Notre Dame to build new graduate student family housing

ROSELAND, Ind. (AP) - The University of Notre Dame plans to build a 180-unit housing complex for married graduate students to replace an off-campus apartment complex slated for demolition.

The five three-story buildings will become the new home for the university's married and parenting graduate students, The South Bend Tribune reported . The complex is scheduled to be completed in August 2019.

The school's recent property acquisitions have allowed officials to move forward with the project. The university will demolish the Cripe Street Apartments and some university-owned homes to make room for the development, according to a site plan filed with the town of Roseland.

The complex will be built and operated by a third-party developer on the university-owned land, said Dennis Brown, a Notre Dame spokesman. Officials are currently negotiating with a developer, he said.

The university also plans to build a new driveway that would connect the development to a main road nearby.

The university has yet to release plans about the new housing complex's rental rates.

The existing University Village apartments that house married students will be demolished. Holladay Properties will turn that site into a mixed-use retail, office and housing development.

Some graduate students have tried to block the demolition. The apartment complex is a close-knit community, residents said.

Graduate student Christy Green turned to that community for support last year as she battled breast cancer while in the midst of her pregnancy.

"(University Village) has been a godsend to us," Green said. "It was heartbreaking to hear that it was closing."

___

Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com