UC SAN DIEGO BUYS $42 MILLION APT. BUILDING IN EAST VILLAGE

It will house faculty, staff who will use trolley to commute

UC San Diego has purchased a $42 million apartment complex near a Blue Line trolley station in downtown San Diego that’s meant to be used by faculty and staff who will commute to the main campus in La Jolla and UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest.

Construction was recently completed on the eight-story Framework building, at 13th and F streets, two blocks from where UCSD opened its Park & Market education and entertainment center in May.

“Some faculty and staff experience great challenges securing housing, particularly in neighborhoods with access to public transit options ...,” the university said in a campus email, explaining the purchase.

UCSD said the building’s 87 fully-furnished studio apartments range in size from 317 square feet to 502 square feet, with starting monthly rents that will range from $1,975 to $2,675.

The purchase represents an expansion south by the university, which is experiencing crowding in La Jolla, where the fall quarter began with nearly 43,000 students, a record.

UCSD also recently confirmed that it is exploring the purchase of a 6.57-acre parcel of land in the Mission Bay area that’s also located near a Blue Line station. The parcel, situated at 2111 Morena Blvd., is currently occupied by housing and a car dealership. But the land has the potential to become a university housing site.

Rich Leib of San Diego, who is chair of the University of California Board of Regents, has been urging UCSD to create a satellite campus in Chula Vista to serve the 525,000 people who live in South County.

gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com

GARY ROBBINS U-T The new Framework apartment building near the Blue Line in East Village.