WM to Build Frat Housing Along Ukrop Way

By Amber Lester Kennedy Friday, April 15, 2011

The new fraternity housing is pictured across Ukrop Way, to the left of the site plan.

The site plan for the fraternity row was presented to the Board of Visitors during their quarterly meeting on Thursday. The project will include 12 buildings, six set north of Yates Drive and six south, totaling approximately 81,600 square feet. Its $26 million cost will be funded principally through room fees and it’s expected to open in the fall of 2013.

The fraternity row will have 11 houses, with 17 beds each, and a 12th building that will serve as multi-purpose and meeting space for the fraternities and sororities.

The site location was recommended by a feasibility study conducted in the fall by Kansas-based Treanor Architects and Moseley Architects of Virginia. The project is expected to be parking neutral and will be constructed with the goal of achieving Silver LEED certification.

“The residential life experience of our students is central to the ‘William & Mary education,’” said Anna Martin, vice president of administration. “This project accomplishes two major goals – providing additional housing for students who want to live on campus, as well as providing our fraternities the kind of housing that best meets their needs going forward.”

Currently, fraternities are housed in two large buildings built in 1968. These units no longer meet the needs of contemporary fraternity chapters, noted Virginia Ambler, vice president for student affairs. The current fraternity buildings will be updated and repurposed for general student housing.

While conducting the feasibility study, Treanor/Moseley worked with a William and Mary Building Committee that included three student/fraternity representatives. They also held four fraternity-wide forums about the site of the new houses. The plan calls for 96 parking spots to be placed beside William and Mary Hall to compensate for spots lost along Ukrop Way.

The college’s most recent housing endeavor, Tribe Square, is expected to open in the fall. The mixed-use construction will add 56 beds in housing built above retail facilities. It is located across Richmond Road from the main campus, adjacent to Wawa.

Comments  

 

0 #3 Guest 2011-04-16 10:33

They will have to destroy the beauty of Ukrop Way by taking some or all of the large trees along the street. This will add to the burgeoning Williamsburg/JC C heat sink and decrease the available habitat for large birds including hawks and owls who help keep the rat, mole, etc populations in check. It also destroys song-bird habitat. I hope they are planning to plant some large, slow growth, deciduous trees to replace those they kill.

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+5 #2 Guest 2011-04-15 08:41

get a bunch of guys together and it is a FRAT

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-8 #1 Guest 2011-04-15 08:21

I am a bit upset at the use of the derogatory term 'frat' in the headline. A 'frat' is what you see in movies like Animal House and Old School. A fraternity operates as a not-for-profit organization. Fraternity members are responsible for running their organization successfully while maintaining a GPA that is statistically 30% higher than the student body at large. It is a slight against anyone who has ever given their blood and sweat to such a philanthropic organization to refer to greek letter organizations as 'frats'.

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