A UCLA-owned apartment complex will be demolished and rebuilt over two years to almost triple the building’s current occupancy.
The Margan Apartments, a seven-story, 39-unit apartment building on Levering Avenue will be rebuilt from July 2017 to 2019 to have 42 units and up to 10 stories, said Peter Angelis, assistant vice chancellor of Housing and Hospitality Services. The project, which will cost between $25 million to $30 million, will increase the amount of beds from 75 to 216.
Angelis said more units will be structured as two-bedroom apartments. Almost every unit in Margan is currently built as a single-bedroom space.
Students who want to live in university apartments during the construction period will be deferred to other university buildings, including complexes on Landfair and Glenrock that were redeveloped in 2014, said Angelis. He added the new building will be available for move in fall 2019.
UCLA is expected to increase student enrollment after the University of California Regents approved a new operating budget in November. The budget includes plans to enroll 10,000 more in-state residents and 1,200 more nonresidents in UC schools by 2019.
In January, UC President Janet Napolitano announced an initiative that promised to furnish at least 14,000 additional beds across the UC system. Napolitano added the initiative will expedite the completion of preexisting and planned housing projects and spur new property acquisitions.
UCLA bought the Margan apartment building in 1989, 24 years after it was built. Angelis said the building has since gone through kitchen and bathroom renovations in 2004 and 2005 and window replacements in 2010.
He said the building was beyond its useful life due to regular wear and tear, which gives UCLA an opportunity to rebuild while increasing the number of university-owned beds.
Some students who live in the building said they welcome the much-needed renovations. Kevin Wong, a second-year neuroscience student, said he thinks the building is old enough to be demolished.
“Any sort of changes they (make to) this building would be much better for it and its residents,” Wong said.
Rommel Castro, a second-year electrical engineering student who lives in the building, said many of the apartment building’s components, such as its elevators and plumbing, are riddled with problems.
Alexander Tseng, a second-year linguistics student and Margan resident, said he is indifferent about the building’s demolition. He added he thinks the old building is still capable of housing students.
An initial study with more information about the project, including environmental impact, is available for public review until May 25.