UW-Green Bay’s newest residence hall nears completion
A new residence hall for college sophomores is on track for completion before the fall semester starts at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Immel Construction is the general contractor of the four-story, nearly 100,000-square-foot shared bedroom apartment complex at 3390 Walter Way on the east side of campus. The project is a joint venture between the university and University Village Housing Inc., a nonprofit specializing in student housing development. The $38 million building will be named Cort Condon Hall, named after Gerald “Cort” Condon Jr., chairman of the UVHI board.
One of the hall’s defining features is a three-story glass curtain on the south end, containing common spaces shared between floors for students to mingle and study. Berners Schober, an architecture firm from the Green Bay area, designed the spaces to soak in natural lighting and have a collaborative space for sophomores’ needs.
The building breaks down into one-bedroom units for two students and two-bedroom units for four students. There will be 52 units to fit up to 200 students. All units come with kitchens and are built to meet ADA standards.
Students can also control shading and temperature to an extent in common areas and use laundry facilities included in their living expense plans. Sustainable features include an updated HVAC system and motion sensors to control lighting. Crews added infrastructure for solar panels for when the owner decides to install them later.
Even the furniture will be reusable for up to 20 years, said Julianne Crayton, the associate director for residential facilities at UW-Green Bay. The university contracted with a provider for couches and chairs that can be sanitized and reupholstered over the course of the next two decades, keeping them out of the landfill and up to standards in a post-COVID era.
“We are part of Eco-U, that is part of how UW-Green Bay has branded over the years,” Crayton said. “When we are building construction, it’s important to be part of that vision and do (sustainability) in general. When we’re looking at floor coverings, furniture and HVAC equipment for example, we prioritize that with other important factors such as cost,” she added.
Project planning started in 2020 and a building plan was slated to be complete in 2021, but the UVHI had to delay due to high construction costs, according to university officials.
The university gets exclusive use of the residence halls until 2031 and will have the chance to buy them from UVHI for the amount of outstanding mortgages, officials added.
Most of the work was done by the end of July, with crews moving in furniture and putting finishing touches on the interior. The units have been contracted out to students and Crayton said that she hoped the building would be ready for move-in on Labor Day.
Source: UW-Green Bay’s newest residence hall nears completion
