The new Shasta Hall in the Cuarto residential area rolled out its welcome mat a year early for about 1,000 first-year students moving in this week.

The $105 million project completes the residential component in the master redevelopment of the Cuarto housing area, just a block north of the core campus. Shasta Hall opened Monday (Sept. 13), ahead of schedule, to help UC Davis continue to guarantee the availability of campus housing to first-year students.

Student Housing and Dining Services estimates that about 7,100 students will live in residence halls and about 7,700 in other campus housing this fall.

LOTS OF STUDENTS, LOTS OF TRAFFIC

RESIDENCE HALLS — Students are moving into the Primero Grove, Segundo, Tercero and Cuarto residence areas Monday through Thursday, Sept. 13-16. Expect crowded parking lots.

THE GREEN AT WEST VILLAGE — Tuesday-Thursday, Sept. 14-16. Some residents moved in earlier, and Chancellor Gary S. May and LeShelle May were on hand to help, as seen in the photo above by Jeremiah Noel.

AGGIE ORIENTATION — Friday through Tuesday, Sept. 17-21. With new commuter students driving in, parking spaces may be hard to find. Faculty and staff are encouraged to use alternative transportation (walk, bike, carpool, bus, train), or telecommute if their flexible work schedules allow.

DIVE INTO DOWNTOWN — Monday, Sept. 20, as part of Aggie Orientation, students will explore downtown Davis, about 1,000 students at a time, hourly from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Expect significant traffic delays if your commute takes you through downtown.

RETURN TO CAMPUS — From UC Davis Magazine: Five UC Davis undergraduates share their insights on returning to campus and their experiences with online learning over the past year.

Shasta Hall has one five-story and two four-story buildings, and its two- and three-bedroom suites each have private bathrooms. It replaces the 500-bed Emerson Hall, opened in 1967 and closed in June 2019.

Michael Sheehan, associate vice chancellor for Housing, Dining and Divisional Operations in Student Affairs, said the design-build team that won the Shasta project is the same team that worked on the nearby Yosemite Hall, so they had an efficient transition to the new project.

He also cited a strong collaboration between the teams from student housing; Design and Construction Management; and the contractor, DPR Construction and HKS Architects. “This collaboration was critical to keeping the project moving forward quickly,” Sheehan said.

Shasta’s building structure comprises prefabricated steel wall and floor sections that were manufactured off site and delivered ready to install, which increased construction efficiency. The mechanical system (including heating, ventilation and air-conditioning as well as domestic hot water) is electric and includes a solar thermal system.

The project is on target for silver certification and is expected to be one of the first campus buildings to earn the most current v4 certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program of the U.S. Green Building Council. Fittingly, Shasta Hall is home this year to the Sustainable Aggies Living-Learning Community.

Also opened this month were 2,300 additional beds at The Green at West Village. The first phase of The Green, with 1,000 beds, opened last fall.

The Cuarto area’s redevelopment included the renovation of Cuarto Dining Commons in 2011, the opening of 8th and Wake for graduate students in 2014 and the opening of Yosemite Hall in 2019.