UC Regents Approves Latest UCLA Housing Project

The University of California, Los Angeles has gotten the go-ahead to build a new high-rise dormitory in Westwood.

The Regents of the University of California approved UCLA’s project calling for the construction of a 19-story, approximately 310,000-square-foot tower at 901 Levering Avenue, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. The building would rise approximately 238 feet and include 148 units in a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts, providing beds for up to 1,150 students.

The development site currently houses five buildings containing 42 units, which UCLA acquired last year. The Mithun-designed structures would be demolished to make way for the dorm tower.

Construction on the $351 million project could start as early as this year and wrap up by 2030, according to an environmental study cited by Urbanize.

The tower at 901 Levering Terrace would be the tallest of UCLA’s student housing projects built in recent years. The Levering Place apartments next door at 885 Levering Avenue are 10 stories tall, and a tower across the street at 900 Weyburn Place rises 17 stories. UCLA is also under construction on another residential building for 545 students at 565 Gayley Avenue.

Those efforts might not be enough to keep up with the need for beds. Last year, the university announced that it would be squeezing more students into smaller units for the 2025-2026 school year, the Daily Bruin reported. The school said a portion of the university’s four-bedroom apartments, which currently house eight students, would turn into 10-person units, while some two-bedroom university apartments would transition into eight-person apartments.

“Local housing policies traditionally are very hard to move, and the fact that UCLA has done this could easily give the city an excuse not to do anything,” Michael Manville, a professor and chair of the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, told the Daily Bruin. “But the broader question is the entire Westwood and West L.A. area is just an extremely expensive place. It’s good that (UCLA is) taking the step, but it would be better if the city did do something alongside UCLA to make it easier to build new housing and make things cheaper for students.”

It’s not just UCLA itself that’s building residences to meet housing demand in Westwood. Private developers have also gotten in on the construction rush, especially as more students gravitate toward private options amid the university housing crunch.

M&A Real Estate Partners is nearing completion on The Hive, a six-story building at 535-539 Glenrock Avenue boasting 18 four- and five-bedroom apartments, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. Landmark Properties is under construction on an apartment building at 10915 Strathmore Drive; the Georgia-based firm also has plans for a bigger 12-story building at 505 Landfair Avenue. Locally based Uncommon Developers, meanwhile, is looking to build a 12-story tower at 11207 Strathmore Drive. — Chris Malone Méndez