Plans are now moving forward for the long-anticipated construction of a 19-story dormitory that will serve students at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
The project is set to go up on a nearly 3-acre site on the northwest corner of E. Speedway Road and Campbell Avenue and upon completion will provide residential space for some 1,200 students.
The new residence hall will include a dining hall, possible ground level retail, and other amenities.
The site has been the longtime home to the two-story Palm Shadows Apartments, which was built in 1962 and has since been demolished to make way for the new UA project.
It is thought that it will cost around $250 million in development and construction costs to complete the new residential facility.
In a unique arrangement, the nonprofit Collegiate Housing Foundation has purchased the site from the Mortenson Development company before handing it over to UA. According to the Arizona Daily Star, CHF will “independently finance, develop, construct, and operate the dorm.”
That foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1996 with the goal of assisting institutions of higher learning in developing new student housing facilities.
CHF has financed student housing projects along the East coast and throughout the Midwest and has been particularly active in Texas.
Work on the new UA residential facility, which will be the first of its kind for the school since 2019, is expected to begin shortly, with an anticipated fall 2028 completion date.
April 17, 2026
By Garry Boulard
