Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

University of Hawaii at Mānoa Begins Construction on Student Housing Facility

  • By Matt Jones
  • 10/26/23

The University of Hawaii at Mānoa in Honolulu, Hawaii, recently completed the first phase of construction on a new housing facility for graduate students, according to a university news release. Groundbreaking for the Residences for Graduate Students took place on Oct. 4, and the project will cost an estimated $170 million.

The facility will consist of two buildings, 18 stories and 12 stories, and house more than 550 graduate students, their families, and junior faculty members. The space will also include amenities like study rooms, a café retail space, a childcare facility, and more, the news release reports. The facility is scheduled to open its doors in fall 2025.

“Our graduate students here at Mānoa, like every other major research university, perform a lot of the actual work behind the discoveries that we make and push out to good use in the community,” said Michael Bruno, UH Mānoa Provost, at the groundbreaking ceremony. “This project, for the first time, will give them a residence on campus so that they can become more integrated into our campus community and feel like they are a really valued member of our community.”

The project is the second major public-private partnership (P3) on the university’s campus. UH Mānoa partnered with Greystar Real Estate Partners, which is developing and managing the property. Greystar also selected Swinerton Builders for the project’s construction.

“In Hawaii, we hear a lot of rhetoric about P3s,” said Kalbert Young, UH Vice President for Budget and Finance/CFO. “I have heard a lot of politicians, government officials, business leaders, talk about the need for P3s in Hawaii literally for decades, and yet, I am challenged to think of any other project that is a true bonafide P3. And us here today, I think we can take a sense of pride in recognizing, we are talking about groundbreaking on the second public-private partnership at the University of Hawaii in less than three years.”

The university’s first P3 project, the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE), opened to students in August 2023.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.