Media contacts:
Priscilla Hunter, Columbia College Chicago, 312.344.7805
Robin Florzak, DePaul University, 312.362.8592
Tom Karow, Roosevelt University, 312.341.3512
Columbia College contacts:
Dr. Warrick L. Carter, President, 312.344.7200
(Note: Dr. Carter also serves as Chairman of the Board for the EAF)
Mark Kelly, Vice President of Student Affairs, 312.344.7650
Mary Oakes, Director, Residence Life, 312.344.6802
Chicago, September 2003--On Thursday, October 2 at 1 pm at Turner Construction Company's University Center of Chicago Office, 33 E. Congress, 2nd Floor, the Educational Advancement Fund (EAF) will hold a student press conference in order to update student media from Columbia College Chicago, DePaul University and Roosevelt University on the progress made on the University Center of Chicago project over the summer.
Representatives from U.S. Equities Student Housing, the project's property manager, the EAF and Turner Construction Company will be on hand to answer student questions.
After the press conference students will have an opportunity to view two model rooms complete with furniture.
The three Chicago schools formed a not-for-profit corporation called the Educational Advancement Fund to develop University Center, an 18-story multi-use building, bound by State Street, Congress Parkway, Harrison Street and Holden Court (between State Street and Wabash Avenue).
Upon completion, in the summer of 2004, the $151 million University Center will be the nation's largest joint student residence hall. The center will house 1,680 students and 43 staff, providing much-needed student housing in the South Loop.
The University Center of Chicago will provide a unique student living experience found nowhere else in the country," says Ken McHugh, President of the EAF.
The University Center of Chicago will be a mutually interdependent community for Columbia, DePaul and Roosevelt students of all ages, remarked Bill Vail and Eric Luskin, co-project executives for the University Center. Residents will benefit from their interactions with an expanded peer group and the surrounding urban community and the collective environment will dramatically enhance the educational value of their collegiate experience.
There will be five styles of student suites and apartments. Although students will be billed by academic term on their accounts like other campus housing, the equivalent monthly prices will range from an estimated $703 to $1,108 per month. According to a collaborative agreement among the three schools, students from Columbia and DePaul will each have 40 percent of available beds, while Roosevelt students will occupy 20 percent of bed space.
Housing options will be available for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Student residences will be located on floors three and above. Each of these floors will be divided into two separate communities. Units on the north side of the building will consist of two/two-student bedrooms, each pair connected to a shared bathroom. The area also will contain study lounges and meeting areas.
On the south side of the building, there will be a combination of two-bedroom/four-student apartments and four-bedroom/four-student apartments. Each of the apartments will include a dining room living room, kitchen and two bathrooms. A quite study room is also located on each floor.
The first floor will offer 31,000 square feet of retail space fronting on State Street. A 30,000 square-foot food service facility will be located on the second floor, which will also contain other student amenities, including lounges, multimedia rooms, game rooms, laundries and conference rooms, music practice rooms, a fitness center, art rooms and staff offices. In addition to student living quarters, the third floor will provide access to a 20,000 square-foot landscaped roof garden.
Note: Bill Vail is a Senior Vice President of Asset Management Services with U.S. Equities and Eric Luskin is Vice President for Property Management Services for The Scion Group, a subcontractor for U.S. Equities for the University Center project.