City Heights Residence Hall, the first on-campus living option for students at the University of Colorado Denver, is about two-thirds complete, official say. 

The new state-of-the-art residence hall, which will be the home to 555 students, is scheduled open in August 2021 just in time for the academic school year. This project is a part of the university’s First-Year Student Housing Project that broke ground in December 2019.

“Being able to provide an option for students who wish to have more of a traditional college experience on a campus that is on the edge of a very vibrant city is something we’re thrilled about,” Cart Weatherford, director of institutional planning at CU Denver, said in a emailed statement

Dominic Weilminister, the lead project designer for Stanec, a Canada-based architectural design company working on the hall, said it will connect campus life with the downtown experience. 

“It brings a 24-hour population to the campus,” Weilminister said. “CU Denver is really focused … on connecting their campus experience with the downtown experience, so the ability to make housing on campus is really a big part of that mission.”

In the past CU Denver has only offered minimal student housing that is currently adjacent to the downtown campus, but after the university conducted a 2017 CU Denver Facilities Master Plan, officials began seeing the desire for on-campus housing for first-year students. 

“The student experience was a big focus of the plan, and student housing in particular. We conducted a series of surveys and found a strong interest in first year on-campus housing. That interest translated into this project,” said Weatherford.

City Heights will be the first living facility operated by the institution on campus.

CU Denver’s website says the 182,000-square-foot building will not just house students. It will be a vital part of the campus community with a dining hall, large lounges, small high-tech study lounges, micro-kitchens, entertainment and game rooms, laundry areas, and a Learning Commons. 

“Learning Commons will centralize student academic support and tutoring services into a collaborative and vibrant facility that will serve residents and non-residents alike,” a news release read. 

Officials say that students who live on-campus have better success in the classroom.

“Studies show that students who live on campus perform better in classes, are more likely to graduate and take less time to graduate,” Weatherford said.

The new residence hall will be on Larimer Street between 11th and 12th streets and will provide students easy access to bus stops and biking routes. 

Last month university officials, along with JE Dunn and Stanec, celebrated the “topping out” of the new facility, meaning that all of the structural pieces have been placed.

Weilminister says progress on the fast-paced project has been smooth.

Even though students won’t call City Heights home for another nine months, officials at the university are already looking forward to opening day. 

“We’re very excited, and see this as a way of expanding opportunities for our students,” Weatherford said.