Construction on the 12th and Cherry project will begin fall quarter.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of The Spectator

With increasing class sizes every year, the need for additional student housing at Seattle University is con­stant. The university added Chardin Residence Hall last year, but it wasn’t enough. The latest project is an apartment-style building on the corner of 12th Avenue and Cherry Street, slated to be completed by Fall 2010.

The 12th and Cherry project is planned to offer space for 245 juniors and seniors, in addition to several apartments for faculty and ground-level retail. The apartments will be fully furnished and contain more up to date amenities than the Archbishop Thomas Murphy Apartments. The student residenc­es will mostly have four bedrooms each, with amenities like floor-to-ceiling windows, washers and dryers in the units and provided furnishing. Students who have seen the plans so far are saying good things.

“All of the students who have seen the diagrams and layouts are just saying ‘I’m mad I’m not going to be here for that,’” said Romando Nash, director of Housing and Residence Life.

Housing is teaming up with two other groups for this project: the Facilities Services Department and 12th and Cherry LLC, a private developer not affiliated with the university. While Seattle U owns the land, the developer will own the building itself, leaving control of the project–and revenue from it–largely in its hands. Regardless, 12th and Cherry LLC is working closely with the university on the planning and development of the building.

“Part of the design is actually be­ing done by Housing and Residence Life,” said Kateri Schlessman, Facilities Services’ land use planning manager. “They’re working with the developer to say what the students want. The developer is just build­ing it.”

Despite the differences in owner­ship, the building will be run largely the same as the other residence halls on campus. Resident assistants and Public Safety officers will provide programming and security.

As class sizes continue to grow every year, Housing is trying to provide options for upperclassmen students who want to have a full apartment close to campus. To be competitive with other apartments surrounding the university, units will be priced at $100 to $200 less.

“With the housing market the way it is, our upperclassmen are be­ing pushed further and further away from campus,” Nash said. “We’re trying to make sure that we’re re­acting to the need for more housing that we continually hear from our students.”