LA VERNE, CA-Hanover Pacific LLC plans to break ground at the end of this month on a 68-unit, 378-bed student housing project at the University of La Verne that will include 8,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space for a new university bookstore. Designed by KTGY Group Inc. Architecture and Planning, the project will be developed at the site of a former campus parking lot at the south end of campus at the intersection of D and Second streets.

The majority of the project will be four-bedroom units serving six students each. Kitchens will not be included in any of the units, except those for the resident advisers, because students living in the new facility will be expected to take part in the university food services plan.

Robert Kim, executive managing director of Hanover Pacific, says that the unit and building design will include shared common areas, with lounges and study areas on each floor. According to David Senden, a principal with KTGY Group and the lead designer on the project, the project will include a pedestrian plaza at the corner of D and Second streets. He adds that the ground-floor bookstore will be part of a retail corridor along D Street.

According to Senden, the new housing will assist the university in accommodating current needs and will also help in the recruitment of new students because housing is one of the factors that influence students in their choice of schools. The University of La Verne is a private research university that was founded in 1891.