Purdue Reveals $75M Apartment Plans

Details have been released of the first major piece of the proposed $1.2 billion Purdue Innovation District on the West Lafayette campus. Plans for Innovation Place Apartments involve a $75 million mixed-use development with room for 841 students. The project could break ground in the spring and is expected to be complete in time for the 2018 fall semester begins. In an interview this summer on Inside INdiana Business Television, Purdue Research Foundation Chief Operating Officer Brian Edelman said it will take 15-20 years to see the completion of the full Innovation District.

The work is a public-private collaboration among Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions LLC, which is a subsidiary of U.K.-based Balfour Beatty plc, Chicago-based Walsh Group, Purdue and Innovation District master developer Browning Investments LLC of Indianapolis. Innovation District Director Jeff Kanable says "there is a strong need for more housing for students and the Innovation Place Apartments will help fill that need for current and future students. The fact that this endeavor is the first major component of our recently announced Purdue Innovation District demonstrates how important this project is in serving our students."

The district includes 450 on the west edge of the campus. The full scope of the plans call for "several million" square-feet of development aimed at creating a "preeminent environment for educational, economic, cultural, community and real estate development." It is located along the State Street corridor, which is going under its own rebirth — a $120 million redevelopment effort jointly developed by the city of West Lafayette and Purdue — to better connect the campus to the city’s downtown and the Wabash River.

Vice Provost for Student Life Beth McCuskey says "research shows that college students who live on campus tend to get higher grades and are more likely to stay in school. Providing students with quality housing while maintaining student affordability at all levels is one of our most important goals. The Innovation Place Apartments also will be a great asset in achieving the Purdue Moves goal of adding 3,000 new beds and academicizing to the benefit of students." Purdue’s on-campus student population in West Lafayette currently checks in at 13,000.

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