New Dormitory To Be Built At University of Albany Uptown Campus

The University at Albany could begin construction on a new $60 million 500-bed dorm on the uptown campus as soon as next year.

The state Dormitory Authority, which facilitates the financing and construction of large public building projects, will start interviewing architects for the two five-story apartment buildings later this month.

The new residence hall for upperclassmen, located in the southeast corner of the campus near the Boor Sculpture Studio, would increase the university's housing capacity, which currently stands at 7,200, said UAlbany spokesman Karl Luntta.

The buildings would be located outside the campus ring road south of the sculpture studio on 13.5 acres of wooded land that backs up to the city's Tudor Road.

Seven sites were initially considered -- including one in a median between Interstate 90 and Washington Avenue -- but the list was pared to three: one in a parking lot west of Dutch Quad, another in a parking lot east of State Quad and the first choice on the southeast corner of campus.

One of the factors that made the wooded acreage most appealing, according to a feasibility study, is that it could create 250 new parking spaces on campus without eliminating any existing ones.

The Dormitory Authority will begin interviewing architects July 20, and, if all goes well, plans could be completed by next spring, with construction starting later in the year, said agency spokesman Paul Burgdorf.

Luntta said a public meeting on the proposed dorm, as well as other projects, was held in March and that more will be scheduled once an architect has been picked.
Common Councilman Daniel Herring, who represents the area in the 13th Ward, said he shares the residents' concerns and would like to see UAlbany examine other options, including a location downtown or on the adjacent Harriman Office Campus.

"I have to be convinced more that this is really the only place that they can do this kind of development," Herring said.

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer