UM Regents Approve Two Dorm Projects

Items related to renovations of two University of Michigan dorms – Baits II and East Quad – were approved by UM regents at their Nov. 17, 2011 meeting.

Regents authorized an estimated $11.95 million renovation to Baits II, located on UM’s north campus. The work includes infrastructure updates and reconfiguration of community spaces. The 175,000-square-foot, five-building complex was built in 1967 and houses about 575 students. The project will be designed by UM’s department of architecture, engineering and construction, in collaboration with Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber Inc., a Grand Rapids firm. The work is expected to be completed in the summer of 2013. The nearby Baits I residence hall, which houses about 570 students, will be closed at the end of this academic year because of infrastructure issues, and it’s unclear it if will be reopened.

Regents had approved the $116 million “deep” renovation of East Quad at their July 2011 meeting, and authorized Integrated Design Solutions as the project’s architect. On Nov. 17, regents signed off on a schematic design of the project. The 300,000-square-foot residence hall – located at 701 E. University, between Hill and Willard – houses about 860 students and the Residential College, a living-learning community started in the 1960s. The project is part of a campus-wide ”Residential Life Initiative” first presented to regents in September 2004.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the Fleming administration building on the UM campus in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]