The McCartney Street Phase II Project opened to students earlier this month, allowing over 100 students to move into the new residence hall for the start of the semester.
Known as “McCartney II,” the residence hall extends along McCartney Street to Clinton Terrace and neighbors the older McCartney residence halls: Tator North and McCartney South. The residence hall has 53 suites and 166 beds, with 34 four-bedroom suites, two three-bedroom suites, seven two-bedroom suites and 10 singles.
Construction for the residence hall took 16 months, according to an email from Emily Papp, the development manager of Aegis Property Group, the company overseeing the project. Groundbreaking took place in March 2023, and construction was completed in June.
Each unit has a full kitchen, according to Papp. Student lounges, study areas and a laundry room can be found on each floor with the second-floor lounge featuring a unique game room.
Papp wrote that the project achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Certification, or LEED certification — an internationally recognized award based on the U.S Green Building Council’s rating system of sustainable buildings.
A week into the semester, residents’ reactions have been largely positive.
“We have been hearing positive feedback from student residents of the building,” Grace Reynolds, the director of residence life, wrote in an email. “They like the apartment-style modern design and shared common areas on each floor.”
Shreya Suresh ‘25 lives in a four-person apartment on the third floor of McCartney II.
“It is such a nice break from the other dorms on campus,” Suresh said. “It feels so curious and it has been really fun … it feels more peaceful.”
Hayley Katz ‘25 also shares a four-person living space and feels that the new residence hall offers all the perks of apartment-style living without the difficulties of off-campus housing.
McCartney II “just seemed like it would be a nice way to be able to live with my friends and still be able to cook everything that I wanted to, while also having a more apartment-style than the previous dorms,” Katz said.
Katz was hesitant over whether construction would be completed in time for move-in after undergoing the housing process in the spring, but Grace Comfort ’25, a roommate of Suresh, was largely unconcerned.
“I was thinking, ‘I don’t know how they’re going to get this done at all,'” Katz said. “But, I was just hoping for the best and I’m really glad it worked out. It didn’t affect my move-in process at all.”
“I didn’t worry too much about the fact that they were still being built, because I was pretty confident that they would have to get them done,” Comfort said. “So many students were booked and ready.”
According to Reynolds, the availability of McCartney II housing has also allowed for March Hall, built in 2017 as temporary housing, to no longer be used as a residential space.
