Clearing the blocks south of Madison kicked off Phase 2 of the U-M’s Central Campus Residential Development. It was a signature project of ill-starred former president Santa Ono. “We want to make sure all first-year students who want to live on Central Campus are able to live there,” he said when the project was announced in 2022. (Ono resigned in May, expecting to take on the presidency of the University of Florida, only to be rejected for his past support of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives).
Phase 1, already standing on what was once Elbel Field, will have 2,300 beds when it opens next fall, with an adjoining dining pavilion that seats 900. To align with the university’s carbon neutrality goals, it will be all-electric, with geothermal exchange systems for heating and cooling. The largest residence hall will be named for E. Royster Harper, vice president emerita for student life, and the most recent budget estimate for the entire complex was $631 million.
Demolition for Phase 2 will be complete when the Wallenberg house is moved. U-M communications manager Brian Taylor emails that “other details of this phase have yet to be determined.” If it’s comparable in size and price to Phase 1, however, the entire project could add 4,600 beds to Central Campus—and cost more than $1 billion.
Related: A Tale of Two Houses