The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees has approved the construction of new residential communities on the Knoxville campus.
The university says the projects, to be built through a public-private partnership, will enable the university to meet student housing needs more quickly as demand continues to increase.
Two new residential communities will add about 1,900 beds to the university’s housing inventory. They are expected to open for the fall 2025 semester and will help meet the university’s long-term housing needs, driven in part by growing enrollment and also the desire from more students to live on campus longer.
The university selected and the State Building Commission awarded the public-private partnership project to RISE Development through a competitive bid process.
The board voted to allow the university to enter ground lease and management agreements with RISE and its subsidiaries. Through the ground lease, the university will retain ownership of the land and RISE and its subsidiaries will finance, own, design and construct the project. Students will sign a university housing contract and receive the same services and residential life programs as they would in university-owned housing.
The first phase of the project includes developments at two sites. The first will feature a residence hall with about 750 beds. The second will be a two-building housing complex with about 1,150 beds.
