CSUN Unveils First New Residence Halls in a Decade and Launches Reduced Rental Rate Program

Pack your extra-long twin sheets, Matadors. Your fan, desk lamp and power strip. Maybe even a string of twinkle lights and body pillow.

At the corner of Lassen and Zelzah, two brand-new residence hall buildings are nearing completion at University Park, on the north end of campus. This fall, 198 lucky students will be the first to call the shiny new buildings their campus home.

Student Housing buildings 22 & 23 are CSUN’s first new dorms in a decade, since the university opened three similar residence halls in 2015. The newest dorms will increase CSUN’s available student housing by about 6%. (Currently, CSUN has 3,156 beds within University Park.)

The university received a $37.5 million affordable-housing grant from the state, through the California Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program, to help fund the approximately $72.9 million project. CSUN’s new dorms marked the first approved for affordable student housing in the California State University system, and other campuses are following suit.

CSUN students receive a great deal of financial aid, but many are not eligible for financial aid or don’t receive enough aid to afford living on campus, William Watkins, vice president for Student Affairs, noted at the 2023 groundbreaking.

“Students are best able to focus on their studies when they have their basic needs met, especially their housing needs,” added Shelley Ruelas-Bischoff, associate vice president for Student Affairs. “With these two new buildings, we are expanding our capacity to help CSUN students meet this critical need, all within an environment that is intentionally focused on students’ academic success.”

The two four-story buildings cover 60,290 square feet — including 45,000 square feet of living spaces, plus multipurpose spaces for group programs, classroom space and lounges.  

The residential floors offer all doubles (two students per room), designed for first-time freshmen. One of the best features? Each bathroom is shared by just two rooms (four students per bathroom)! The residential floors also boast a living room and a laundry room. The ground floor of Building 22 features a community kitchen, study spaces, multipurpose rooms, lounge and gender-inclusive restrooms. Students can pick up packages at the complex’s package center, located within a new student lounge in Building 23. 

Contractor C.W. Driver Companies expected to complete construction, with the dorms furnished and ready for Move-In Day in late August.

As CSUN refreshes and expands the student housing area, one of the coolest additions is outside G’mo’s campus dining, adjacent to the new dorms: A new courtyard boasts outdoor dining; a shaded, permanent photovoltaic canopy for those warm Valley days; oversized ceiling fans and a large, outdoor TV — perfect for hosting movie nights and watching big games.

SPECS

60,290 square feet (including 45,000 square feet of living spaces)

Late August open for move-in

$72.9M project, funded in part by $37.5 M state grant

2 years to construct

Name: University Park Apartments buildings 22 & 23 (until CSUN grants the dorms their new tree or plant names, per campus tradition)

Beds 99 in each dorm = 198 total

Share

The post Welcome Home, Matadors first appeared on CSUN Newsroom.