The California State University Board of Trustees has unanimously granted final approval for Cal State San Bernardino to proceed with the construction of a new student housing community, as well as a new dining commons to support residential students and the greater campus community.
At $95.8 million and 164,000 square feet, the project represents the single largest development project in CSUSB history. Construction is slated to begin next month, with completion projected for the start of the 2018-19 academic year.
“This new community will be transformational for the CSUSB student experience,” said Brian Haynes, vice president for Student Affairs. “There is no doubt that student enthusiasm and engagement will increase and it will be a major cornerstone for attracting future generations of students to the campus.”
With 416 beds, the student housing development is the initial phase of a larger community that will be developed at CSUSB as enrollment grows. This residential community will eventually serve about 1,200 more students.
This phase will be targeted to meet the needs of entering first-year students and will be the first new housing community specifically designed to serve their needs since Serrano Village opened in 1972.
“It has long been understood one of the critical factors that can positively increase student retention and success is for students to have a high quality, on-campus living experience during their college career,” said university President Tomás D. Morales.
In addition to the new housing units for students, the community will have dedicated space for student advising and academic support, the Honors Program, two Faculty-in-Residence apartments, a community kitchen, multipurpose meeting rooms, and will be the administrative home of the university’s Department of Housing and Residential Education.
The new dining commons will be a two-level, multi-faceted campus dining facility. With an expected capacity of nearly 700 customers, the initial seating layout will be approximately 500. Two dining experiences are slated for this location.
The first will offer an all-you-care-to-eat dining hall featuring a range of dining cuisines, including a grill, sandwiches/salads, display cooking, and a number of international choices. Seating will be on multiple levels through the facility, including two enclosed outdoor locations, meeting rooms that can be reserved for groups and guests, and a faculty/staff collaboration dining room.
The second venue in the new dining commons will be a cash and carry operation, as well as an enhanced convenience store. Slated to be CSUSB’s first planned late night dining location, it will offer sandwiches and grill-style cash options all day, providing an exciting place for the campus community to gather into the evening.
“Over the past year, the CSUSB community came together to create a visionary campus master plan that addresses a number of pressing space needs, including a modern campus life experience for our students,” said Doug Freer, vice president for Administration and Finance. “This project marks a significant first step forward toward its realization.”
The housing and dining commons project will be located in what is currently parking Lot E, bordered by Serrano Village, Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, the Physical Education Building, and the campus’s recreation center. Parking that will be displaced has been relocated to the new parking Lot N between the College of Education and the College of Natural Sciences.
Reserved spaces for the disabled, service vehicles, faculty, and staff in Lot E will be relocated to neighboring Lot G.
Facilities Design and Construction will separately communicate to the campus community the impacts to roads, parking, and pedestrian access paths. These are slated to periodically change through the various phases of construction.
As with all campus housing, the project will be funded through the rental rates of students living in the residence halls. No state general fund dollars are committed to this project.
The CSUSB Division of Student Affairs and the Department of Housing and Residential Education will host a formal groundbreaking ceremony, which the campus community is invited to attend, on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 9 a.m. Additional details will be announced closer to the event date.
Contact CSUSB Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction at (909) 537-5136 with any questions about the construction impacts related to this project.