A campus task force documented the urgency of our student housing crisis, and set the stage for an initiative to address it.
Our goal: Double UC Berkeley's existing student housing.
UC Berkeley houses fewer undergraduate and graduate students than any of the other UC campuses. Due to the high cost and low supply of housing close to campus, a significant percentage of our students are not able to live in Berkeley, undermining their ability to thrive, succeed and fully partake in all that the university has to offer.
These are the reasons our student housing initiative commits us to double the number of beds available in university-owned and -operated residential facilities.
That, in turn, means we must build on every university-owned site the task force identified. We are a land-poor campus and we must use all of the sites we have to support the students we enroll. Building on undeveloped university property that lacks water, electricity, and transportation infrastructure is not feasible due to prohibitive costs and environmental considerations.
Since establishing our housing goals in 2017, UC Berkeley has completed two housing projects. As of April 2024, five more housing projects are in development and in planning.
Together, these seven projects will achieve nearly two-thirds of our goal to double existing student housing, which requires more than 9,000 new beds.
However, in order to reach our student housing goal it is not a question of which sites to develop -- we must use them all.
- Housing projects completed:
- Blackwell Hall (775 beds)
- Intersection Apartments (105 apartment units)
- Housing projects in development:
- xučyun ruwway (761 beds)
- Anchor House (772 beds)
- People's Park Housing (1,113 beds)
- Housing projects in the planning phase:
- 2200 Bancroft Way (approx. 1,200 new beds; currently a small office building and a parking lot)
- 2302 Channing Way (approx. 1,500 new beds; currently tennis courts and a parking lot)
Because thousands of beds are still required to achieve our goals, seven additional housing sites have been identified and will subsequently be developed:
- 2000 Carlton Street (approx. 400 new beds; requires relocation of existing Facilities Services uses)
- Beverly Cleary (approx. 300 new beds; redevelopment of existing housing to increase capacity)
- Clark Kerr Campus (where development of new housing is restricted until after 2032 by legal covenants)
- Foothill North (approx. 70 new beds; redevelopment of existing housing to increase capacity)
- Oxford Tract (approx. 2,000 new beds; requires relocation of existing Rausser College programs)
- Unit 3 (approx. 600 new beds; redevelopment of existing housing to increase capacity)
- Upper Hearst (approx. 150 beds; requires relocaiton of existing parking and recreation uses)
We did not prioritize the People's Park site simply because of its proximity to campus.
Consistent with our responsibilities and commitments to both the campus and city communities, this site offers a unique opportunity for a win-win-win-win:
- More than 1,100 students in below-market campus apartments. This means more than 1,100 students will no longer need to compete for the city's limited housing inventory.
- Permanent housing with onsite services benefiting more than 100 very low-income and unhoused members of our community.
- 1.7-acres of renewed and revitalized park space for the safe enjoyment of everyone.
- Commemoration of the park's storied past, from native land, to turn of the century homes, through the protests of the 1960s, and into today.
Map of University-owned sites identified for new housing. It is not a question of which sites to develop. To double our student housing, we must build on every university-owned site identified.
UC Berkeley houses fewer undergraduate and graduate students than any of the other UC campuses. Due to the high cost and low supply of housing close to campus, a significant percentage of our students are not able to live in Berkeley, undermining their ability to thrive, succeed and fully partake in all that the university has to offer.
These are the reasons our student housing initiative commits us to double the number of beds available in university-owned and -operated residential facilities.
That, in turn, means we must build on every university-owned site the task force identified. We are a land-poor campus and we must use all of the sites we have to support the students we enroll. Building on undeveloped university property that lacks water, electricity, and transportation infrastructure is not feasible due to prohibitive costs and environmental considerations.