CSUMB breaks ground on transforming an office building into on-campus sophomore housing.

The student population has been increasing at CSU Monterey Bay, and so is demand for on-campus housing. To meet that need, the University Corporation at Monterey Bay (a nonprofit that manages business operations, housing and more at CSUMB), is moving forward with turning Gavilan Hall, a three-story office building, into housing for about 200 students. The project is set to break ground on Thursday, Dec. 4, with a timeline of fall semester 2026 for students to move in.

“I’m happy that we have the ability to provide these additional spaces and make the reality of folks attending here come to life,” says Crystal Lay, director for student housing and residential life at CSUMB. “Our students, if they’re coming from far away, they want a place to call home.”

Natalie Navarro, a junior and president of Associated Students, has lived on campus since her freshman year. “We have been kind of overdue for some new housing,” she says.

She notes there are advantages of living on campus: “It really enhances your college experience just because you have such close proximity to on-campus activities like events, clubs, sports, everything that CSUMB has to offer.”

Demand for housing at CSUMB has increased over the years. In the fall of 2023, enrollment was 6,742 students; it climbed to 8,233 in fall 2025. Student applications for on-campus housing went from 3,915 to 4,544 over the same time period. Housing availability, meanwhile, has lagged – it went from 3,607 units available to 3,880 (including 57 temporary housing units).

In October of last year, the board approved a $1 million feasibility study to transform Gavilan Hall. In July, the plan moved forward with an $18 million budget (which was later increased to $20 million in October). The development is funded through the CSU Systemwide Revenue Bond Program, which finances projects such as student housing, cafeterias and parking.

Gavilan Hall will house sophomore students. Renovations include upgrading plumbing and heating and 2,600 square feet of common space, which will include a kitchen and study room. Each unit will have four rooms, a private bathroom and shared living room. “The idea is they’re going to feel like residential living pods,” Lay says.

One challenge, Lay notes, has been bringing a sense of community to students who live in the same space since CSUMB’s housing is in old military barracks.

“Some of the infrastructure looks and feels different than on a campus that had college students living in mind,” Lay says. “We have to work a little bit harder to get folks out of their rooms.”

Navarro says responsiveness to students from the Student Housing and Residential Life Department has improved in recent months, after a glitch in the system last spring left some students on a waitlist without a notification as to whether they had housing.

“They’re pushing everything earlier, so that way students can know whether or not they have a spot before they leave for summer,” Navarro says.