Student Housing Project for Cal Poly Humboldt OK’d by CSU Trustees

AERIAL VIEW Cal Poly Humboldt’s new Student Housing project at the former Craftsman Mall. Via Cal Poly Humboldt

AERIAL VIEW Cal Poly Humboldt’s new Student Housing project at the former Craftsman Mall. Via Cal Poly Humboldt

Article courtesy of Kevin L. Hoover and the Mad River Union:

The California State University Board of Trustees last Wednesday, Jan. 25 approved Cal Poly Humboldt’s (CPH) new Student Housing Project, to be located at the site of the former Craftsman Mall on St. Louis Road.

EIR certification and plan approval followed remarks by CPH President Tom Jackson emphasizing the project’s key role in addressing the university’s student housing shortage, especially in anticipation of growing polytechnic enrollment.

Meanwhile, the disagreement between the university and the Arcata Fire District over AFD’s ability to deal with emergencies at the new housing complex has led to discussions between the two.

The same day as the CSU meeting, AFD representatives joined CPH administrators in a meeting facilitated by State Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblymember Jim Wood, with Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer also in attendance.

According to AFD President Randy Mendosa, staff from AFD, CPH and the City will work on forming a working group of the respective agencies. The group’s meetings will tentatively take place in upcoming weeks and months.

Mendosa said the first agenda item for the working group will be to retain a professional consultant to perform what he called a “very much-needed” Standards of Coverage study.

“We all agreed to recommend to our respective agencies that costs for the study be split three ways between the university, the city and the Fire District,” Mendosa said. “I believe there is a consensus that all parties want to improve communications.”

Trustees impressed

The CSU Trustees’ hearing was part of a two-day session involving multiple agenda items. While the project’s EIR and pre-meeting CSU staff report referred to the Cal Poly project as “Craftsman’s Mall,” verbal testimony included references only to “Craftsman Mall.” The latter term was also used in a subsequent CPH news release.

The $152,035,000 CPH housing project was presented by Steve Relyea, CSU executive vice chancellor/CFO; CPH President Jackson, Elvyra (Vi) F. San Juan, CSU assistant vice chancellor for planning, design and construction; and Mike Fisher, CPH vice president for facilities.

Jackson said the local shortage of student housing represents “the number one barrier to our polytechnic transformation.” Craftsman, which will house 964 students, is a “paramount keystone for expanding campus enrollment,” with 4,000 new beds the ultimate goal for all CPH’s pending housing projects.

In reviewing the draft EIR, San Juan asserted that, “Overall, the feedback and general sentiment around the project has been favorable.”

Still, she broke out AFD’s critical DEIR comments for a particular response. Without addressing AFD’s complaints of a lack of firefighters and funding to ensure adequate fire response at the housing project, San Juan stated that “staffing and the training budget shortfalls for the fire district are not CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] impacts” because they aren’t physical impacts required for study under state law.

“CEQA impacts, for example, would instead be related to the impact on the environment of expanding [an] existing fire station or building [a]new fire station. So it’s environmental impacts of a physical nature, rather than a budget shortfall,” San Juan said.

Trustee Lillian Kimbell was impressed, but baffled as to how CPH kept building costs so low in comparison to other housing projects at other campuses, especially given Humboldt’s remoteness.

The Craftsman project’s cost of $501 per square foot is lower than the $589 per sq. ft. for a project at CSU Dominguez Hills, $690 per per sq. ft. for San Francisco State University, $650 per sq. ft. for CSU Long Beach, $549 per sq. ft. for CSU Fullerton and $625 per sq. ft. for CSU Northridge. Fisher credited Jackson’s direction in keeping amenities “supportive” of the affordable housing goal. He said CPH’s “Very great” design-build team had scoured the project for cost savings at every level. “We didn’t leave any stone unturned,”Fisher said.

Helping tamp down costs are use of prefabricated materials, the large scale of the project and a favorable ratio of assignable to general square footage.

