It’s hailed as the next era for on-campus housing on Michigan State University’s campus.
And the new facilities within MSU’s 1855 Place now have room for individual students as well as those with families.
Walbridge served as Construction Manager on the $156 million project, which serves as a gateway to the campus and also replaces apartments in the Spartan Village, some of which were built in the 1950s.
The project encompasses 400,000-square-feet of new housing, a 100,000-square-foot office building for the university’s Residential and Hospitality Services Division, event and resident parking, a community garden, retail space, and indoor and outdoor common space. Sparty’s Market, the first grocery store under the Sparty’s brand, is included in the mixed-use facility. Offering fresh ingredients, foods, local products and deli and grill items, the store gives students the opportunity to buy groceries on-campus with little travel.
Additionally, the mixed-use portion of the project includes MSU’s ticket office and offices for the athletics department.
In total, 10 buildings were built in a space across from MSU’s Breslin Student Events Center.
An 880-space, precast concrete two-story garage with three parking levels is being built as part of the first phase along with family student housing and most of the sitework and underground utilities. The parking garage required the use of geo-piers made of columns of aggregate sunken 10 feet to 20 feet deep into clay.
Walbridge teamed with Orion Construction to assist with the wood-frame portion of the project, which includes the new apartments. Orion, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., specializes in wood-frame construction and multi-unit housing.
Beyond housing, the offices house MSU’s Residential and Hospitality Services units as well as Intercollegiate Athletics.