California College of Arts breaks ground on new student housing

California College of the Arts has broken ground on new student housing at 188 Hooper St. in in San Francisco.

Designed by architecture firm Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects, the five-story building will provide much-needed, below-market-rate housing for more than 500 students.

Located at the confluence of Dogpatch, Potrero Hill, and Mission neighborhoods, the project is expected to be completed in 2020.

The building will primarily provide housing to the school’s first- and second-year students. It will include single- and multiple-occupancy units and more than 12,000 sq. ft. of common areas, along with social and study spaces. An inviting, sunlit café on the ground floor of the building will be surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

At the ground level, the facility includes 10,000-plus additional sq. ft. of outdoor space with landscaped, interconnected courtyards.

The building also features a 400-sq.-ft. outdoor deck on the fifth floor. The sidewalk outside the building will expand to accommodate an increase in foot traffic and landscaping.