Barry said more than half of the college’s students relocate to attend, so already having housing would make the process “more streamlined.”
“When students move here, it’s not as convenient as having student housing, because they have to shop for an apartment. We want to make it so that they can really focus on their studies,” Barry said.
Kettering City Council will consider the land sale on Tuesday.
The Modern College of Design expanded its campus in 2018. The college has invested over $7 million in expansion and renovations to the campus since 2017 to accommodate growing enrollment, Barry said.
“We wanted to offer our first bachelor’s degree and to offer that bachelor’s degree we needed to expand our campus,” Barry said. “We’ve done both of those things and we really feel like student housing is the last piece of that puzzle. To really recruit the diverse and creative students we want to attract from all across the country and potentially internationally, we need a safe and comfortable housing option for those students. So we think this will help us recruit a more diverse group of students and bring them to the Kettering area.”
The development would house about 100 students and take two years to build, Barry said.
Barry said city staff seem positive about the project.
If city council approves the purchase, Barry said the college will spend the next six months determining whether the project is feasible. At the end of the six months, the college will make their final decision and either close on the $210,000 purchase or not.
Barry said the college has been talking with Miller-Valentine Group about the project, so they will be considered as developers for the project, but the college will be looking at competitive bids.
A timeline for the bidding process hasn’t been set yet.
The new student housing development would likely have a design that is consistent with the rest of the campus’ “modern and creative look,” Barry said.
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