Two aging residence halls on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus will be torn down, and five new facilities will be built to take their place.
The Seattle Times reports that project to remake student housing on the north campus will begin next month, when McCarty Hall, which has been vacant since last fall, will be demolished.
It will be replaced with three halls that will open to students in 2018.
The first phase of the project will cost $240 million. The second phase of the project, which is expected to cost about $140 million, will include the demolition of Haggett Hall and construction of two more new residence halls.
The university has initially planned to renovate McCarty and Haggett halls, but officials determined that replacement was more cost-effective.
"Seismic, energy code, and infrastructure upgrades, as well as current high-rise code requirements at McCarty and Haggett Hall, demonstrated that new construction would be a more cost-effective option," the university's project overview states.
The five new halls will accommodate 2,870 students in all — almost 400 more beds than the north campus had before McCarty closed.
University officials says the demand for on-campus housing exceeded the supply by 31 percent in 2015. More than 10,000 students applied for a room in residence halls, which which have capacity for 7,673.
