TERI WALTZ/Arizona Daily Wildcat Construction workers do ground work for the new graduate housing between the Tyndall garage and Coronado Residence Hall Thursday afternoon. The housing is expected to be completed by late 2003.

$18M Euclid housing project set to be completed next year; 320-space facility will include plaza connecting to Coronado

A new student housing complex now under construction north of Coronado Residence Hall will be targeted toward individual graduate students, but won't replace Christopher City, the former family housing complex for graduate students.

Construction recently started on a series of graduate housing buildings, located on North Euclid Avenue between East University Boulevard and East Sixth Street.

The complex, geared toward single graduate students, will consist of several buildings and include space for 320 students, said Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life.

The project is estimated to cost around $18 million and be completed by late 2003, said Jesse Ramirez, project manager for the developer, Ambling Companies, Inc.

The new complex will include 145 units, an exercise room, four courtyards, a plaza between the structure and the Coronado residence hall and a multi-purpose room, Ramirez said.

"It's not intended for families, but we wouldn't turn them away," Van Arsdel said.

The administration vacated that the university's former graduate family housing complex, Christopher City, was vacated during finals week in spring 2000 due to toxic mold and asbestos problems.

Despite protests, all the residents were out by Aug. 1, 2000.

The fact there has not been any graduate housing from the time Christopher City closed and when this new complex will open may have deterred some students from coming here for school, said Pete Morris, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

"The reality is that this is one quality of life issue (prospective graduate students consider) to come here," he said.

Christopher City's 65-acre plot of land was subsequently sold to the DeGrazia Company on April 11, 2001 for $8.55 million and the houses were demolished in June 2001.

Residence Life offered to help the 305 students living in Christopher City find new places to live, Van Arsdel said.

To help alleviate the difference in costs between Christopher City and apartments the displaced students would need to rent, the Arizona Board of Regents approved a motion at their May 19, 2000 meeting to provide rent subsidies to the students.

The subsidies would provide help with the cost difference between Christopher City and their new housing for a year, at a cost to Residence Life of $900,000, Van Arsdel said.

The university also set up a transition team made up of five Christopher City residents to help ease other students living in the complex into other living arrangements, Van Arsdel said.

Several students filed complaints against the university because of inadequate maintenance of the buildings. Graduate students protested on the UA Mall about the housing complex being torn down.

The university is still looking for possible sites for graduate family housing. They have been in talks with the city of Tucson for six to eight months about acquiring existing housing to replace Christopher City, but have not been successful so far, Van Arsdel said.

The administration is looking within a two-mile radius of campus for housing for graduates who are married and have children.

"This is an important piece that needs to be in place," he said.

The university also discussed graduate housing as part of the city's Rio Nuevo project downtown, but due to the distance from campus, it is not practical for students with families, Van Arsdel said.

"It doesn't make sense for family housing," he said.

Once the university finds the first housing for students with families, they will look for housing on the far-reaching edges of the university area, Van Arsdel said. Right now, the university needs to find affordable nearby housing.

"This is a step within the process, not an endpoint," Morris said. "There is still a lot to be done for graduate housing."