punishingly expensive to be anywhere in San Diego."
Building more on-campus housing is a key component of SDSU's 2017 Climate Action Plan, which commits the university to full carbon neutrality by 2050. Student commutes to campus are the university's largest source of climate pollution, according to the plan's greenhouse gas emission inventory.
SDSU currently houses about 8,500 students on campus. That figure does not include fraternities, sororities or privately-owned apartments that are surrounded by university-owned land but are technically considered off-campus.
The seven new dorm towers would feature approximately 5,170 beds, according to the EIR. The six buildings on the edge of Montezuma Mesa would replace a handful of low-rise buildings with 702 beds, meaning the project would result in a net increase of approximately 4,468 beds.
Schulz said the university took care to facilitate better access for fire trucks around the mesa's perimeter, and that all the buildings would be made of noncombustible materials with the highest resistance to fire. Last October a fire broke out in a canyon roughly a mile west of SDSU along Montezuma Road. The fire burned 40 acres, destroyed one home and damaged six homes before being extinguished by city firefighters.
Schulz said while the new dorms would bring big benefits in terms of housing, the environment and fire safety, the project's primary goal is educational.
"Primarily we're in this business because they graduate more frequently, they have higher GPAs, they just thrive and succeed better as students when they live with us," Schulz said.
SDSU is planning two public meetings to discuss the project's draft EIR. The first is on Jan. 27 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Montezuma Hall. The second is on Jan. 30 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m via Zoom.
If the project is approved by the CSU Board of Trustees, Schulz said construction is expected to begin later this year and be complete by 2030.
