Campus News
Construction starting on UCSC housing collaboration with Cabrillo College
The project is one of several under construction and in the pipeline that support UC Santa Cruz’s ambitious plan to provide more than 40 percent additional student housing by 2035.
Costa Vista is expected to open in 2027 and provide housing for 240 UC Santa Cruz students and 375 Cabrillo students.
Construction is starting on a new first-of-its-kind housing project that will serve students enrolled at UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College and further strengthen the transfer pipeline between the Central Coast institutions.
Costa Vista is expected to open in 2027 and provide housing for 240 UC Santa Cruz students and 375 Cabrillo students. It is among the first student housing collaborations between the California Community Colleges and UC located on a community college campus.
The project is one of several under construction and in the pipeline that support UC Santa Cruz’s ambitious plan to provide more than 40 percent additional student housing by 2035.
“Our partnership with Cabrillo College reflects an innovative spirit, a commitment by our campuses to serve our students and region, and a shared understanding that safe and affordable housing is key to student success,” Chancellor Cynthia Larive said at a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, Sept. 29.
Larive thanked Sen. John Laird for his steadfast support of the project, and Cabrillo President and Superintendent Matt Wetstein for his vision and leadership.
“I am grateful to Cabrillo College, to the UC President’s Office, to Senator Laird, to all of our community partners, and to the many staff and faculty on both campuses who made today possible,” Larive said. “This is truly a shared achievement.”
The 22,000 square-foot complex will include three buildings with single occupancy and double occupancy units.
UC Santa Cruz’s goal is to have transfer students make up about a third of each entering class, and building on the already strong relationship with Cabrillo is an important part of the campus’s focus on educational access. Every year, upwards of 200 Cabrillo students seek to transfer to UC Santa Cruz to further their education and earn bachelor’s degrees.
“Working so closely together on the Costa Vista affordable student housing project has deepened and strengthened the already strong connection that exists between Cabrillo College and UCSC,” said Wetstein. “Throughout the early process and project design phase, Cabrillo has benefited tremendously from UCSC and partners who’ve been in the room with us. In addition to helping to provide needed affordable housing in the county that will further student success at both institutions, this student housing project will also strengthen transfer pathways between Cabrillo and UCSC—Cabrillo students who live in the Costa Vista student housing project and transfer to UCSC can continue to live there when they become UCSC students.”