Work in Progress: American Campus Communities U Centre
Purpose: Student housing apartments.
Size: Five-story apartments with five-story garage. 3.8 acres, over 700 residents.
Dates: August 2017 completion.
Nestled snugly into a 3.8-acre pocket of land surrounded by MU campus and Providence Road, two new student housing buildings are being constructed from the underground up by Texas housing company American Campus Communities. Set on the former site of a few student rental properties, the ACC U Centre is on its way to becoming one of the downtown area’s most pedestrian friendly housing complexes — and one of the most expensive new developments in the downtown area, as far as public infrastructure is concerned.
Chuck Carrol, vice president of development for ACC, says the U Centre consists of a five-story secure parking garage for residents, which is wrapped and hidden from street-view by a terraced, five-story apartment building, which will house just over 700 residents — 700 more residents that would be contributing to an already overloaded downtown sewer line.
“There are some utility challenges the downtown area has been struggling with over the past few years,” Carrol says. “In order for us to move the project forward, we worked with the city and were able to commit $350,000 to the improvements of the sewer lines at Providence, what the city refers to as the Flat Branch line.” ACC is also constructing a new public-use, 8-inch line that will run from Conley Avenue through the project site, then down Turner Avenue and south onto Fifth Street.
In addition to the infrastructure installations, the five-story complex will have a 12,000-foot community center; a courtyard; an outdoor grilling area; a resort-style swimming pool; and fitness, gaming and social rooms. Carroll says the U Centre will be similar to other ACC communities in town, like Grindstone Canyon and the Cottages of Columbia, in that the plan is to develop a sense of community engagement among its residents. He also believes the location of the center is prime real estate for any students looking to live within walking distance to campus and the downtown area.
“The kids can walk to classes, they can walk to Booches and grab a burger, they can hit downtown or head over to the MKT Trail right across the street,” Carroll says. “It really helps alleviate some of the transportation issues that a lot of college towns find themselves dealing with too.”
The ACC U-Centre is currently scheduled to open its doors to residents in August 2017, just in time for school. The company says it will release its rental rates for the new complex this summer.