Earlier this month, Seattle University received the approval from the City Council for a plan that would more than double the school’s square footage of campus space on Broadway & Madison St. Right now the University is spread across 2.04 million sf of the 4.8 acre campus. According to the Daily Journal of Commerce, the school’s master plan is designed to stimulate growth of the University over the next 10-20 years, and by 2028 the school hopes to add 2.1 million sf of classrooms, parking, housing, retail and other buildings. The plan includes taller buildings, and expansion of the campus’ boundary lines, and campus officials have said that the plan is necessary in preparation for the projected growth of the university; an estimated 2,500 students by 2028. Will this affect the cost of rent in the area? Most likely, but officials will have plans for housing to accommodate the influx of students who want to live on campus as well.

Seattle University isn’t the only school with plans in the works to expand their student housing. Seattle Central Community College is also busy at work towards utilizing some of their Broadway property as student housing. Seattle Central’s President has told Capitol Hill Seattle president that the college has an interest in a partnership with Capitol Hill Housing, and is currently exploring new ways to expand their student housing. The Seattle Community College District put in a mail center for the College on Broadway a few years back, and in a recent Capitol Hill Housing board meeting, plans for the building were brought to light. SCCC intends to partner with Capitol Hill Housing to develop that space into a six story student housing  building, with the first floor dedicated for commercial space. For more information and updates on the progression, visit this local Seattle Real Estate Blog.