SAN JOSE—College students increasingly select the college of their choice largely on the basis of quality of life issues, such as housing, dining, recreation, sports and social venues, all of which entail campus facilities conducive to that lifestyle. Master planning for that level of engagement begins with adequate and attractive student housing that can compete with the off-campus housing market.

This has spurred many changes in student housing design, in just the last 10 years. For example, design for campus housing has moved through cycles from traditional doubled loaded dormitory corridors to suite-style shared pods, apartment style private rooms and back to traditional residence halls, albeit amenity-laden with WiFi along with embedded coffee shops and recreation rooms.

Larry Piper, chief of facilities planning for 23 California State University campuses, tells GlobeSt.com: "With aging infrastructure and an increased demand for on-campus living, student housing remains a top priority for universities and colleges throughout California. Present and proposed housing projects verify this trend."

Specifically, major renovation and renewal of older high-rise units is a stronger trend than new construction higher than three stories and a similar renewal effort is focused on dining centers, where meal plans can justify higher fees with options such as wood-fired pizzas. Cost of housing has been steadily rising at a steady clip of 3% to 10% annually, with discounts for older facilities.

"Students engaged in campus life perform better as students, participate in campus-boosting activities, matriculate and become supportive alumni," said Piper.

To compete with the off-campus housing available in the metro, the San Jose State University Campus Village Phase II complex currently under construction is a 10-story student housing building that will feature 850 beds, common study rooms, a lounge, multi-purpose room, recreation room and other support spaces. Sundt Construction, working closely with architects Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is the design-build contractor for the $102 million project, which is expected to be completed in mid-2016. In addition to the Campus Village Phase II project, Sundt also recently performed a complete renovation, expansion and seismic upgrade to the university's Spartan Complex at San Jose State.

"Because of the site's location, we have had to work in tight quarters, which presents some unique challenges. Our team's experience in education construction on occupied campuses has enabled us to deliver the project safely and efficiently, with minimal disruption to campus life," said Sundt vice president Teri Jones. "The construction of this facility will significantly help the university achieve its goal of becoming an urban university and housing as many students as possible on campus."

Other notable Sundt California education projects completed include the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union for San Diego State University; University of California, Davis Veterinary Medicine 3B Building in Davis, CA; California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo Recreation Expansion in San Luis Obispo, CA; University of California, Berkeley Clark Kerr Campus Renewal in Berkeley, CA; and University of California, Davis Tercero Student Housing Phase III also in Davis.

Jones tells GlobeSt.com: "Once students move into the new San Jose State Campus Village building in the fall of next year, it will represent more than 5,000 student beds we've completed in California in the past 10 years, totaling more than $500 million."

As previously reported, a student housing project gained approval in Tempe, AZ.

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