GRU to break ground on new residence halls Friday

Georgia Regents University, in partnership with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and Corvias Campus Living, will break ground on the site of a new 723-bed student housing complex on Friday.

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 413-bed undergraduate hall will have two-bedroom suites while the 310-bed graduate hall will have studio and one-bedroom apartments.

“The new housing complex is our first step at building a more comprehensive student life experience for all of our students. Adding new student housing to our current portfolio will allow GRU to provide a much better student experience for our new incoming students,” said Dr. Mark Allen Poisel, GRU Vice President for Enrollment Services and Student Affairs.

The ground breaking ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Residence V, across from the College of Dental Medicine.

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

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

GRU is one of nine institutions in the University System benefitting from the $517-million agreement with Corvias Campus Living. The Public-Private Partnership designates Corvias as the developer of 3,683 new beds and the manager of 6,195 existing beds of on-campus housing with the University System for the next 65 years. The partnership is the first time a state higher education system has privatized residence hall living.

At GRU, the new residence halls will provide undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to meet new people and engage in enriching campus activities to make the most of their college experience.

“The location will be very convenient for the graduate and professional students and will allow them the convenience of living close to their classes, labs, and clinical experiences. The new freshmen will now be located on campus and in walking distance to the wellness center, the health sciences student activity center, and the student health center,” Poisel said.