University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will begin providing housing for faculty and staff after receiving a $1 million private donation.

On Feb. 3, the UW-Whitewater Foundation officially accepted 23 parcels of land equivalent to 5.66 acres, valued at $1 million donated by Jim Caldwell, First Citizens State Bank president and his wife, Julie Caldwell.

The lot is located in a new housing development on Whitewater’s northwest side near West Bloomingfield Drive — about two miles off campus, said Melissa DiMotto, UW-Whitewater spokesperson.

DiMotto said the university would probably build homes that are then rented or will lease the land so faculty members have the option of building their own homes.

She added that most housing around campus is geared toward students, and it has been a goal for UW-Whitewater to get staff involved in the community.

DiMotto said there are faculty members who do live in the community, but because so much housing is geared toward students, most faculty members live in outside areas and commute to campus.

She added that the lack of available housing for staff can make it hard for the university to retain faculty, and the new land development could help alleviate the problem by getting more faculty involved in the community and help create stronger ties to the university.

DiMotto said providing housing for university faculty was a goal of the donation and the UW-Whitewater Foundation is in charge of specifics for the land development.

The UW-Whitewater Foundation is a program that allows alumni and community members to donate money or gifts to the students or the university, according to the foundation’s website.

Jonathan Enslin, UW-Whitewater Foundation president, said university officials would consult with university and community leaders over the coming months to develop specific plans for the use of the real estate.

The real estate parcels will be managed by a real estate subsidiary of the UW-

Whitewater Foundation, a statement from the university said.

The UW-Whitewater Foundation approved the creation of this subsidiary as well as the planned use of the land for university housing at its Feb. 3 meeting, according to the statement.

Enslin said this land development would not affect the amount of housing available to UW-Whitewater students because these houses will not be geared towards students and most faculty do not rent student housing.

He added he has not received any student responses on the issue.

Enslin said new university employees have specifically asked if short term housing is available, but there are almost no houses close to campus that aren’t geared toward students.

He added he can remember two specific cases in the last three years where faculty wanted to live in the Whitewater community, but were unable to find any suitable housing.

Enslin said since the gift was just accepted on Feb. 3, development plans have not begun.

Currently there is not a projected date for the land development to begin or for the housing to become available.