University of Miami proposes massive $100M student housing project

A $100 million student housing expansion is in the works at the University of Miami, with plans filed to build a development that will house over 1,100 beds on an 8.6-acre site on Lake Osceola, per the South Florida Business Journal.

The City of Coral Gables’ Development Review Committee will consider the nonprofit university’s application on Friday. The 515,220-square-foot project was designed by Arquitectonica.

It would be located on the 8.6-acre site between Lake Osceola and Stanford Drive near the University Center and Eaton Residential College. It would replace a parking lot, and the connection between Dickinson Drive and Merrick Street would be eliminated. In their place, there would be a garden and green space at the base of the dorms, with breezeways between them.

The project entails a development comprised of 23 buildings with amenities on the first two floors that include a learning center, Launch Pad for start-up companies, 200-seat auditorium, retail, micro theater, and food services.

It’s not a bad idea considering the U is located in Coral Gables, a city with rents far from the typical college-friendly prices you’ll find at major universities in college towns across the nation.

Nice one-bedroom apartments nearby are going for around $2,000 a month, which is mind-numbing compared to the $600 a month I was paying in Happy Valley back in 2010.