Marty Gordon, NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Construction will begin early this summer at Virginia Tech on four new residence halls.
This past week, the university’s board of visitors moved forward with the timetable, which will create as many as 1,200 new rooms.
Frances Keene is Tech’s vice president for Student Affairs and said she is pleased with the efficient design and deliberate blend of programmatic and community spaces that will serve students and the university for decades to come.
“This significant investment is key toward improving our residential inventory and will provide the necessary swing space to launch a sustained program for renovating and modernizing a substantial portion of our residential facilities over the coming years,” she said.
The university said in a release the project will consist of four residence halls with a completion for occupancy at the start of the 2028-29 academic year. The four buildings will be located near the Duck Pond and neighbor other student-centric facilities including the Classroom Building, Hitt Hall, Data and Decision Sciences Building, Undergraduate Science Laboratory Building, and the Transit Center.
The buildings will be designed in the collegiate gothic style, consistent with campus design principles, and closely matching the most recently completed residence hall, Upper Quad Hall North. Each of the five-story buildings will feature contemporary rooms capable of accommodating more than 300 residents.
The board also approved a $2.5 billion university budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year and does not include any required tuition increase.
The board also approved a resolution to close the Department of Religion and Culture effective July 1, 2027.
Headlines from this past week also included Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s dismissal of Rector John Rocovich. He did not attend the board of visitors meeting, and the group elected Jim Miller as its new rector and Nancy Dye as vice rector. Each will serve a one-year term.
