In an effort to lose its commuter-school label, Sacramento State will add new apartment-style residence halls to campus.

They are scheduled to open in two years and Foley Hall on the north end of campus will be demolished to make room for the new facilities.

The director of Facilities Planning and Construction Services at Sac State, Victor Takahashi, said this new building would house 600 beds for the students. He also said the new housing will be more like apartments but some students would still be sharing rooms.

But Sac State is envisioning more.

“This will be the first phase to place about 2,500 beds on campus,” Takahashi said.

Right now there are about 1,100 residents spread among the five halls: Desmond, Draper, Jenkins, Sierra and Sutter. The remodeling of these buildings will not be in this project.

Takahashi said that funding for the new housing is being loaned from California State University systemwide revenue bonds, which are paid back from the rents of the units.

The current residential halls are mostly occupied by first-time freshman, some of whom are on their own for the first time or are looking to meet new people.

“I am going on my second semester in the dorms. I live about an hour and a half away from Sacramento. I knew a lot of people that came here, but I just wanted to meet as many new people as I could my first year of college,” said Jenn Emis, resident of Draper Hall.

Michael Glenn said he has lived in the residence halls since fall 2005. “Convenience was my No. 1 factor in choosing the dorms.”Glenn said he was anxious about making new friends. “So that is why I choose to live in the dorms a second year,” he said.

Because living on campus is convenient, issues like parking and cooking food become less worrisome, Glenn said.

Katie Lodato said it was a great place to get off to the right start with her college career. “But longer than two semesters would have been too much. All my friends that I made there were moving out, so we all got an apartment,” Lodato said.

Zach Fraser, a civil engineer major, said he only stayed two semesters because “Housing wasn’t worth its dollars. There is better or just as good housing off-campus that is cheaper.”

He also said that not having to drive to school is the one thing he misses from the residential halls, but “Sac State is a commuter school, it’s not really a dorm school.”

Takahashi said that the CSU trustees approve these types of projects after they receive the construction bids, but they have been discussing the building plans with the Chancellor’s Office. There is not yet a name for the new housing building.

He also said that a plan is being made to move existing tenants from Foley Hall into places on campus, temporary trailers, and the Modoc and the Adams buildings.

“It seems like a good idea because I know there is always a waiting list for the dorms,” Emis said.

Danielle Sazio can be reached at [email protected]