The University of Colorado Boulder is looking to build a new on-campus residence hall and acquire a property in Louisville to house staff and faculty off-campus.
Approval for the acquisition of the Louisville property and the program plan for the new residence hall was granted by the University of Colorado Board of Regents on Tuesday.
The Louisville property, located at 1164 W. Dillon Road, is currently a Regal Cinebarre movie theater. CU Boulder is looking to acquire the 8.85 acre property for $10 million.
According to the program plan, the property could help to meet substantial faculty and staff demand for rental housing that was revealed in CU Boulder’s 2019 housing survey. The property is seven miles from campus and immediately adjacent to the McCaslin RTD Park-n-Ride station, providing easy, sustainable transportation options to and from campus.
CU Boulder plans to collaborate with Louisville and the community on the development of the property.
“Louisville, like many regional communities, has lost significant brick-and-mortar retailers in the last few years, including big-box stores such as Sam’s Club, Kohl’s, and more recently Lowe’s,” according to the program plan. “The addition of faculty and staff housing to Louisville will likely contribute positively to Louisville’s sales tax revenues.”
Because the Board of Regents approved the acquisition, CU Boulder will enter a cancellable contract to purchase the property on Friday. The university will then assess the property to determine its suitability for acquisition. If all other necessary approvals are obtained, the university will close on the property in February.
In addition to the property acquisition, CU Boulder is moving forward on building a new residence hall on campus near north Boulder Creek.
The new dormitory will have 330 to 350 beds, cost about $124.4 million and be designed to include one-room studios and two, four and five-bedroom units. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring and occupancy is expected in 2026.
The new residence hall will also be used as a “swing space” to house students while three heavily used residence halls on the main campus are prioritized for comprehensive renovation.
The project is part of the 2021 Campus Master Plan and Housing Master Plan goals to improve the quality and quantity of housing at CU Boulder, including for non-first year students. The 2021 CMP predicts a need for 14,400 to 16,000 student housing beds by 2050 compared to the 10,000 existing beds at CU Boulder. The CMP also notes that 74% of the current on-campus housing caters heavily to first-year students.
“Availability, quality, and affordability of housing has increasingly become a significant factor in the recruitment and retention of students,” the program plan said.
For more information on both projects, visit tinyurl.com/4n4mdyw4.
