Greek village plan stalled

Plans for a new Cal State Long Beach housing complex to house most of CSULB's fraternities, sororities and other campus organizations have been put on hold indefinitely.

The decision was made last August after university officials received the results of a feasibility study completed by the Group Housing Task Force. It revealed that the cost of the project, approximately $7 million for the initial phase, is too high to b e financed through rent alone. Only with the help of donations and private lenders can the project be realized, student services vice-president Douglas Robinson said.

"We were disappointed that it was so expensive,'' he said. "Private capital is needed to start the project.''

According to Robinson, the project is in "hibernation,'' but could be awakened as soon as outside funds are secured. All the required plans, studies and surveys have been completed, he said, and funding is all that is needed to green light the project.

Financing the village through university funds is not possible because adequate resources for a project of this size are simply not available, Douglas said.

The development's proposed site is located between Earl Warren Drive and Meriam Way, near the College of Business Administration Building, spanning the existing drainage channel. Costs for the initial phase, which would consist of six buildings, are high because extensive construction work is needed to prepare the approximately 2.25-acre site for future units, Robinson said.

He pointed out that the costs for each additional two-story unit will be much lower. Depending on their size - each will accommodate either 16 or 24 occupants - the units will cost between $350,000 and $500,000.

A housing complex that brings CSULB fraternities, sororities and other campus organizations on campus is very much desired by the university, Douglas said. Sorority members are especially interested in living on-campus because it is a relatively safe env ironment.

CSULB President Bob Maxson, an active fraternity man in his college days, has been an outspoken supporter of the idea. A year ago he informed campus Greeks at a meeting of what issues needed to be resolved before construction could begin. The three key issues included: a suitable location, ground rules for future occupants and available financing. He also indicated that new on-campus housing would not be possible if any one of these three issues cannot be resolved.

I want a Greek Village on campus,'' Maxson said. I'm a great supporter of the Greek system because it helps community life on campus and the more activities we can get going on campus, especially in the evenings and on weekends, the better.''

CSULB officials, including Maxson and Robinson, visited the Arroyo Vista housing project at UC Irvine last year to catch a first-hand glimpse of what a CSULB Greek village might look like.

During the visit, Robinson said, he and Maxson realized that the question of affordable rent is crucial in determining how successful the project will be. In the last six months UCI and numerous Arroyo Vista occupants have encountered problems related to rising rent and insurance fees.

"Whatever we do, we have to be very cautious because we are not going to use any university money,'' Maxson said. "It [the housing project] will be financed by students paying rent and that is why we need a donor - because the rent would just be too mu ch" if students had to support the development with rent alone.

Maxson said that the development's main goal has to be to offer students affordable rent, about $300 a month for each occupant, or the project would miss its point. Without donations rent would run as high as $700 a month per student. There is no problem as bad as charging people too much. If the rent is too high you will always have problems renting it out,'' Maxson said. "If the rent is reasonable and if you don't overbill you should have no problems.''

Besides Greek letter organizations the village would also house various academic groups, honor students, cultural clubs, basically any organized group that is interested in having its own house, but university approval is a must, Maxson added.

Presently only 1,844 CSULB students live on campus, a small fraction of the more than 27,000 students attending the university.

Several of the sororities and especially fraternities are located in crime-ridden neighborhoods and have expressed a growing interest in moving onto campus.

"Most fraternities think that it's a great idea to have houses on campus,'' Jason Kuncewicki, Interfraternity Council president, said. But it is important to point out that this is not exclusively a Greek row. Other campus clubs would also be part of it.''

The majority of fraternities have alumni who are very interested in moving their chapters on-campus, but there is still not enough support in form of donations to materialize the project, Kuncewicki added.