GSC hears updates on graduate student housing project

Feb. 16, 2017, 12:06 a.m.

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) heard an update on a project for new graduate housing in its latest meeting.

The project, whose design was approved on Feb. 13, will allow 2,020 more graduate students to be housed on-campus. Administrators present at the meeting included University Architect David Lennox, Mark Bonino of the department of project management and Associate Director of Operations for Parking and Transportation Services (P&TS) Matthew Brown.

“Housing a larger proportion of our graduate students on campus will enhance the quality of their educational experiences, increase proximity to campus resources [and] promote a sense of belonging within the university community,” Vice Provost for Graduate Education Patricia Gumport M.A. ʼ82 M.A. ʼ86 Ph.D. ʼ87 told Stanford News.

New graduate student residences will be built where Escondido Village (EV) currently stands now. The residences, due to be completed in 2020, will be high rises of up to 10 stories. In addition to common spaces for each new residence hall, the cluster of dorms will share a two-story market pavilion and an expansive courtyard.

Parking for the new residences will include a garage under Manzanita field with over 900 spaces. Up to 400 additional spaces will be available above ground, with a predicted maximum distance of 10 minutes from vehicle to residence.

Brown said that around 800 spaces within the EV complex will be affected during construction. However, the University will provide residents with updates on parking closures and introduce services such as waived fees for Zipcar or credits for Uber and Lyft.

According to Bonino, the abatement process for the project will occur around Apr. 1, after which demolition will begin. Construction is not due to start until November at the earliest.

A meeting about the project for the graduate student community will be held this Thursday. In addition to Everett, Brown and Bonino, Ken Hsu of the Graduate Life Office and Shirley Everett, senior associate vice provost for Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE), will also be in attendance.

 

 

Contact Miguel Samano at msamano ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Miguel Samano is an opinions editor majoring in Comparative Literature and Chicanx-Latinx Studies. He loves sleeping, drinking night coffee, seeking out new books to read, and eating tacos with friends.

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