ANN ARBOR, MI - An upcoming infusion of student lodging at University of Michigan will cost an extra $141 million than previously estimated, and its completion is delayed by a half-year.
A $490-million student housing project on Central Campus will now cost $631 million, according to a Sept. 21 resolution approved by the university’s Board of Regents.
The project received a $30 million up front to complete “critical early work” on the project, which pushed its completion timeline to summer 2026 , university officials said. That work included drainage infrastructure work that delayed the start of construction, Ann Arbor city officials said.
Sewer drainage issues on the construction site located at the former Elbel Field required update work, said city spokesman Robert Kellar.
“The aforementioned have been completed and have enabled the project to maintain its expedited timeline,” according to the university resolution.
The project expected to add 1,300 beds by fall 2025, as well as 1,000 more by fall 2026. Both phases will now be completed in summer 2026, officials confirmed.
These two additions are the first phase of the housing project, which expects its second phase to add about 2,200 more by an undetermined future date.
Read more: Halt the formation! New Michigan Marching Band facility delayed
Drainage issues in that part of Ann Arbor previously pushed the timeline of the new Michigan Marching Band Facility, Kellar said. That was scheduled to be done prior to the 2023 Wolverines football season, but stormwater drainage work made that deadline not feasible, university spokesman Rick Fitzgerald previously told MLive/The Ann Arbor News.
The site of the former Elbel Field, as well as the marching band project site at the former Fingerle Lumber, are a part of Ann Arbor with older infrastructure, Kellar said. That needed to be addressed prior to construction, he added.
“When you add a large number of units, that’s going to increase the sanitary flow through aging infrastructure,” Kellar said. “That has to be accounted for and improvements have to be made. If we’ve learned anything over the last 25 years, it’s that our infrastructure wasn’t built with some of this stuff in mind, obviously.”
The project is the university’s attempt to improve affordability for students, said Regent Jordan Acker at the Sept. 21 meeting.
“While we obviously can’t do everything in order to make it more affordable, the number one thing that we can do is build more housing,” Acker said. “We should continue to do that as a board and an institution.”
The residence hall, or “student precinct” according to New York-based architectural firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects, will also feature 900 seats for a dining hall, according to designs.
The “precinct” will consist of five residence halls between five and seven stories tall, as well as courtyard spaces located in quadrangles. The ground floors will feature lounges, recreation spaces, music practice rooms and areas devoted to multicultural, wellness and technology services.
The LEED-certified buildings will also align with UM’s carbon neutrality goals through geothermal exchange systems for heating and cooling, as well as an all-electric kitchen.
Read more: Central Campus dorm project will gobble up Ann Arbor properties, officials say
Regent Mike Behm said in February that officials analyzed the cost of off-campus housing in the development of the current project. On-campus housing will be more affordable than off-campus housing, said Regent Sarah Hubbard.
“This, when completed, should allow us to house every first-year student who wants to be on Central Campus in university housing,” she said. “That’s one of our goals.”
Ann Arbor is one of the least affordable cities among its Big Ten peers. Read more about how low-income students crowd into housing to make rent affordable.
To read more about the high cost of living in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, click here.
The complex will be named for E. Royster Harper, vice president emerita for student life, officials said on Sept. 21.
The hall is the first building in the project to receive a name, officials said, and the first building on U-M’s campus to be named after a Black woman.
“She truly set the standard for student life leaders in higher education,” wrote Geoffrey Chatas, chief financial officer, and Martino Harmon, vice president for student life, in a statement.
“I don’t have any words to express my deep appreciation, not only for this honor, but for what the university did for me so many years ago,” Harper said in a statement. “It changed the trajectory of my life.”
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