The Illinois Board of Higher Education has approved plans for a $100 million residence hall and academic complex at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The university says the project "will provide a true living-learning community."
The residential part of the project will house 550 students in be a a 10-story tower of about 83,000 square feet.
The housing will consist of a mix of traditional residence hall-style units and semi-suite style units, along with study lounges, social lounges, residence life offices, a fitness center and laundry facilities.
The traditional residence hall-style units will share a modern, community bathroom, and the semi-suites will provide in-unit bathrooms.
University of Illinois at Chicago opened in the 1960s and has predominantly been a commuter campus. The school has added student housing over the years, but has not opened a residence hall since 2007.
Fall 2017 enrollment has surpassed 30,000 students, and its freshman class is 23 percent larger than 2016—4,064 compared with 3,307.
The academic component of the building will encompass 51,000 square feet within a two-story wing of the building.
It will have three large lecture halls, four classrooms, several small group study rooms, a tutoring center, computer stations and other soft seating areas for social and
study purposes.
"This new facility will meet the needs of entire student as the mixed-use building will provide modern living amenities along with the integrated 51,000-square-foot academic component of the building," the university said in its proposal.
The project also will have about 1,700 square feet of retail space, which is expected to be used as a café.
The university is partnering with student housing developer American Campus Communities on the design, construction, and operation of the facility.
Construction is slated to begin in December, and completion scheduled for July 2019.
