Over the next two years, 5,300 beds reserved specifically for student use will be built across the City of Madison. The approved plan is the latest effort to increase housing availability for students in Madison, District 8 Alder MGR Govindarajan said.

Developments in downtown Madison are adding 5,374 beds across 2,029 units.

Among the developments are 939 beds across 386 units at Oliv, a new apartment complex located on West Gorham Street. Construction on Oliv began at the beginning of this year, opening for the fall semester of 2024.

At Verve, a development built by Subtext located at the corner of West Johnson Street and North Bassett Street, 498 beds across 144 units are being built. Construction began at the end of 2022, and is expected to open August 2024.

At Chapter, located at the corner of North Park Street and Regent Street, 488 beds across 177 units are being built.

The Atmosphere, at 750 Regent Street, is building 681 beds across 341 units.

Between the  parking ramp development at 415 N Lake Street, the two Johnson Street core campus developments and and 120-128 North Orchard Street, 1313 & 1314 Randall Court and 1309-1311 West Dayton Street, there are 575 beds across 248 units, 717 beds across 232 units, 1351 beds across 453 units and 125 beds across 48 units.

The Oliv, parking ramp development at 415 N Lake Street and one of the two Johnson Street core campus developments will have beds reserved for those who need financial assistance. Each development has different discounted rates and a different amount of beds set aside for this discount.

“Students who are eligible for FAFSA and are designated as in need of financial assistance will have a discounted rate for their units,” Govindarajan said. “And it’s just for their bedroom, so independent of what their roommates are paying as well.”

All developments are currently in construction, with the Oliv opening Fall 2024 and the rest expected to open next year, according to Govindarajan.

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The University of Wisconsin has consistently been admitting more students every year, and Govindarajan is hopeful this new housing will help accommodate the growing student population.

“[The new developments] will really provide more housing and also start to bring down the price of rent, is what I’ve been told by some staff and some developers, because there’s gonna be a lot more competition now,” Govindarajan said. “And that’s really good news for students.”

Student involvement and feedback has been instrumental to these projects, with a survey over the summer sent out by Govindarajan garnering a significant amount of student responses. Over 1,700 students responded to the survey, with the general consensus being that housing in Madison was a “difficult” process.

Emails sent to the City of Madison Common Council created enough awareness of student issues that alders and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway are now intimately involved and compelled to make a difference, according to Govindarajan.

“There’s been a much bigger push with myself, Julianna Bennet the District 2 Alder, and all of the students who have been advocating for this, to get these housing projects completed,” Govindarajan said. “None of this would have been possible without the grassroots support we were able to build over the last nine months.”

To stay involved through this process, Govindarajan encourages students to connect with the Campus Area Neighborhood Association in Madison, a mostly student-run organization that is involved in the development process.

The Madison Common Council and its committees also take recommendations, which are taken seriously and can change and modify plans, according to Govindarajan.

“I want to highlight that this is going to be a huge deal,” Govindarajan said. “We’ve never seen this many [units] built over a short period of time … that’s historic, especially when it comes to student housing.”