Going ‘Green’: Construction underway on massive UC Davis apartment complex
The ground on the quad was soaking wet, but city and campus leaders came together at UC Davis on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony, and to reveal the official name of the university’s huge student housing development.
The Green at West Village, located adjacent to Highway 113 and in the early stages of construction, will be composed of nine four-story apartments, which will provide 3,300 of the nearly 5,200 beds the university has promised to add on-campus by fall 2023.
Five months after reaching a deal with the city of Davis and Yolo County to significantly boost UC Davis’ on-campus student housing, Chancellor Gary Mayor, Davis Mayor Brett Lee and other local leaders shoveled the symbolic dirt from the dry confines of a tent in the quad of West Village’s nearby, existing apartments.
Announced in September, the deal agreed to by the university, city and county legally requires UC Davis build enough housing to accommodate 100 percent of new enrollment growth among students guaranteed housing. That works out to an increase of beds from 9,818 to at least 15,000, with two other intermittent deadlines along the way.
UC Davis will owe $1,000 total – $500 to the city and $500 to Yolo County – for each bed that’s more than six months late.
“This project will offer a new and exciting option for our students: on-campus housing with great amenities and environmentally sustainable features,” May said at Tuesday’s news conference.
The university announced the project will be funded by $575 million worth of tax-exempt bonds, which represents the biggest bond issue ever for a student housing project in the U.S.
Development is handled by the Michaels Organization. Joseph Coyle, president of the Michaels Organization, on Tuesday unveiled the complex’s name, The Green.
The name represents the buildings’ environmentally sustainable, net-zero energy status.
“Zero net energy is a tremendous accomplishment on a project of this size,” PhD student Ben White said. “It was on the first part of West Village, and it’s even moreso on the larger scale of The Green.”
White added that he hopes the university keeps pushing the cutting edge of sustainability with zero- or positive net-energy developments.
The 34-acre village also includes a 10,000-square-foot community building containing a fitness center and multipurpose room.
The first 1,000 of the 3,300 beds are scheduled to be ready by fall 2020.
Lee spoke of the city’s strained relationship with the university and past challenges in introducing new housing developments.
“I think I’ll just candidly say it: The city was a little bit remiss for a while,” Lee said. “For close to 20 years, we did not approve any apartment complexes. The (City) Council has realized that this has created real challenges for folks, students and non-students.”
Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Emily Galindo said The Green represents one of the largest student housing projects in the U.S., and it will be largely aimed toward transfer students.
UC Davis had 38,369 students as of this January’s enrollment report, with about 30,000 of them undergrads.
The university also plans to pump $2.3 million into upgrades to transportation infrastructure over the next few years, much of it going toward new or extended bike paths, as announced last fall.
This story was originally published February 26, 2019 at 2:52 PM.
