Press release from UNC Asheville:
UNC Asheville will hold a groundbreaking for new student residences on Friday, April 28 at 12:30 p.m. in an area adjacent to Brown Hall, where the new buildings will be located.
Consisting of multiple buildings, with apartments of four to six rooms, the new residences will be UNC Asheville’s first apartment-style housing and increase available on-campus housing by 294 beds or by 20 percent when the project is completed in summer 2018.
The new student housing option will be built along Founders Drive below Brown Hall. Concurrent construction will take place on the other side of Brown Hall with renovations to Highsmith Union and the addition of a multipurpose room that will connect to the catering kitchen in Brown Hall. The 5,000 square-foot multipurpose room will increase the university’s ability to host campus and community events, from large lectures to banquets and conferences, while the addition of a student-life porch will provide meeting spaces and open areas for student organizations, as well as an area to showcase a student art gallery and a more central location for the Intercultural Center.
The estimated costs of the projects are $12.4 million for the renovations to Highsmith Union and $33.8 million for construction of the six-building residence project.
Student input has been essential to both projects, from the fee discussions through the feasibility study, market study, student surveys, and workshops and community meetings. Both the student residences and Highsmith Union renovation are self-liquidating projects. The Highsmith Union renovations are funded through the student-debt service fee approved by the on-campus Fee Committee, UNC Asheville Board of Trustees and UNC System Board of Governors, and the student residences are funded through room charges. State appropriations cannot be used to renovate or construct student unions or residence halls.
UNC Asheville will continue construction projects through 2018 and 2019 with renovations planned for Owen Hall and Carmichael Hall funded by the 2016 Connect NC Bond. More information about each project is available online at facilities.unca.edu/construction.
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