Long Beach City College will soon break ground on a housing facility that will allow students to live on campus for the first time.
The approximately 93,000 square-foot complex, at Clark Avenue and Lew Davis Street, will provide a mix of studio, single and double-bed units for a total of 431 beds. Its location gives students easy access to the Liberal Arts Campus, public safety building, and the soon-to-come new Stadium and Athletic Sports Complex.
The groundbreaking ceremony will take place in early October.
“For the first time in Long Beach City College’s nearly 100-year history,” Uduak-Joe Ntuk, president of the Board of Trustees for the Long Beach Community College District, said in a press release, “students will have the opportunity to live and learn on campus.”
The facility will include a study, lounge, meeting spaces, shared kitchen and laundry rooms, and indoor and outdoor gathering areas. Funded by Measure LB and Measure AC, both voter-approved bond measures, the project has a budget of about $127 million. Completion is expected in fall 2028.
“Community colleges have traditionally been thought of as commuter campuses,” Mike Muñoz, LBCC superintendent-president, said in the press release. “But the students we serve today face very different circumstances.”
The project’s goal is to support student housing needs, and help them balance school with any family or work challenges they may face.
“For some students, housing instability can make it difficult to stay in school,” Muñoz said. “This project responds to that reality by providing a place to live that gives students greater stability while they pursue their education.”
LBCC has invited community members to a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 8 to learn more about the housing project, which joins renovations to LBCC athletic facilities, also funded by Measure LB.
The project design focused on minimizing impacts to the surrounding neighborhood, the press release said. LBCC reduced the building height facing Clark Avenue from four stories to three, eliminated student entry from Clark Avenue, and moved the rooftop patio to the far west end of the facility.
Clark Avenue faces a residential neighborhood to the east of the housing complex, while Lew Davis Street faces the soon-to-be-demolished Veterans Memorial Stadium. Lighting will remain within the facility’s property line, and the building’s digital display was relocated from Clark Avenue to Lew Davis Street.
To make the building feel more residential, LBCC has incorporated landscaping, architectural enhancements and murals to the design. LBCC is also conducting a parking and traffic study for the project.
Investments in 24-hour residential operations will include increased security, maintenance and landscaping staff, and new student services professionals.