Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, recently chose Gilbane as a development and builder partner to lead a three-year campus housing initiative that will include the construction of two new residence halls, the renovation of existing campus housing, and the demolition of obsolete buildings. EMU and Gilbane Development Company have agreed to invest more than US$200 million in campus housing by building Lakeview Apartments, a 400-bed residence hall adjacent to the Student Center, and Westview Apartments, a 300-bed residence hall that will serve as a gateway between EMU’s west and main campuses.
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The University is also investing in the rehabilitation of 2,025 existing beds, which will include new air conditioning, bathroom finishes, and the installation of life-safety systems. Residents’ social contact will be facilitated via shared amenity spaces and renovations. This equity program, known as the “Welcome Home 2025” plan, represents a significant increase in infrastructure and facility investment at EMU, which has been ongoing for several years. “It is now time to focus on a leading student mandate: revitalizing University housing to suit the requirements of today’s students,” said EMU President James Smith in a prepared statement. The project team consists of a design-build joint venture between Gilbane Building Company and Clark Construction, with Mackey Mitchell Architects serving as the project’s AOR and Moody Nolan serving as associate design architect.
More on the partnership between Eastern Michigan and Gilbane for the housing development
Gilbane Development Company is the project’s developer and funding coordinator, with development set to begin next autumn and be finished by the fall of 2025. During the previous 30 years, our team has worked on 55 student housing projects, delivering approximately 60,000 beds. In 2018, the University hired Rieth Jones Advisors to oversee the Master Plan process, which included polling students on their preferences and needs. The University’s student council issued a resolution in April 2019 stating that the bulk of on-campus accommodation had not been refurbished in over 50 years. The University sent RFPs for housing construction and rehabilitation to four corporations in July, and the collaboration with Gilbane Development Company was authorized by the Board of Regents in December.
