CSU-Monterey Bay President Peter Smith used the occasion of his ninth State of the University address Thursday to introduce an initiative that would put CSUMB into the housing development business.

Speaking to a full house of 450 university staff members and community members, Smith lauded the institution's achievements and its much-celebrated accreditation last year. Responding to the state's budget problems, Smith said the state can't expect the universities to maintain their level of service if they are asked to constantly give up funding.

"We are lean, we are mean and we are out of give-backs," he said. What's needed, he continued, is a way to generate income.

To that end, Smith announced plans to construct two housing developments also intended to provide affordable housing for staff members.

"It is our goal that any staff or faculty member at CSUMB will have the choice of buying a quality place to live, priced significantly below comparable housing being planned in our neighboring communities," Smith said.

The first development, which the university hopes to break ground on this coming summer, would be between Schoonover Park and Abrams Park at Ford Ord.

Abrams Park is owned by Marina and will be razed to give way to a new 1,050-unit housing development, Marina Heights.

The development is to have 125 two- and four-bedroom homes on a little more than 15 acres, according to university spokeswoman Holly White. A contractor and development team are yet to be selected for the project, White said.

There is clearly a need for additional homes for purchase, as 70 university employees are already on a list to purchase the new homes, White said. Because CSUMB staff members earn the same salaries that staff earn at CSU campuses located in less expensive locations, making affordable housing available makes a big difference, White said.

The existing university-owned units in Schoonover Park and Frederick Park, a mix of townhomes, apartments, bungalows and detached single family houses, are home to staff, students and staff from other local educational institutions, including the Defense Language Institute. While most of the units in those developments are rentals, there are some homes available for purchase in Schoonover Park, which are first made available to CSUMB faculty members.

"Later we will construct an entirely new North Campus neighborhood, tucked up against, and integrated with, the Marina University Villages development," Smith said. University Villages is a separate planned development of residences and businesses in Marina.

This second project is still in a conceptual phase and it is unclear as to how big it will be, White said.

"It will make excellent social use of our property, proving that affordable housing is possible if you make it a priority," Smith said about the two new housing developments during his address.

The UC Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology Center is considering a similar plan to develop affordable housing on the center's 270-acre East Campus, which is in an unincorporated area.

Outside the theater during Smith's talk, a group of CSUMB students protested the university's plans to move out about 430 single students out of four-person units in Frederick Park II apartments to make room for more families. The students will have to compete with other students for rooms in similarly priced Frederick I apartments or be assigned to units in the university's North Quad Suites and Apartments under construction.