As for getting students to and from the off-campus location, Jackson said student shuttles will be available. In addition, students have a walking route, and CPH helps subsidize local bus service.

WASTELAND The entrance to the closed Craftsman Mall property is presently a neglected hellhole of dumped furniture and other debris, broken glass and graffiti vandalism. KLH | Union

WASTELAND The entrance to the closed Craftsman Mall property is presently a neglected hellhole of dumped furniture and other debris, broken glass and graffiti vandalism. KLH | Union

Trustees impressed

Construction is set to begin in February. The facility will house 964 students and Phase I will be ready for occupancy in Fall 2025. The complex will include two buildings offering 964 beds, increasing University-owned student housing by nearly 50 percent.

Exterior features include green space, recreational facilities, and outdoor barbecue area. The project includes 340 surface parking spaces, including electric vehicle-ready parking spaces and covered bicycle parking.

To minimize the impact of the building height on the surrounding neighborhoods, the buildings will be taller at the center and step down in height along the perimeter of the site. Neither building will exceed 75 feet in height.

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36 Comments
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Akasha
Guest
Akasha
1 year ago

Finally

Michele
Guest
Michele
1 year ago

Hellhole? Craftsmans mall allowed people to own small businesses to take care of their families.
Now we will just have more traffic on St. LOUIS that will probably kill more pedestrians and dogs.
They won’t open Eye street on the other side. The only entrance and exit to that complex will be St. LOUIS.

suspence
Guest
suspence
1 year ago
Reply to  Michele

Alright Chicken Little.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  suspence

Baloney. Worrying about the future impacts of something that is certainly happening is not being a Chicken Little. It IS happening. And when the entity making the impact has the arrogance and self centeredness of CSU and their Board of Trustees, there can not be squawking loud enough to get their attention. They clearly give no care about locals unless State represntatives force it.

Newsom’sGel
Guest
Newsom’sGel
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

The state don’t give a rats ass about anyone squawking. If they did. Would homeless numbers keep rising? All the state cares about is coins in the coffer.

Delivery driver
Guest
Delivery driver
1 year ago
Reply to  Michele

Really cause it’s a massive gravel lot full of rusting and overgrown scrape metal, most would call it a junk yard,
As for the traffic they would definitely need to improve the roads around that location some barely fit the definition of 2 lane

guest`
Guest
guest`
1 year ago

I hope they have included plans for safer bike lanes and pedestrian access so everyone doesn’t get run over.

Permanently on Monitoring
Guest
Permanently on Monitoring
1 year ago
Reply to  guest`

And parking for 965 cars…

It’s really too bad that CSU is radically expanding a failing campus, but they will need to run a “UniTrans” type service and security for this site…

Reminds me of the projects in NYC…

guest`
Guest
guest`
1 year ago

Reminds me nothing of “projects” in NYC. I just would like better bike lanes and sidewalks in general.

Permanently on Monitoring
Guest
Permanently on Monitoring
1 year ago
Reply to  guest`

Well, it’s too big to fit in there…

It will make swell homeless housing some day!

Prometheus
Guest
Prometheus
1 year ago

A complete waste of taxpayer money…

guest`
Guest
guest`
1 year ago
Reply to  Prometheus

In theory housing and education are worth spending tax payer money on. It might help ease some housing problems in Arcata if students were housed by the university.

And I want better bike lanes and sidewalks.

Country Joe
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  guest`

In theory yes but that’s all.

c u 2morrowD
Member
1 year ago

better than what’s there now

Last edited 1 year ago
Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago

Is this what the so called spy balloon was looking for, biggest Biden project going at the moment. Is ole Joe still in his bunker? I’d say it’s been nice , who knows he might get re elected staying so quiet. It’s kind of nice not hearing blaltering from a low life politician. Just take our money quietly works for now.

Country Joe
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Lone Ranger

China Joe comes out of his bunker for some fresh air…

Cal Polyp Humboldt
Guest
Cal Polyp Humboldt
1 year ago

Cal Polyp Humboldt is a cancerous, abnormal growth.

