'Superdorm' to cost $130 million

The University will begin construction this summer on its most expensive residence hall a massive $130 million building that will merge three halls in the center of campus.

The 850-bed mega-hall will include common areas, faculty suites, affinity housing and retail space. Upon completion in 2016, the so-called superdorm, will become the second-largest residence hall in Foggy Bottom.

The building, between H and I streets, will house mostly sophomores and juniors after combining the three nearly century-old structures the freshman Crawford Hall and the sophomore halls The West End and The Schenley. It will add 300 beds to the Foggy Bottom Campus.

The project will add another swath of construction to the Foggy Bottom Campus at a time when there are cranes or dirt ditches on nearly every block.

About 45 percent of the rooms will be singles, while 30 percent are reserved for affinity housing and the remaining 25 percent will become two-bedroom suites.

The 64,000 square feet set aside for student space will likely resemble the common rooms in West Hall on the Mount Vernon Campus, and also feature retail shops, similar to those in the basement of Ivory Tower.

University President Steven Knapp said the food venues lining I Street would transform what is currently the entrance to The West End into more of a college town, offering more retail space across the street from The Avenue.

Knapp said the student areas would help build a community in a city that has a tremendous capacity to draw students off campus for jobs and internships. He said the Student Association also highlighted common space as a priority.

About six to eight faculty members will live in suites in the new residence hall, increasing the number of live-in professors from nine to more than 17 part of Provost Steven Lermans goal to integrate classroom and residential experiences.

Lerman, who lived in a residence hall during his time as an administrator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said bridging the gap between classes and campus life would ultimately pay off.

Read the rest here:
'Superdorm' to cost $130 million