C.W. Driver Commences Work on CSUN Student Housing Project
By Eric Althoff
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—C.W. Driver Companies is collaborating with designer A.C. Martin Partners on a 198-bed student housing complex at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).
The $55.7 million project entails two four-story buildings encompassing 60,290 square feet, 30,000 square feet of which will be for housing. In addition to living quarters, the buildings will offer student lounges, study areas and various gathering spaces. Buildings #22 and #23, as they are currently known, will each have their own centralized elevator and building services access. Building #22 will feature student community areas and a multipurpose room, while Building #23 will have a mail hub and housing administrative offices to service the new community.
The exterior work will entail renovations to the existing courtyards and construction of new walkways. Various outdoor amenities will also be added to give the entire living space more of a community feel.
Brent Hughes, COO at C.W. Driver Companies, said that his firm was ideally suited to help CSUN envision new housing options for its student population.
“In our many years of construction, we’ve worked on several schools and universities, including the Freshman Student Housing, Student Recreation Center, Physical Education Building, and Valley Performing Arts projects on the CSUN campus, providing us extensive campus knowledge and experience necessary for the construction,” said Hughes.
“Post COVID-19, material procurement has become increasingly challenging on every project,” John Kately, Project Executive with C.W. Driver, said in a statement to School Construction News. “Some long lead time items went from 6 to 8 months to 18 months. Manufacturers are providing lead times and not making commitments to dates. To compound the issue, materials that never previously experienced lead time issues all are experiencing some extent of required lead time. All of these issues require additional management, including meetings to reschedule and resequencing work due to material delivery challenges and adjusting project requirements for early material procurement and extended schedules.”
The work on the two residential buildings at CSUN is due to be completed for the Fall of 2025.
C.W. Driver’s additional educational construction work in California includes the CSU San Bernardino Coyote Village and Coyote Commons, MiraCosta College’s Chemistry & Biotechnology Building and Pomona-Pitzer’s Rains Athletic Center.
The contracting firm was founded in 1919 and works across a range of industries as a construction manager and contractor. In addition to education, their work has touched on the commercial, technological, mixed-use, assisted living, retail and vivid sectors.