UC Berkeley's plan to build a new 34-acre campus in Richmond has been placed on hold. The University planned to partner with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to build the 5.4M SF project only to see it falter as funding became an issue.

Nicholas Dirks, the school’s chancellor, told the San Francisco Business Times the Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay was put on hold since paying for it would be a major challenge. As of April, the school had obtained environmental approvals and paid $25M to clean up the area.

The move appears to have been triggered by the US Department of Energy’s decision not to contribute to the construction of the new campus. The Energy Department funds Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

Dirks hopes to use the land in Richmond for projects such as student housing instead. The chancellor sought to reassure the city the university is still committed to building there. [SFBT]