A look into CSUF’s $250 million makeover

Four major construction projects are open, including new housing and a McCarthy Hall renovation, with a fifth coming up.

Jessica Benda Asst. Editor

Over $250 million was invested into Cal State Fullerton’s campus makeover, and the payoff is arriving.

Massive projects like the new housing building, McCarthy’s second floor overhaul and freshly-done baseball and softball facilities are open to students this semester after months - or years - of construction fences. While some are still renovating, here is what to expect when coming back to campus.

The Suites

The $120 million Goliath of this year’s construction projects is buzzing with its inaugural students, who furnished their apartments and moved in last week. After a year and a half, construction has transformed part of Lot E into the Suites, a 600-bed housing complex tucked between the Gastronome and the Eastside parking structure.

Apartments hold four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen divided among eight students. On the first floor are two full-time staff apartments, each with two-bedrooms, residential life office spaces and a multipurpose room.

The opening of the Suites paves the way for the eventual demolition of decades-old housing buildings Cypress, Sycamore and Valencia. Since the Suites are designed as its replacement, student housing gained only about 200 beds in total, said housing director Larry Martin.

“Now we have different kinds of experiences for students so that hopefully, it can create a more rich residential experience for the 2,200 students now who are able to live here,” he said.

Martin detailed how students start in the residence halls, then can transition into the Suites, and then finally land in an apartment with their own room.

Martin called this a step toward the university’s master plan, which aims to convert a famously commuter school into a residential campus. In a major expansion, the plan details potential housing by the Titan Student Union. This summer, the department received more funding for affordable housing, Martin said.

“Probably in three years or so, folks will see a few hundred more beds available on campus, and then I think that will just continue,” he said, adding that as they receive resources, housing will likely move to other areas of campus.

In the meantime, those that want to look inside the Suites can attend its grand opening on Friday at 10:30 a.m.

McCarthy Hall’s second floor

As the oldest building on campus, McCarthy Hall’s reputation mostly sits on rumbling elevators and aging classrooms, but its newly modernized second floor has a good shot at boosting its popularity.

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