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Emory’s graduate housing project on track to open to residents in summer 2024
Renderings of Emory’s new graduate housing project, created and provided by Ayers Saint Gross.

Renderings of Emory’s new graduate housing project, created and provided by Ayers Saint Gross.

Emory graduate and professional students will have a new housing option, opening in summer 2024 for the fall semester. The Graduate and Professional Student Housing Initiative broke ground on Phase I in September 2022 and is continuing on schedule.

The housing will integrate two primary needs highlighted during the university’s master planning: a lack of graduate housing on Emory’s core campus and space for Emory graduate students to gather and support community building.

Phase I, which consists of two buildings and a parking structure, will feature 535 beds with a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units at Haygood Drive and North Decatur Road. The site is a 15-minute or less walk to every graduate program, lab and library on Emory’s Atlanta campus, so students can reach their campus destination without needing a car. The housing will also have Emory shuttle and MARTA bus access.

Robin Morey, vice president for campus services and chief planning officer, explains several objectives being met through this project. “We had major goals, specifically improving the competitiveness of Emory’s graduate and professional programs, providing housing that is on Emory’s campus at a competitive, below-market price point; proximity to graduate programs; and providing space to create community among Emory’s graduate and professional student population.”

Rental pricing will be determined later this year.

The new building will offer a graduate commons, consisting of group and individual study space, lounge areas, recreational areas and a kitchen for group cooking. The new housing is anticipated to achieve LEED Gold status for sustainable living.

“This housing isn’t just for any single graduate program. It’s for all graduate and professional students, so you can meet people beyond your immediate program. That’s an element missing from the current experience that was brought up in focus groups,” says Morey.

This project was informed by graduate student feedback over several years including market research, surveys and focus groups, and is a step forward to addressing graduate housing needs at Emory. “Housing decisions are personal to each student based on logistics, site, pricing or other criteria, and while this housing may meet the needs of many students, it may not be the housing option for everyone,” says Kimberly Jacob Arriola, vice provost for graduate affairs and dean of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies.

Planning for Phase II will begin as soon as Phase I is completed with an estimated opening as soon as 2027. Phase II is envisioned to have 500 additional beds and will be built adjacent to Phase I, wrapping around the parking structure. When both phases are complete, Emory anticipates having nearly 1,000 beds of housing for its graduate and professional students.


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