“Campus of tomorrow:” Ground broken on new residence halls

Ground was broken Friday on a new 724-bed student housing complex that will, as Georgia Regents University President Dr. Ricardo Azziz said, elevate the student experience to an entirely new level.

Not only will GRU’s new residence halls help attract and retain students, it will offer students opportunities to engage in enriching campus activities.

“I take great pleasure in picturing the GRU campus of tomorrow when students will stroll out of their new residence halls, talking and laughing with new friends, where living and learning is an actual event,” Azziz said.

Azziz joined Vice President of Enrollment & Student Affairs Dr. Mark Allen Poisel and other senior leaders, the undergraduate and graduate student government presidents, representatives of Corvias Campus Living and others in turning over dirt in the parking lot of Residence V where construction will soon begin.

Located on the Health Sciences Campus, the complex will consist of one residence hall for undergraduate students and one for graduate and professional students. The 412-bed undergraduate hall will have two-bedroom suites while the 312-bed graduate hall will have studio and one-bedroom apartments.

The new complex will replace existing facilities that have a combined 220 beds.

Demolition of existing facilities will begin soon, with the residence halls scheduled to open in fall 2016.

GRU is one of nine institutions in the University System of Georgia benefitting from the $527-million agreement with Corvias Campus Living. The Public-Private Partnership designates Corvias as the developer of more than 3,000 new beds and the manager of more than 6,000 existing beds of on-campus housing with the University System for the next 65 years.

“We know this is just the beginning of a new adventure, not only an adventure for us – the institution and our students – but for USG as we partner with Corvias Campus Living to create this new creative environment for our students,” Poisel said.