Joint Cabrillo-UC Santa Cruz student housing project remains on schedule

APTOS - The Joint UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College student housing project Costa Vista is on track to open in fall 2027.

Ben Mickus from WRNS Studio, the firm that designed the project, shared conceptual images of the project at a Cabrillo event last week.

Costa Vista is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between UCSC and Cabrillo. The student housing, which will have 624 beds for Cabrillo and UCSC students, is located on Cabrillo's Aptos campus near the school's softball diamond. Construction began in September 2025, and despite some minor snags, the new housing is on track to open to students for the 2027-2028 school year.

Right now, construction crews are in the process of framing the three buildings that make up the project, said Brynna McComb, a senior project manager with Jones Lang LaSalle, the real estate company that is serving as the project management firm.

At a Cabrillo Board of Trustees meeting in May, McComb reported that the construction timeline had begun to fall behind due to delayed mass timber deliveries. The team, which includes Jones Lang LaSalle as well as developer Greystar and construction team Devcon, decided to increase construction crew numbers and make strategic use of overtime hours to get back on track. Overtime hours were a part of the $178 million budget from the outset, McComb said, so the decision didn't affect the project's bottom line.

Now, the schedule is back on track, McComb said. Even as construction crews await a second mass timber delivery, they're continuing to frame the three buildings that will make up Costa Vista. Once the frames have been constructed, crews will move to the dry-in phase, when exteriors are finished and the building is made weatherproof. After dry-in, sometime this fall, work on the buildings' interiors will begin.

Also this fall, the leasing office will open. Students will be able to reserve their spots for the following academic year, McComb said.

"We're just really excited about the progress that's being made," she said. "If you drive by, every week it looks completely different."

At an event last week, Mickus gave a digital tour of Costa Vista. He explained that the housing will consist of three buildings, each open to both UCSC and Cabrillo students. Each building will be surrounded by courtyards and will have a distinct identity.

Of the 624 beds in Costa Vista, 60% will be reserved for Cabrillo students and 40% for UCSC students. There will be several floor plans, including studio apartments, two-bedroom units and a few four-bedroom units. Around 70% to 75% of the units will have two bedrooms, Mickus said, and around 75% to 80% of the bedrooms will be single occupancy. Twenty-four units will be designed for families with children.

All living spaces will have windows, some with ocean views, and all units will have bathrooms and kitchens. In addition to in-unit amenities, Costa Vista will have services including laundry facilities, a gym, a grab-and-go food station, study lounges and a gaming room with computers, Mickus said. One building will also have a rooftop garden with ocean views.

Another notable service offered by Costa Vista is a childcare center. The center will have 64 spots for children of Cabrillo and UCSC students, and potentially children of Cabrillo employees. Community Bridges, a local nonprofit that operates several other childcare centers, is set to run the center at Costa Vista, said Ryan Haynes, director of oversight for student housing and the childcare center at Cabrillo. Community Bridges even had some input in the design and construction of the new center.

Costa Vista is the first housing collaboration between a University of California school and a California community college to be housed on a community college campus. Dave Keller, executive director of housing services at UCSC, said that on-campus housing transforms the atmosphere of a school. UCSC has been using its experience and expertise with on-campus housing to help Cabrillo prepare for the change, Keller said.

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