San Diego State will begin construction on seven new dormitory towers this summer.
San Diego State will begin construction on seven new dormitory towers this summer.
The Evolve Student Housing project will take at least seven years to complete and will include one tower on Montezuma Road and six towers that will replace several older dorm buildings on 55th Street.
SDSU architect Bob Schulz designed the towers to replace aging, overcrowded dorms.
“We have literally got every nook and cranny filled with students,” Schulz said.
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Schulz said the new towers will not exceed 13 stories and will increase housing from 8,500 students to 13,000.
“We've realized students can't study here if they can't live here,” Schulz said.
“It's definitely still a problem on campus,” sophomore Jacie Foster told NBC 7 on Wednesday.
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Foster, an Arizona native, said she couldn’t get a dorm room as a freshman, which forced her to share a more expensive place off-campus with other students.
“Whether you're off-campus or on-campus, affording rent is really hard as a college student right now,” Foster said.
“Could be a real positive thing," ” College Area resident Molly Hart Lebherz said. "The kids will have a place to be."
Hart Lebherz, who has lived near campus for decades, said several of her neighbors rent their homes as mini dorms for multiple State students. Her neighboring streets are always clogged with parked cars, she said, and she hopes the new towers would thin out the traffic.
“So that's good, I guess,” Hart Lebherz said.
“That'll help alleviate some of the stress and help some of the sophomores find better housing,” Foster said. “It will be a really good benefit just because housing at SDSU right now is so competitive.”
Schulz said SDSU’s goal is to have enough dorms for all their freshman and sophomores.
“And, hopefully, make room for some upper-division students who still want to live with us,” Schulz said, smiling.
Schulz admitted the view will change for people living and driving across Mission Valley. However, he said, the view is far outweighed by the benefits. Schulz said on-campus students perform in class better than commuters, on-campus housing decreases traffic, and more housing makes it easier for students to find a place to live.
“Providing housing for the people that want to live here is ultimately going to be good for everybody,” Schulz said.
