The University of Northern Iowa will ask the Iowa Board of Regents to approve the razing of an unused residence hall and the purchase of an apartment complex. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The University of Northern Iowa is seeking Iowa Board of Regents approval to raze an unused residence hall and purchase nearby apartments for new student housing.
The university wants to tear down Campbell Hall, a former residence hall that has sat empty of students for three years, and purchase The Quarters, an apartment complex abutting the Cedar Falls campus. The proposal will go to the board at its Jan. 15 meeting.
According to board of regents documents, Campbell Hall has not housed students since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and does not have a fire suppression system or passenger elevator. The 75-year-old building is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act with its dorm rooms and restrooms, the document stated, and has outdated finishes and insufficient HVAC, electrical and information technology systems.
The budget for the project is $3.8 million, according to the document, and the building’s removal would do away with more than $27 million in deferred maintenance. After demolishing the building, the site would be turned into a green space on campus until it’s needed for future campus development.
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“Campbell Hall will always have a special place in the hearts of its former residents and many others,” UNI President Mark Nook said in a news release. “Thanks to the leadership of the building’s namesake, longtime Dean of Women Sadie B. Campbell, as well as many student leaders, a special sense of community and camaraderie existed in the former North Hall for many years. We will explore other ways to commemorate Miss Campbell’s contributions to our university.”
The Quarters at Cedar Falls is a 480-bed apartment complex located on a 10-acre property, according to UNI’s purchase request, which also houses parking lots, a pool, basketball and volleyball courts and a clubhouse for residents.
Dormitory revenue bonds would fund the $21.2 million purchase, the document stated.
“The University of Northern Iowa continually strives to provide our students with an environment where they can achieve their educational, professional and personal life goals,” Nook said in the release. “This proposed purchase would provide even more of our students with the type of housing experience they are seeking, while allowing them to live in close proximity to the rest of our UNI campus community and the services they access daily.”
UNI, as well as its fellow state universities, has seen increased interest from students in utilizing on-campus housing past freshman year due to its convenience and the access it provides to campus amenities. In the spring of 2024, the university announced that it saw a 15% jump in housing contract renewals from returning students, a nearly record-breaking number.
The news release stated that students who live on campus tend to academically outperform students who live off campus, according to UNI research, recording higher grade-point averages and higher rates of graduation. Nine-tenths of students who started at UNI in 2020 and graduated in 2024 lived on campus for at least two years, according to the release.
“UNI students continue to express their desire for additional on-campus housing options, and apartment-style living is popular among upper level students,” said Nick Rafanello, assistant vice president & executive director of UNI Housing & Dining, in the release. “Adding an additional contemporary option to our existing housing inventory is another way we are responding to the needs of today’s UNI students.”
The university will provide additional details to current Quarters residents and students interested in living in the complex if the board approves the university’s request to purchase the apartment complex, the release stated.
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