Cal Poly Pomona Buys Student Housing Complex for $126M

Freshmen enrollment applications reached a record high at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP) last year, and the institution is preparing for the upcoming fall semester with a new student housing complex just across Calif. State Route 57.

The university spent $126 million to acquire The Current, a 177-unit, 252,000-square-foot housing community, from developer Gilbane. An affiliate of the Los Angeles Times first reported the sale at 851 Corporate Center Drive, which features 636 beds and was completed by Gilbane last year. 

In addition to a campus shuttle, the complex includes amenities like a pool, a fitness center, social lounges and private study rooms. Representatives for the university did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it was not immediately clear who brokered the deal. 

CPP definitely needs the extra space. The university logged 51,022 applications from first-time freshmen for the fall 2024 semester, an all-time high and a 10 percent jump from fall 2023’s applications. Combined first-year and transfer student applications last year hit 64,323, within a half-percent of the all-time combined high. That number is likely to increase, as the university announced this week that it would offer guaranteed transfer admissions for community college students who meet CPP requirements.

The university, meanwhile, is in the midst of enacting its roughly $2.3 billion 2040 Master Plan, which calls for 1,500 additional student beds and nearly 1 million square feet of total new construction throughout the next two decades. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.