UC Village

UC Village, also called University Village or University Village Albany, is a housing community for students and postdocs who are married or have dependents. It is owned and administered by the University of California, Berkeley. It is located within the city limits of Albany about two miles away from the main Berkeley campus, at an elevation of 26 feet (8 m). It was originally known as Codornices Village, and later, Albany Village. It is also commonly referred to as The Village.

The University Village is located on the Gill Tract, at the foot of Codornices and Marin Creeks. It began as a federal housing project for some of the thousands of families of workers who came to the San Francisco Bay Area to work in various war industries during World War II, especially the Kaiser Shipyards in nearby Richmond and Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. It originally extended across the city limits past Codornices Creek into Berkeley as far south as Camelia Street. It was built on land leased from the university and other owners. Around 1954, some of the village buildings were acquired by the University of California. The Berkeley section was demolished.

During the war, the Key System constructed a massive wooden trestle through and over the heart of the village and the nearby Southern Pacific railroad's mainline for the Shipyard Railway to Kaiser Shipyards. It was dismantled at the end of the war.

Even before the U.S. entered WWII, war production brought workers to the SF Bay area and strained the housing supply.

The federal government passed the Lanham act in 1940 which funded housing and daycare for civilian war workers. To assuage private real estate interests, the Lanham act provided for the removal of the war housing two years after the war emergency ended, unless a local government would take ownership. Unlike the Housing Act of 1937, which required the demolition of one unit of housing for each new unit built, the Lanham act encouraged building on already vacant land.

In 1943, the Federal War Housing Agency announced plans to create and operate a large racially integrated project in Berkeley and Albany to house civilian war workers and their families. Private real estate developers had not created enough housing for war workers. It would eventually house 8000-10000 people in an area of Berkeley and Albany bordered by Camilia street, San Pablo, and Buchanan and be known as Codornices Village.

Both the Albany and Berkeley city councils protested the project, claiming private developers would be able to meet the need and that the housing should not be located in Berkeley.

Construction by the Standard Building company began in 1943. Residents first moved in April 1944. The project included the integrated Codornices Elementary school and Children's Center, as well as recreation facilities. Trains transported workers from Codornices Village to the Richmond shipyards and to Mare Island in Vallejo.