LSU Breaks Ground on $200M Residential Project
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., recently broke ground on a new residential complex, according to university news. The South Quad residential project will consist of two buildings and add a total of 1,266 beds for freshmen students. The development comes with a price tag of $200 million, and it’s scheduled to open to students in fall 2027.
The facilities will house students from the university’s College of Engineering and the E.J. Ourso College of Business. “This isn’t just about breaking ground,” said Jeremy Doss, senior vice president of RISE: A Real Estate Company, in a university news story. “It’s about opening the door to new opportunities for our students.”
The development comes through a public-private partnership model, the same that the university has used to construct a variety of recent projects. LSU is partnering with RISE and Lemoine for construction services, as well as with Brailsford & Dunleavy and CSRS for design.
According to a university news story from June 2025, the project was spurred by a recent growth in student enrollment. The fall 2025 freshman class of about 8,000 is the school’s largest incoming class ever, breaking the record for the eighth consecutive year.
“Frankly, it’s a good problem to have, because other institutions around the country and some around the state are faltering,” said Interim President Matt Lee. “There are some challenges that come with that. I’d be disingenuous if I didn’t say that.”
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Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].