University of Utah to add 5,000 new on-campus housing units by 2030

SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah is looking to breathe new life into its 170-year-old campus. The school is teaming up with a private company to double on-campus housing. 

Since the U is largely a commuter school, on-campus housing faltered as students chose to live at home or off campus. 

The school projects that undergrad enrollment will grow to 40,000 over the next seven years. The U added new housing recently in 2020, adding just under 1,000 beds to their Kahlert Village. The school plans to add 430 more this coming fall.

But, the U would need to add 10,000 units to allow one in four students to live on campus.

The private-pubic partnership or ‘P3’ will work together to design, build, finance and maintain the new housing needed to keep up with the school’s growth.

The university will pick P3 consultants by the end of February of this year. The first round of construction should begin in 2024 and be finished by 2026.

This will be an expensive endeavor so they are requesting bonding authority from Utah lawmakers to help with 2000 of the units at a cost of up to $384 million.

Related: College enrollment numbers dropping nationally, Utah’s solutions

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