The Arizona Board of Regents approved on Thursday a development plan for additional housing at ASU West and Polytechnic campuses.
ASU requested approval of the Revised FY 2009 Capital Development Plan, which included third-party housing projects, according to the board meeting agenda.
Lorenzo Martinez, assistant executive director for capital resources for the Arizona Board of Regents, said the board approved the proposal with the warning of possible cost effects due to the current issues with the state budget.
“The board approved the ASU Capital Development Plan, which includes housing projects for Polytechnic and West campuses, with the caveat that future approvals for continued project activity and actual construction are not guaranteed given the current economic and budget conditions,” Martinez said in an e-mail statement.
Specific dates or costs had not been determined for the project, and that this approval is only the first step in the capital improvement process, Martinez said.
“Approval of the capital-development plans allows the University to do additional design and planning activity, but additional Board approval is required before construction can commence,” he said.
According to the proposal, the current housing at Polytechnic is not equipped to fully meet the needs of the students, because all housing was initially built and structured to house military personnel.
ASU officials in charge of the project asked for renovations of all housing and the addition of 300 beds in both 2010 and 2011.
The Polytechnic campus currently has four residence halls that accommodate freshmen, sophomores and all upperclassmen. The campus also has separate housing for faculty, staff and families.
Additions to the West campus would include up to 600 additional bed spaces for first-year students and new dining facilities.
If these additions are approved, they would increase the total number of student housing at the West campus by 1,014 beds.
The West campus currently has only one residence hall: Las Casas.
Interdisciplinary arts and performance sophomore and Las Casas resident David Anaya said by adding the new facilities, West campus students would have many new services to benefit their on-campus living experiences.
“ASU is always looking to broaden its offerings to students across all four of its campuses,” Anaya said. “The West campus has so much potential for growth, and the new housing and dining facilities would help in the expansion of the West campus.”
Las Casas Residential Life staff declined to comment on the housing proposal.
The most recent housing additions to ASU were Vista del Sol apartments at the Tempe campus and Taylor Place on the Downtown campus. Both opened in 2008.
The new campus of Barrett, the Honors College, is currently under construction, and will house about 1,700 students when it opens in the fall of 2009.
Reach the reporter at brianna.mattox@asu.edu.
