UWT Gets Dorms
Downtown is going to get some new residents this fall. Peter Callaghan is reporting that UWT will be creating their first dorms in a wing of the Court 17 building. UWT has been discussing dorms for several years and now it looks like it will happen. This is just the beginning. A few more students living here … that’ll wake up downtown a bit.
Link to The News Tribune
Filed under: Developments
14 comments
P Pat July 15, 2008
Well, you’d better get some more bars, then.
E Erik B. July 15, 2008
Nice to see they have placed their toe in the water. Now they need about 2000 more living units.
If there was a fatal flaw Master Plan for the UWT, it was that the designated the University a “commuter campus.” Even though it was in an urban area.
Placing more living units on and around campus will do more for the environment than all of the “green” programs(such as prohibiting car idling) combined.
E Erik Hanberg July 15, 2008
Whoo hoo! This is a great step forward for getting people on the street after 5:00. Stores might be open later … ah, students …
C CA July 15, 2008
It’s a small start, but it is a start. Urban college campuses need students living on them. From what Ive heard very few of the current tenants at Court 17 are UWT students.
E Elliot July 15, 2008
This is the best news I’ve heard for Tacoma in a long time. I completely agree with Hanberg, it’s a big problem that the streets are downtown deserted after 5pm, this will hopefully help that a tiny bit.
G Gman July 15, 2008
I am a current UWT student and live at court 17. This will be pretty cool I think though now I kind of wish I didn’t get into that year long lease when I did heh…
J J. Cote July 15, 2008
I was driving up Pearl St. to pick my son up from work and saw signs for “The Cove”.
Wondering where in the world they could have built condo’s in this area, I followed them (No, I didn’t make the lad wait for me, I was early anyway).
At North 35th and Pearl I saw it: “The Cove”. Right across from Truman Middle School sits the very same apartment complex that my wife and I moved into as one of it’s very first residents nearly 25 years ago. Those 2Br, 1Ba apartments, sans rec room, pool or anything remotely resembling amenities are SELLING for $179,900!!!!.
This condo-crazy town has lost it’s collective, ever-loving mind. P.T. Barnum was right. There’s a sucker born every minute.
J J. Cote July 15, 2008
I meant to post #7 under “Delin Bldg. goes Condo”.
Sorry, gang. I haven’t lost it, it’s just the heat.
E Erik B. July 15, 2008
Whoo hoo! This is a great step forward for getting people on the street after 5:00. Stores might be open later … ah, students
Yeah, downtown is often lifeless, well…because there are so few people present.
I am not sure if taking over part of Court 17 will bring in more people as someone would like likely rented the place anyway.
However, now UWT can use it as a start in their student housing program. There are a few other buildings in the area and a ton of vacant lots ready to be built on.
It also signifies UWT has turned the corner on campus policies. Perhaps the Urban Studies professors and studies had an influence as well as $4 gas prices.
D drizell July 16, 2008
Whew! The cat’s finally out of the bag, and everyone who knew about the long-term plans for Court 17 who were smart enough not to get into a lease there can finally talk about it. My sources tell me the entire building is going to become a residence hall very soon, and that this initial phase is just to test the waters. That means that if you’re in the building now, there’s a good chance you’ll be evicted relatively soon.
Having a residential community at UWT is definitely a plus. However, we also need to consider those students who may not necessarily want to live in University-controlled residence halls but want to be near the campus anyway. At UW-Seattle, only a small portion of students actually live in the residence halls, but thousands more live in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus. These students contribute greatly to the cultural scene there.
In Tacoma, there is currently little housing inventory that is within a student’s budget and close to campus. There are a couple old houses, and apartment complexes like the Villagio will help fill the need, but much of the new construction in the campus area is comprised of townhouses that are geared toward aging baby boomers. There definitely needs to be more to allow the UWT to facilitate a thriving community both on-campus and off.
S Squid July 16, 2008
Erik B@2: Most urban campuses are “commuter campuses.” It is the schools located in rural or “college towns”, those that cater to mostly traditional aged students 18-22, that have to provide housing on campus. UWT was envisioned not specifically as a commuter campus, but one that DID cater to older, non-traditional students, hence very low/no demand for dorm-syle housing. That’s not a “fatal flaw” in the master-plan, that was political and cultural reality in 1990. In fact, the master plan did make some provision for buildings that could be used as residence halls if/when the composition of the student body changes.
The composition of the UWT student body is indeed evolving (thankfully!) with the recent addition of “first year” students (aka “freshman” which is non-PC), but it is going to be a sloooooow evolution. Don’t count on thousands of 20 year olds swarming campus and downtown soon.
B broadweezy July 16, 2008
Yay for getting more younger peeeps downtown. Hopefully UWT will be able to successfully recruit more freshmen within the local school districts to increase its residential options.
C crenshaw sepulveda July 17, 2008
I guess UWT has to do something, $800 a month 400 sq ft studios at the Villagio isn’t going to cut it as student housing. Of course if there ends up being a significant amount of “student housing” in the UWT area I’m sure the prices of those fancy apartments at the Villagio will go way up. It is true, more young people living in the area will do a lot for downtown, unless the afford ability issue is addressed we just aren’t going to see this. Gas is not really the issue here, there is more transit going past the UWT than you can shake a stick at (i’ve never shook a stick at anything but you get my gist). To have a place worth caring about you start with people. I guess the private sector isn’t going to address this so we are going to have to look to government. The developers have done nothing but drive up the prices of the remaining modestly priced housing. I say forget the tax abatements and use the money paid in taxes as ear marks for some serious modestly priced housing. It starts with people, it ends with people, and it is people in the middle. $800 a month 400 sq ft studios, this is obscene.
C CA July 17, 2008
“$800 a month 400 sq ft studios, this is obscene.”
And if a majority of Tacomans agree with you then Villagio will struggle to fill their building and they will adjust their prices to reflect market conditions.