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News Release

Last modified: Friday, April 15, 2011

Indiana University trustees approve IU Bloomington residence hall, apartments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Board of Trustees today (April 15) approved construction of two housing complexes -- a new residence hall and a student apartment building -- both to be located near the intersection of Third and Union streets on the IU Bloomington campus.

The 450-bed residence hall will be built at the northwest corner of Rose and Jones avenues and will be made up of four-story buildings. Sixty-four percent of the 155,000-square-foot project will be double rooms and the rest will be single rooms.

The 84,000-square-foot apartment building will replace University Apartments West, a building that was torn down to allow construction to start this spring on the Jacobs School of Music Studio Building. It will include 30 studio apartments, 60 one-bedroom apartments and 16 two-bedroom apartments and will be sited on Third Street just south of Willkie Residence Center.

The projects fall within the Bloomington campus housing master plan approved two years ago by the Board of Trustees. Their design and construction is being guided by principles of the 21st Century Project of the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International.

"With both projects, we had students involved in the conversation from the earliest stages," said Pat Connor, executive director of IU Residential Programs and Services. "The goal is to design and build housing in a way that enables students to develop relationships and lets them see themselves becoming part of a campus community for several years."

IU administrators anticipate returning to the trustees for design approval of the projects this summer. CSO Architects of Indianapolis will design the apartments, and the residence hall will be designed by MSKTD & Associates of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Mackey Mitchell Architects of St. Louis.

Plans call for starting construction later this year with the expectation that the apartments will be ready by late 2012 and the residence hall will open in the fall of 2013.

Overall capacity of IU campus housing will remain stable, with the new apartments replacing the same number of units that were lost to University West Apartments and the new residence hall approximately replacing units being lost with the renovation of existing residence centers.

The residence hall will cost $38 million, funded by auxiliary revenue bonds that will be repaid through Residential Programs and Services revenue. The apartment building will cost $16 million and will be funded from RPS reserve funds.

The projects will have limestone exteriors and will be designed to fit with the prevailing style of IU Bloomington campus architecture. Both will be designed with the goal of receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building council.

In contrast to traditional dorms with single bathrooms on each floor, the residence hall will include double-occupancy rooms with bathrooms shared by eight students, semi-suite rooms with baths for two students, and single rooms with baths.

The projects will include prominent and easily accessible common areas, student lounges, classrooms, computer labs and music practice rooms -- "all the additional things that we think are important to provide a well-rounded residential experience," Connor said.

Both projects will require approval from the Indiana Commission on Higher Education and the State Budget Committee.

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