A surface parking lot on the western edge of Cerritos College's Norwalk campus could soon become housing for more than 100 students. The Cerritos Community College District has filed an environmental notice with Los Angeles County for a new residential complex along Studebaker Road, near its intersection with Falcon Way, marking a fresh step toward a project the district has been pursuing for years.
According to Urbanize LA, the development would consist of three multi-story buildings totaling 102,000 square feet of floor area, built on the site of an existing parking lot. The outlet's headline describes the project as a 102-unit complex, while its article text states the development would contain 106 residential units — a discrepancy the report does not resolve. Plans also call for shared amenities including dining areas, offices and laundry facilities, per the same outlet's reporting.
Funding Already Secured for the Studebaker Road Site
The financial backbone of the project dates back to September 2024, when Cerritos College announced it would receive $68 million in state funding toward the housing complex. The college's announcement said the Board of Trustees had committed an additional $12 million, bringing total project funding to $80 million. At the time, the college described the complex as providing approximately 400 affordable beds for students.
A December 2024 report from student newspaper Talon Marks estimated the project would open in spring of 2027.
Addressing a Long-Documented Housing Gap
The push for more beds reflects a problem Cerritos College has been studying for years. The college has cited a 2019 survey finding that more than half of its students faced housing insecurity and difficulty paying rent or a mortgage, according to the college's own materials. The Press-Telegram reported that about 15% of students had experienced homelessness outright.
Cerritos College already operates a smaller facility addressing this need: The Village, which the college says opened in 2020 as California's first community college housing development exclusively for students facing homelessness. In 2023, the college said that if its grant application for the larger Studebaker Road project were approved, eligible students could be offered below-market housing at $717 per bed, including utilities.
Regional Colleges Are Building Too
Cerritos College isn't alone in racing to add campus housing. Long Beach City College is constructing a similar development at its Liberal Arts Campus, which it says will provide 431 beds across studio, single- and double-bed units. That roughly 93,000-square-foot facility carries an estimated $127 million budget and is expected to be completed in Fall 2028, funded through the voter-approved Measure LB and Measure AC bond measures, per Long Beach City College.
The need driving that project looks familiar: the Long Beach Post has reported that nearly 12% of LBCC students who responded to a recent survey said they had experienced homelessness in the past year, with close to 800 students reporting housing insecurity and 80 saying they slept in their vehicles.
Compton College is also building student housing of its own. The district held a groundbreaking ceremony in January 2025 for the project, according to Compton College.
Environmental Review Status
Back in Norwalk, the project's environmental notice filed with Los Angeles County states that the development is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act under Sections 15301, 15303 and 15314, according to the notice obtained through CEQAnet. The notice also indicates that possible exceptions under Section 15300.2 were reviewed and found not to apply. The excerpt available does not establish the full review record or any subsequent approvals.
