The University will spend $2.5 million over the next year designing a residence hall that will merge three buildings at the center of campus and house more than 800 students.
The Board of Trustees approved funding Friday for the design of the project, colloquially known as the “superdorm,” which will turn sophomore halls West End and Schenley and the freshman Crawford Hall into one complex on the 2100 block between I and H streets. The combined structure will house sophomores and juniors.
Demolition will begin in late 2013, Director of GW Housing Programs Seth Weinshel said. The three buildings that form Square 77 will be gutted, but construction will not disturb historic façades.
University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard could not provide more specific information on how the University will spend the $2.5 million price tag, saying only that it will be used to pay an architect and “other planning services.” She said it was too early to provide a timeline for the project.
“It is important to note that construction funds have not yet been approved," Sherrard said.
The funding marks the first official push by the University to get the project underway since the plan was vaguely outlined in the 20-year campus plan in 2007.
During construction, the Foggy Bottom Campus will see a housing crunch, Weinshel said. Crawford, West End and Schenley house about 550 students in total.
“It’s a domino effect. We will have a little bit of a gap because of when are able to do the work and start the construction,” Weinshel said.
Lafayette Hall, a 162-bed building that will house only transfer students next fall year, will reopen as a first year dorm in fall 2013 to mitigate the space squeeze, Weinshel said. The housing office has not decided how it will fully account for the crunch, he said, adding that more freshmen from the Class of 2017 could live on the Mount Vernon Campus, which houses about 800 students each year.
The residence hall will add a net total of 300 beds in time for the University’s lease to expire on the third-year residence hall, City Hall, in 2016.
The University’s effort to expand Foggy Bottom housing is limited by the District’s enrollment cap, which restricts GW to 16,556 full-time equivalent students on its main campus. The University counted 16,394 full-time equivalent students last semester.
Really happy to hear they’re going to incorporate the old façades of the buildings into the new super dorm! Lets do the same for the façades of the townhouses they’re gutting (near where Froggy Bottom Pub is) to make room for that new building on PA avenue!
Great idea – the University needs to preserve the townhouse facades on Pa. Avenue and Eye Street in Square 75!
GW has no choice but to incorporate the old facades into the new buildings because they are likely historically protected.
As to the housing crunch, that’s nothing new. GW has over-admitted applicants, which has lead to over-enrollment, for years. The resulting shortage of beds is not a novel predicament for the university.
EFFECT!!!
“The resulting shortage of beds is not a novel predicament for the university.”
Back in the day, we just “doubled up”…solved the Thurston crunch ;)
This is great news! Having just spent a year in the West End, I can testify that that building is in horrible shape, and the surrounding dorms don’t seem much better. Glad to see GW spending our housing money effectively.
Great move, three crappy residence halls that needed to be gutted.
I would have thought they’d get more that just 300 beds. I guess it will be like a new Amsterdam hall.
My concern is how expensive the rooms in the new superdorm will be.
Right now, Schenley and West End are 2 of only 4 coed options on Foggy Bottom for sophomores that are in the 2nd price tier ($9,250). (And there’s one dorm option that price on the Vern.)
Kids who can’t afford higher housing costs will have to take out higher loans just to live on campus. I wish GW would add a housing grant for lower-income students or level the playing field in some other way. (Sliding scale housing costs?)
I definitely agree with this. Living on campus my Sophomore year was just too expensive for me and my family. Since on-campus Junior and Senior housing is even more expensive, I have lived in an off-campus apartment for my last two years at GW. I would have preferred living in the dorms with my friends, but I just can’t afford it.
Unfortunately with how much apartment prices went up this year (nearly 200 more dollars than last year), this may not be any cheaper than the dorms in a few years. I honestly would not have been able to afford GW if I came in a few years from now simply due to housing prices. GW needs to find a solution otherwise they will lose out on students.
I sincerely hope the fixtures of West End will be salvaged before being gutted. The molding and bathroom fixtures in that building are absolutely gorgeous.