Housing Construction Boom Transforms San Diego State

One Monday afternoon, construction workers were firing nails into the framework of what will be another new apartment building on the south edge of San Diego State. Between these new units and many others near Alvarado Hospital, there's been a boom in University-area housing.

Photo by Tom Fudge

Above: One new apartment building, and one under construction on Lindo Paseo, are an example of the increase in rental housing, aimed at San Diego State students.

"It's probably right around 2,000 beds that have either been recently delivered or will be very soon," said San Diego State architect Bob Schulz, who describes housing in terms of numbers of "beds" rather than apartment units.

A flurry of construction around the San Diego State campus seems to be transforming the long-time commuter campus into a very different campus community: One in which students live within walking distance of campus and find shopping and services they need nearby.

Schulz points out the university had no hand in planning or building the housing that's recently gone up. It's just the private sector responding to demand.

The San Diego State housing boom is driven by several trends and factors. One is a university master plan that aims to increase the student body to 35,000. There is also a growing number of students who aren't from San Diego, and a general desire to make SDSU less of a commuter campus.

Investment in housing, aimed at students, is happening all over the country. At the University of San Diego, 533 units are now being built on Linda Vista Road.

Following the collapse of single-family home prices, builders looked more and more to attached rental housing as their most valuable product.

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Housing Construction Boom Transforms San Diego State