Permanently on Monitoring
Guest
Permanently on Monitoring
1 year ago

Stupid place to build it, too small a town and campus to blow up…

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
1 year ago

Sigh. The nearest CSU schools from Humboldt County are Chico and Sonoma. I am surprised that Redding doesn’t have one. But Humboldt has been a school in some form for over a century.
I take it you would prefer that northern California lose it’s only University?
Change is hard, I know.

guest`
Guest
guest`
1 year ago

Gee whiz, why don’t you move?

willow creeker
Member
1 year ago

Arcata is the only town in the county that is booming. Real estate prices through the roof, big investment money and lots of new people. There is good and bad with any new big thing happening. Will we go in the direction of Santa Rosa or the direction of southern OR?

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
1 year ago
Reply to  willow creeker

Not disagreeing, but what do you mean Santa Rosa or southern Oregon?

willow creeker
Member
1 year ago

I guess I mean there are two different directions, when we look to our north or south. Southern Oregon is beautiful but not much going on economically, or Santa Rosa, maybe too much going on with traffic etc. I’m not sure which one is better, but maybe a nice mix of the two would be ideal.

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
1 year ago
Reply to  willow creeker

Oh, okay. I agree that the southern Oregon coast is beautiful, but it is isolated (more than northern California). Inland, the Medford/Grants Pass area is growing. I guess that’s why I wanted clarification. Over a quarter of a million in the metro area there.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

At least the university system spends our tax money on maintenance. Even if it is all only in their own interest. When was the last time anyone saw this well funded group ignore infrastructure like our cities do? It can only be a dream that local government keeps streets and sidewalks as pretty as CSU does.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

Looks very ugly…

willow creeker
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

Don’t be a hater. Too crowded, traffic concerns etc make sense. But it’s not ugly, when you look at what’s there now!

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

Those sort of change for arcata is good even if some of the crusty locals don’t like it

FoxtailCA
Guest
FoxtailCA
1 year ago

After several years of living in a residence just off St. Louis Rd. in this area, I feel fortunate to have moved away what with hundreds more cars and 1,000+ students slated to soon populate this area. And contrary to relentless CPH statements, I simply do not believe that, excepting Forestry, an undistinguished state university that is multiple hundreds of miles away from the Bay Area with little in the way of quality infrastructure is simply going to become a highly desirable destination for students. Not to mention the cost of attendance, living, and transportation at a time when many students face significant student loan debt and virtual learning is THE thing (Arizona State University continues to make a bonanza off of it proving the model).

guest`
Guest
guest`
1 year ago
Reply to  FoxtailCA

ASU is a party school with a airport hub. How can you compare them?

Prometheus
Guest
Prometheus
1 year ago

A complete waste of taxpayer money. Where will you park the 964 cars plus their friends and visitors?

D'Tucker Jebs
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Prometheus

There will be parking. 340 spaces is what I read. This is also within walking/biking distance of the campus and downtown and hs close proximity to bus service.

namer
Guest
namer
1 year ago

They’re gonna funnel all the loan victims and rich kids to the other side of the freeway, then demolish and rebuild most (old) on-campus housing.

Never will, “affordable” be part of the (Poly)math.

Still, not increasing enrollment.

Al L Ivesmatr
Guest
Al L Ivesmatr
1 year ago

Students need housing for grand plans so that makes some sense. Lumberjacks? Is that name banished? One of the better names ever for the local Humboldt State college before the city was overtaken by woke kooks,
post hippie. Arcata had a unique, free form, all views, hippie/logger edge in times past. Foggy Humboldt times back then in a small town. Bound to change. Oh well.

willow creeker
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Al L Ivesmatr

Everything changes. Get used to it.

Alfred
Guest
Alfred
1 year ago

Are they going to chase the rats and other critters down into the lower neighborhood? That was never mentioned in the EIR and ignored at all meetings!