With construction under way on a 685-bed student housing project on the former Atlas Metals property at 4th and Walnut, students will be able to live right next to campus by fall of 2006—a sea change that will affect the campus climate. “It will be the best of both worlds for students who want the resources of a downtown urban campus and the opportunities that living adjacent to campus will present,” said Karen Raforth, Metro State’s interim vice president for Student Services.

The 230-unit Campus Village Apartments will offer studio, two- and four-bedroom apartment units through an agreement between Urban Ventures LLC and the University of Colorado Real Estate Foundation (CUREF). The $50 million project is being financed through tax-exempt bonds issued May 26 by the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority.

Housing at the development will be offered to students, including entering international students and nonresident freshmen at Metro State, Community College of Denver and the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC). The housing will also be available to faculty and staff.

“The mix of students who will live there will be great for enhancing student learning,” Raforth said. UCDHSC Chancellor James Shore added that the project is critical to the university’s efforts to bring more nonresident students to the campus.

John Freyer, president of CUREF, said, “We are pleased to not only fulfill our mission to support CU, but to also meet a need of all of the Auraria institutions through this exciting project.”