Ground breaking for the $26.8-million Coyote Village apartment-style housing is set for Monday at 2 p.m.
The 195,000-sq. ft., 175-unit housing project has been under construction since late May 2009 and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2010, open for students by the beginning of next fall semester, university officials said.
“It’s going to be state-of-the-art and will set a standard in South Dakota, if not in the region,” said Jeff Baylor, acting vice president of marketing, enrollment and student services. “It will have top-notch amenities and I’m looking forward to students living there.”
After feedback from USD students came from two surveys and small focus groups over the last two years, Kirsten Compary, associate dean of students, said they learned that more students are coming to USD that have never shared a room before. With an increase in privacy among incoming students, the administration pushed to build Coyote Village.
Freshman Kacee Redden said living in Beede Hall is much different than her house in Faulkton, S.D. Moving into a hall with about 40 students, sharing a bathroom and sharing a room has already made her decide that she would move into Coyote Village next year.
“I think it’s going to be really cool,” she said. “They certainly are building the apartments quickly so it’s a little exciting knowing they’ll be up in the next year.”
Two options of living arrangements will be available for students within Coyote Village. Two bedroom, one bath or four bedrooms with two baths apartments will be available. Each apartment will include a living room, kitchenette with refrigerator, stove and air-conditioning with individual controls.
Based on the student feedback about monthly payments, an estimated cost will range from $453 to $658 – a price lower than what the university expected, Baylor said.
“We want to create an area that people want to go to,” he said. “We are looking to make the area a hangout with all the amenities.”
A two-story grand entry lobby with a double-sided fireplace will be seen as students walk in the main entrance. Students will be able to utilize a business center, convenience store — similar to the Beede Bump — a multipurpose gathering area and two tanning beds.
The location couldn’t be any better, Baylor said. As soon as the new wellness center is built, students living in Coyote Village will be very close to the DakotaDome, north complex, Muenster University Center and recently approved wellness center.
With only a year left as a USD student, senior Ashley Johnson said she is kind of mad that Coyote Village will be available after she leaves. Living in McFadden for one year and regular apartments for two, she said it would have been nice to live in the new apartments with the space that will be offered to the students.
Johnson said she disliked living in the dorms and the new facility will be a good addition to campus.
“It will be big for those that want to get out of the dorms,” Johnson said. “We all know after your first year most of the students want to get out of the dorms and into an apartment setting.”
The South Dakota Board of Regents approved plans for Coyote Village in December 2008. With the university foundation owning the land south of the DakotaDome, the new housing was originally decided to be built as a private-partnership, with the foundation owning the land and the university operating the facility.
Since the initial plan, the university acquired $1.9 million in Build America Bonds as part of the second stimulus package and has purchased the land from the foundation, said Richard Van Den Hul, vice-president of finance and administration. Now, USD has complete ownership over the land and facility, which has changed the initial plan, and cause university officials to come up with a new direction for management.
Eight community advisers, one graduate assistant and a complex manager will have apartments throughout the facility, but nothing is set in stone, Baylor said.
For now, all eyes are on Ambling Development Corporation, a Georgia-based contracting company that gave a bid of $25.3 million last year. Working hand-in-hand with Juneau Construction, Ambling was recommended to the university when preliminary plans for Coyote Village were taking place, Van Den Hul said. Ambling has been building campus facilities on a national scale at sites such as Delaware State University, University of Georgia, University of North Carolina and many others.
“They have been working hard all summer,” Compary said. “They are a motivated group and they know they have a deadline and I have no doubt they won’t meet that deadline.”
Missing the deadline will affect the university housing idea of generating more single rooms for sophomores.
Some sophomores are already seeing the benefits to more housing on campus as Compary said the university has granted several single-room requests in Julian Hall. But as soon as Coyote Village comes online, she said Burgess/Norton residence halls, as well as the others, will be able to open up more single rooms too.
“Because (Coyote Village) will be an on-campus property we will have the option to float sophomores over to it,” she said. “We will then have the opportunity to offer a little more space and privacy in the traditional resident halls.”
As progress continues on Coyote Village, Baylor said the university keeps looking at the 10 year master plan where the Redwood and Cypress apartments are slated to be torn down after 2010.
As for now, Baylor said the university hopes to fill the new housing next year and definitely by 2011.
“This is going to be a flagship facility and we are the flagship university so it’s definitely going to set a new standard for us,” Baylor said. “It is also going to set the bar high for other schools in the state and the region.”
Reach reporter TJ Jerke at Tyler.Jerke@usd.edu.
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