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Regents to Consider UC Davis Development Plan07-23-18 | Education

Regents to Consider UC Davis Development Plan
Proposal for 2 Million Square Feet of Space To Be Added

The 2018 Long Range Development Plan reflects multiple years of collaboration with internal campus partners and incorporates extensive community feedback. When approved, the plan will guide growth of the UC Davis campus into the future.

The University of California, Davis, will formally submit its new Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) and accompanying Environmental Impact Report for approval at the next meeting of the UC Regents, July 18. Once approved, the new plan, which includes capacity for an additional 2 million square feet of academic and administrative space and up to 9,050 beds of new on-campus housing, will go into effect.

"The new plan builds on the success of the 2003 LRDP and charts ambitious sustainability and housing options for UC Davis," said Bob Segar, associate vice chancellor for campus planning and environmental stewardship.

Overall, under the new LRDP, on-campus student housing will increase from 9,818 students in the plan's baseline year of 2016-17 to a forecast of housing 18,868 students by 2030. This projection exceeds the 5,175 projected increase in student enrollment during the same period.

At the July 18 meeting, UC Davis will also ask the regents to approve construction of new student housing at West Village, including 3,265 new beds serving incoming transfer students and continuing undergraduates. Groundbreaking for the West Village expansion project is targeted for late 2018 with over 1,400 beds coming online in fall 2020 and the rest available by fall 2021. The West Village expansion will also allow UC Davis to discontinue master leases of apartments within the city of Davis.

At their previous meeting in March, the regents approved replacement of Emerson Hall in the Cuarto apartment complex. The redevelopment will replace a 50-year old building housing 500 students with three buildings housing 809 students, expected to open in fall 2022.

Work is already underway to replace Webster Hall in the same complex with a new building housing 400 students, up from 260 in the old building. The new residence hall is set to open in fall 2019.

LRDP Caps a 3-Year Process

Adoption of the new Long Range Development Plan caps a process that began with a series of public outreach events in 2015. The plan will remain in force until amended or replaced.

Since the fall of 2015, UC Davis has held a series of public open houses and workshops, met with city and local officials and staff, and responded to numerous public inquiries. UC Davis planners have listened carefully to community feedback and made significant changes to the plan including:

• Removing proposed student housing from Russell, Toomey and Howard fields at the northeast corner of campus;
• Increasing the amount of student housing planned for campus from 6,200 additional beds in the January 2017 update to 9,050 beds in the final version (8,500 in new construction and 550 from "doubling up" of existing apartments in West Village);
• Aiming for increased housing density in new developments, for example through considering taller buildings, remote parking and other initiatives.

Completion of the LRDP will position UC Davis to expand on existing partnerships and upcoming collaborations with the city of Davis on a range of issues, such as the city's rental registration and resources program and model lease, implementation of the Nishi development, Russell Boulevard corridor planning, and University Mall district planning.