California’s Department of Finance recommended that San Francisco State, along with five community colleges, UCLA, UCSD and San Diego State, receive a piece of nearly $480 million to create affordable housing for 3,545 students.
EdSource
“With rent prices in San Francisco, I’m not surprised we made the list,” said Barry Jodatian, associate vice president of capital planning, design and construction for the California State University campus. San Francisco has one of the most expensive rental markets in the country. As of February, the average price for a one-bedroom apartment was $2,930 a month, according to rental listings site Zumper. A two-bedroom apartment averages $3,930 a month.
The grant doesn’t completely cover the building cost of San Francisco State’s or other colleges’ projects. Jodatian said the San Francisco campus would use dollars from bonds the CSU system regularly issues for housing to cover the rest. AB 1602, proposed by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, a Sacramento Democrat, creates a $5 billion fund to provide zero-interest loans to UC, CSU and community colleges to build affordable housing for faculty, staff and students.