UC leaders approve construction of new student housing at UC Davis. Here’s when it could open

UC Davis will begin construction on a new student housing facility scheduled to open in fall 2027, the University of California Board of Governors announced Friday.

The $100 million project is being built in the Segundo area of ​​the UC Davis campus and is expected to house about 500 first-year students. It is part of the university’s effort to house about half of its students in Davis, following its 2018 commitment to the city of Davis and its own long-term goals.

There are currently two parking lots on the site of the planned complex. After construction is completed, one of the parking lots will be used as a parking lot again.

The university housed 38 percent of its undergraduate and graduate students when it opened its 1,500-person Orchard Park apartment complex last fall. The majority of the remaining students live off-campus in Davis, where vacancy rates are low and rents have risen over the past decade.

According to the University, Davis and Yolo County’s 2022 Joint Annual Housing Report, 16.6% of renter households in Davis were rent burdened between 2015 and 2019, and 39.4% were severely rent burdened.

In the 2018 letter of intent with Davis and Yolo County, the university pledged to build student housing and invest in transportation and travel improvements.