Vision for downtown Sacramento State campus includes hotel and housing to boost revenue
Amid cost-cutting in the California State University system, Sacramento State’s planned downtown campus must generate new revenues, University President Luke Wood said.
Though the university is still evaluating its real estate options for the project and emphasized this week that plans are not yet finalized, early outlines of the development include event space, a boutique hotel and housing. Wood said Wednesday evening that the site could also bring in money from hosting events and providing office space and parking.
“We aren’t going to generate revenue off academic classrooms,” Wood said. “So we have to have academic classrooms, but we have to build other things around it in order to help, essentially, support the academic infrastructure.”
The California State University system will see an 8% budget cut in the next academic year, and inflation and staff raises have also contributed to an expected $37 million budget deficit at Sacramento State.
“Any plans that we have for the future have to be able to generate new dollars,” Wood said.
The project’s announcement this week had raised concern among some housing advocates that the site would no longer bring online new affordable housing units, as contemplated under a previous plan for the real estate the university is reviewing for the project — 800/801 Capitol Mall and 751 N St. The buildings were previously slated for conversion into 700 affordable units, until the developer withdrew last year.
Wood said Wednesday evening that affordable units for students and non-students haven’t been ruled out yet in the university’s planned downtown footprint. He wants to provide housing that is affordable, or at least financially “accessible” for students, and affordable units for non-students are still possible, too.
While Sacramento State has historically been a commuter school, Wood said its housing needs are growing.
Of 31,000 students, Wood said, 2,100 live in its North Village residence halls. Another 1,100 live in Hornet Commons on the south side of campus.
Another residence hall, Mt. Whitney, is under construction and will open another 335 beds in the fall of 2026. Still, Wood said, Sacramento State is under-built relative to its size, and enrollment is increasing. Plus, students who live on campus graduate at higher rates, he said. He believes the school needs to be capable of housing 5,000 to 7,000 students.
It’s unclear whether the downtown buildings will be renovated, if Sacramento State moves forward with the projects, or if they would be demolished and rebuilt. Wood said the university hasn’t ruled out either option yet.
“I would definitely see us leaning toward needing to do a fresh start,” he said.
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 10:13 AM.
