Sacramento State University (SSU) in California has announced a new vision to transform a selection of state-owned buildings in downtown Sacramento into affordable housing units.
While the project is notably in the early stages, the expansion would provide SSU with the real estate needed to significantly increase the university’s available housing options for students, faculty and staff as part of a new campus. The California Department of General Services (DGS) has authorized the university to perform site evaluations and preliminary work on creating a state-of-the-art downtown center.
As part of the proposal, DGS would sign over control of three state buildings on the Capitol Mall to the university:
- The Employment Development Department.
- The EDD Solar Building.
- The State Personnel Board Building.
Once fully converted, the university’s new downtown footprint would feature a million square foot mixed-used center hosting the School of American Democracy and various housing facilities. Additional developments may include building a boutique hotel and a mixed-use performance venue for the School of Music, College of Arts and Letters.
While further details regarding the initiative’s timeline, costs and programming haven’t been released yet, SSU will be able to use the exclusive rights granted by the DGS to properly evaluate the properties. While the project is only in the conceptual stage, officials anticipate being able to add at least 1,000 beds after converting the buildings to housing units.
This is not the first time the university has attempted to repurpose these buildings as part of a campus expansion. Plans were developed in 2023 for similar work to create between 400 and 800 residences at the site. The agreement eventually fell through, with no further advancement on the fate of the properties until the university revived conversion plans.
Photo by Ron Reiring, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
