Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Construction Underway on New Housing, Dining Facility for CSU San Marcos

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/15/24

Construction on the new University Village Housing and Dining (UHVD) facility at Cal State University San Marcos in San Marcos, Calif., recently hit a milestone, according to a news release. Project builder McCarthy Building Companies recently announced the concrete start and tower crane arrival for the 140,661-square-foot facility, which is scheduled for completion in summer 2026. The facility will offer housing space for 550 additional students, as well as a 10,888-square-foot dining hall.

“McCarthy is thrilled to announce the successful erection of our tower crane for the CSU San Marcos student housing project, marking a significant milestone in our construction journey with CSUSM and Gensler,” said David Alford, Vice President Operations at McCarthy Building Cos. “This achievement continues to energize our teams' passion for transforming dreams into reality, bringing us one step closer to delivering exceptional, affordable living spaces for CSUSM students.”

The university received $91 million in funding from the California Legislature and state governor from the 2022–23 state budget. The project’s ultimate goal is to improve housing access and equity for “underserved, low-income students.” The school currently enrolls about 16,000 total students, 2,000 of whom live on campus.

The university also partnered with architecture firm Gensler for the project.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.

  • Girl Sitting at Library Desk, Using Laptop

    How Campus Design Shapes the Finals Week Experience

    Academic performance is not just about preparation. It is closely tied to how students manage stress, maintain their energy, and shift between work and recovery modes. Much of that is influenced, directly or indirectly, by design.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.