College Station skyline keeps growing with student-focused, high-rise housing

College Station, Texas – May 3, 2023

Alex Miller, The Eagle (original article)

A skyline is forming in College Station along University Drive in the Northgate corridor thanks to an influx of student-focused, high-rise housing developments.

Over the last decade, five high-rise buildings 10 stories or more have been built or are being constructed in the concentrated area on the north side of Texas A&M’s campus. Together, they now make up half of the city’s 10 tallest buildings, joined by A&M’s O&M Building (16 stories), Rudder Tower (14 stories), the Hilton Hotel and Momentum Plaza (both 11 stories), and Kyle Field (10 stories).

“The population within the city continues to increase, enrollment at A&M continues to increase, and we’ve seen a lot of that growth focus more in the Northgate area,” said Michael Ostrowski, the city of College Station’s director for planning and development services.

More of these are on the way.

One of those is Rev Northgate, which is scheduled to open in July at 315 College Main. The 19-floor, student-focused housing building will have 298 units, 802 bedrooms and will be the tallest building in College Station at just under 200 feet.

“Until someone builds one taller,” said David Pierce, co-founder and principal of Parallel, Rev Northgate’s developer.

At least two taller student-focused, high-rise buildings are in the works in the area Ostrowski said has become the most dense in town.

A development at the corner of Church Avenue and First Street will be approximately 23 stories, Ostrowski said. As of now, Ostrowski said the developer has only received a height variance from the city’s zoning board of adjustments. A site plan or building permit have not been submitted or approved.

Up Campus Properties has submitted site plans for a 20-story building over 200 feet tall with 346 units and 874 bedrooms at 101 University Drive near the intersection of Wellborn Road. A name hasn’t been finalized, but is being called Nova Northgate for now, according to an Up Campus official. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2024 and be completed for the fall 2026 semester, according to an Up Campus official.

“We anticipate that growth slowing down somewhat, but the demand for pedestrian-to-campus housing in Northgate appears to be increasing,” Tyler Ammermann, vice president of development for Up Campus, said in an email to The Eagle. “High-rises make efficient use of land around the Texas A&M campus in the Northgate District, and allow a growing student enrollment to access all the resources at A&M and Northgate.”

Building in the Northgate area gives students walking distance access to the university’s amenities and the entertainment district, Pierce said. He noted Parallel’s student-focused housing developments try to be pedestrian to campus. Parallel also has built three high-rise developments in the west campus area at the University of Texas in Austin, which Pierce said is similar to Northgate. Ostrowski said some of the city’s development requirements in the Northgate area are targeted to improve accessibility and walkability.

“The trends across the county that also include our regional schools here in Texas are that fewer kids are taking cars to school,” Pierce said. “Now in Texas, it’s still a majority of kids are bringing their cars, but there are fewer kids bringing their cars to school than in past years. They’ve also grown up in an era where walking to a coffee shop is highly desirable, walking to campus is highly desirable.”

City officials have been plotting the Northgate development for about 20 years, according to Ostrowski.

The high-rise trend started when The Rise opened as an 18-story building along University Drive in 2013 and became the then-tallest building in town. From 2012 to 2017, Ostrowski said around 1,000 units were added to the Northgate area, which equates to around 3,000 bedrooms. Currently, he said there are about 1,300 units, or 3,200 bedrooms, under construction or in the planning stage.

“Land prices typically will drive up the heights of buildings, so as you need to acquire more land, it gets more expensive,” Ostrowski said, “so you can acquire a smaller piece of land and go up and get the same number of units you need.”

A&M’s enrollment approached 75,000 last fall and Blinn College officials told The Eagle this week its enrollment is climbing again after taking a two-year dip. According to A&M’s Residence Life page, there are just over 11,000 students living in the university’s 37 residence halls.

Parallel is already constructing another high-rise development at 401 First Street, Pierce said. This building is only 12 stories, but will have 341 units and 745 bedrooms and expected to open in summer 2024. Pierce noted College Station’s student-focused housing market was overbuilt in the mid-2010s, but now the market demand is beginning to peak again.

“We kind of timed this thing so it would be delivering into that and there’s ongoing demand for the next few years,” Pierce said. “You’ll see several new properties under construction over the next few years to meet that demand. At some point, it may outstrip it again, but the school’s growing pretty quickly.”