New residence hall to open in fall 2028

Lehigh will begin construction on a new residence hall in 2026 to ease housing pressures for first-year students. The new building is expected to open in fall 2028. 

The building, currently referred to by the administration as “East Hill,” will be located between the Drinker and McClintic-Marshall Houses. The residence hall will add 370 beds to campus.

Christine Cook, the vice president for finance and administration, said the project was set in motion in response to several years of enrollment growth. She said in the past few years, Lehigh has had a planned increase in enrollment. 

“Right now, we have about 1,530 students per entering class, and as our student body has grown, it’s reached the point where we need additional beds to support that growth,” Cook said.

Cook said the building will be located in the first-year residence hall corridor and is anticipated to primarily serve that population, but will not be restricted to first-year students with room for flexibility if needed. 

She said the additional capacity will create flexibility across campus housing, allowing for room to renovate existing residence halls, reconfigure how certain buildings are used and increase headroom.

“Since we’re adding 370 new beds, which, based on our analysis, is more than we strictly need, it gives us some swing space,” Cook said. 

Cook said the cost of the project is still being determined.

The new residence hall is part of Lehigh’s 30-year Campus Plan, which was endorsed by the Board of Trustees and President Joseph Helble this year. The plan involves renovations across the Asa Packer, Goodman and Mountaintop campuses to “achieve the University’s strategic goals.”

Nancy Trainer, the associate vice president for facilities and campus planning, said the plan is intended to be a flexible guide. 

“In general, the campus plan isn’t meant to be a static vision of what the campus will look like in 30 years,” Trainer said. “It’s more of a flexible roadmap, a framework that helps us make decisions and guide how we think about the future of the campus.”

She said an objective of the plan is to create a more connected campus. 

“We want to make sure that every part of campus feels like Lehigh and contributes something meaningful to the Lehigh community,” Trainer said.  

Trainer said now is the right time to add a residence hall because the current dormitories are at capacity. 

She also said they are confident fall 2028 is a feasible opening date for East Hill, but the exact start of construction and when people will begin to see activity depends on the construction manager.

Trainer also said the university is committed to minimizing disruption to students living nearby.

 “Any construction project involves some inconvenience, but it’s our job, and the construction manager’s job, to minimize that as much as possible,” Trainer said.

David Joseph, the executive director of auxiliary services, said the building is tentatively planned to include an entry plaza, game room, fitness room and meeting and study spaces with air conditioning.

Joseph said the project’s goals are to meet growing demands for housing while meeting students’ expectations for on-campus housing through more modern spaces.

Joseph said the project will not change housing policies for juniors and seniors who have the choice to live off-campus, but it may increase their options. 

“We will still require first and second-year students to live on campus, so (I’m) not sure if it will impact juniors and seniors except that more may have an opportunity to live on campus if they so desire,” he said.

Joseph said nearby buildings such as Lamberton Hall are not expected to close during construction, though traffic routes could be affected. He said Lehigh is preparing for the challenges of building near existing residence halls. 

“Lehigh students are pretty resilient and we have experienced construction projects on campus previously, so this should be nothing they can’t handle,” Joseph said.