University of Minnesota Rochester moves into DoubleTree building
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(ABC 6 News) – We’re learning more about the closure of the DoubleTree hotel in downtown Rochester — making room for the University of Minnesota Rochester expansion.
Chancellor Lori Carrell says the school is “bursting at the seams” which is why they bought the old DoubleTree building.
The campus has almost 1,000 students currently. The chancellor said their next goal is to increase and get 15 hundred and then 25 hundred.
The chancellor also says DoubleTree will be a massive construction project. One they hope to have done by fall 2023.
The construction will provide 403 new beds. The school expects to fill every one of them.
We're learning more about the closure of the DoubleTree hotel in downtown Rochester -- making room for the University of Minnesota Rochester expansion.
“Lots of good things come from these communities. And so we know that for first-year students in particular, and also second-year students, this structure of living-learning communities is important,” Carrell said.
According to Chancellor Carrell, most of the students at UMR will pursue careers in healthcare, which is a big reason why the university is focusing its resources downtown.
“The proximity to those opportunities is another criteria that are important to where we chose to have our housing,” Carrell said.
The chancellor also said she knows affordable housing is an issue many care about in our area.
She says they will develop specific plans in 2023 to ensure they have affordable student housing options.