Students attending classes at UC San Diego have struggled to find affordable housing.
The La Jolla campus currently has an enrollment of 43,000 and a shortage of on-campus housing.
The university started investing in new construction last summer following a $3 billion capital campaign that also included major contributions from private donors.
The Pepper Canyon West project is located at the foot of the Blue Line UCSD trolley station. It is apartment housing for 1,300 transfer and upper-division undergraduate students. The apartments will be finished by the fall of 2024.
There are also plans for more living space to help postgraduate student employees who survive contract-to-contract.
Elissa Herevia is one of them. But she moved off campus and shared expenses and an apartment with her fiancé.
“I’ve had friends who, once their contracts were up, they didn’t have anywhere else to go. So, we were trying to figure out where they were going to go," Herevia said.
UC San Diego is moving ahead this week with construction plans that will add housing for 2,400 students by 2026.
The Ridge Walk North project will start with the demolition of old apartment buildings on campus that were opened in the 1970s.
It's described as a residential village that includes an 18-story apartment building and other administrative and teaching facilities.
“Really what we’re trying to do is provide the ability to accommodate as many students as we can," said Robert Clossin who is the director of campus planning. "So in the future, we’ll be able to provide all that access to high school students when they’re thinking about where they want to go to college," he continued.
Construction is also beginning on the new Triton Student Center. The facility will be home to comprehensive medical and mental health services, counseling offices, and for the first time, a welcome center for alumni.
The Triton building is expected to open in 2026.
