With the possibility of Taylor Place reaching full capacity next year, ASU has begun discussions of building a second dormitory on the Downtown campus for upperclassmen and graduate students, a University housing official said.
The University is currently looking at what the next phase of housing on the Downtown campus should and could be and there have been talks of apartment-style housing for older students, said Michael Coakley, associate vice president and executive director of university housing.
With the number of students living on the Downtown campus growing annually by about 300 students since Fall 2007 and because freshmen and Barrett, the Honors College, sophomores are required to live on campus, the possibility of rooms not being available for older students that want to live on campus next year is “a very valid issue,” Coakley said.
“That’s what’s prompting the discussions about ‘What next?’” he said.
ASU is looking at all options for additional housing space, including the location of the former Ramada Inn as well as north of Taylor Place where the Valley Youth Theatre currently resides, Coakley said.
“The real estate office is evaluating what land is available in and around the Downtown campus that could be suitable for student housing.”
While the process is in very early stages, Coakley said additional housing would not be available for freshmen students as the University is prevented by bond documents from building more housing space for first-year students before Taylor Place has been at full capacity for two years.
“We wouldn’t want to have something that would compete with Taylor Place,” he said. “We’d want to have something that enhances the whole residential experience.”
David Roderique, president of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, said one of the things that has been discussed is a third Taylor Place tower located where the Valley Youth Theatre is.
“Nothing is set in stone at this time, but that was the plan to accommodate future growth of the Downtown campus,” Roderique said. “But there are a number of issues that would have to be worked out still.”
Roderique said the University could even consider putting student housing space in the same building as a future law school, which would be built where the Ramada Inn is being demolished.
“There could be a number of different solutions, but ultimately, there is going to be a need for additional student housing on campus,” he said.
And while Roderique said he thinks ASU should be able to accommodate students that are required to live on campus, there could be issues for upperclassmen and non-honors sophomores that want to live on campus.
ASU “may have to say, ‘You know upperclassmen, you have to live off campus,’” he said.
Contact the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu
