Mayor Daley wants more ‘super dorms’ like University Center

By Stacie Johnson

Mayor Richard M. Daley wants more college dormitories, patterned after the University Center in the South Loop, built in the city.

This “superdorm,” the nation’s largest multi-school residential facility, opened in 2004 at State Street and Congress Parkway under a $151 million partnership among Roosevelt University, DePaul University, and Columbia College. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from the three schools live there, and those attending Robert Morris College now call the center home after their school joined the partnership.

More than 1,700 students live in the 18-story center, creating economic success and resulting in a waiting list for space and increased enrollment in Loop-based schools and other schools in the downtown area. Said Daley, “We hope to explore more options, build more facilities...whether it is converting an older building, whether it is building a new one.”

Daley wants the next dorm to have not only rooms for students but what he called a "side entrance" for employees that would lead to apartments for professors and college staff.

Plans are in the initial assessment stages, according to Constance Buscemi, spokesperson for the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development.

“It hasn’t become formal yet," she said. "There are ongoing conversations with several colleges and universities downtown. The one issue that comes up with almost all, as enrollment increases, is the need for dorm space. Thus, we are working with individual colleges as they assess their needs to see where they are at now and their plan for future needs.”

Roosevelt President Chuck Middleton has said his university is interested in expanding residential capacity by at least 450 beds. “We're growing, as are other institutions downtown," he said.

"Everybody needs more beds downtown.”

Whether Roosevelt residential students would be included in another superdorm or a Roosevelt-only dorm remains under study.

Currently, a University Center studio apartment with kitchen and private bath rents for $1,142 a month. Students sharing a traditional four-person dorm room pay between $710 and $753 a month and about $2,200 annually for a meal plan. The facility also provides a laundry room with 75 washers and dryers, a game room, and an exercise room.