This fall, upper-division and graduate students have a new on-campus living option on Madison Avenue. While the apartment complex has yet to receive an official name, the building opened in early September to 221 students and offers two-bedroom apartments and a handful of studios on 12-month contracts.
The five-story, L-shaped building sits on the eastern edge of campus, bordering downtown Corvallis, and offering residents quick access to the city as well as being an easy walk to most campus buildings. Designers hope its location along the free city transit line will encourage students to utilize public transportation and feel directly connected to the downtown community.
“We’ve worked hard to align the new building’s purpose with the Corvallis Campus Vision Statement,“ said Brian Stroup, director for operations and facilities with University Housing and Dining Services. That statement includes building with sustainability in mind, fostering inclusion and providing flexible spaces for learning and research.
Most residence halls on campus serve primarily first-year students, who are required (with exceptions) to spend their first year living on campus. Orchard Court, on the west side of campus, provides housing predominantly to students with families, and the Gem Apartments, on the north side of campus, is an apartment complex the university owns and operates that primarily offers housing for upper-division and graduate students.
The approximately 90,000-square-foot Madison Avenue building was constructed in response to growing demand for on-campus housing as Corvallis’ rental market has become increasingly strained over the years.
“There’s been a lot of demand for it,” Stroup said. “We filled up the waitlist in about a month when it opened up in mid-winter term.”
Each apartment has its own kitchenette, so students are not required to be on the campus dining plan. Additionally, UHDS has responded to the changing climate and increasingly hot springs and summers, by including air conditioning in every apartment, which is not typical among residence halls on campus.
A number of the apartments have extra accessibility features, from roll-in showers with bars to doors with power assist, and door bells that use light instead of sound to alert hearing-impaired residents to visitors.
The building also features study rooms and communal lounge spaces on every floor, as well as a large community kitchen on the first floor. Student staff are expected to hold community events during the school year that appeal to older students who are already established at the university.
Stephen Jenkins, executive director for UHDS, was especially excited for the artwork that is being added to the space in early September. The work by Northwest artist Epiphany Couch is called “In Winter, We Tell Stories. In Summer We Savor the Sun.” The pieces explore the transformational effects that nature, the seasons and waterways can have on humans, and speak in part to Couch’s Indigenous roots.
Key partners on the project include Mahlum Architects, Fortis Construction and OSU Capital Planning and Development.
~ Theresa Hogue
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