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

  • Year-Round Schools Require Year-Round Indoor Air Quality Planning

    While many schools are out for the summer, year-round schools follow a more “balanced” schedule with shorter, more frequent breaks spaced throughout the school year. Even though this offers educational benefits, these facilities have less downtime for building maintenance. This can become an issue when facilities managers overlook the importance of routine HVAC maintenance and air duct cleaning services.

  • Johns Hopkins Starts Construction on New Residence Hall, Dining Facility

    The Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., recently began construction on a new residence hall and dining facility, according to university news. The work involves demolishing the existing Alumni Memorial Residence Hall I, which was built in 1923, to make room for the new facility.

  • St. John Fisher University

    Classroom Revitalization – Basil Hall Room 216

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. St. John Fisher University's Basil Hall Room 216 Classroom Revitalization has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of Spaces.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.