The university has begun offering news media and others outside the campus community the chance to tour a mock-up of the project.
Housed in an old warehouse-type building off Los Carneros Road near the edge of campus, the mock-up gives visitors a taste of what it would be like to live in the towering, largely window-less structure that would house about 3,500 students. Students, faculty and staff have been given tours of the mock-up in recent months — and surveyed for their reactions — but only recently has the university given outsiders a glimpse.
An environmental impact report for Munger Hall is nearing completion, according to Gene Lucas, a retired UCSB executive vice chancellor who is helping shepherd the project. The report then will go to the office of UC President Michael V. Drake for review and input, Lucas said, and be put out for public comment by the end of October. The project could be approved as early as the summer of 2023, Lucas said. Construction would take about 40 months to complete, meaning the residence facility could be open as early as 2026.
Although the Coastal Commission has not officially reviewed any part of the plan pending completion of the environmental report, Lucas said the the university has been communicating with the commission staff from the outset.
Feedback from the commission staff, he said, is that they would prefer that buildings “go up rather than out” to preserve as much of the natural area as possible.
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