University breaks ground on new student housing

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — It was a big milestone Thursday for UNCW as the university continues to expand. Faculty and staff celebrated the groundbreaking for new student housing dorms.

After losing some housing to Hurricane Florence, UNCW Chancellor Jose Sartarelli says this project is even more important.

The project will include four new buildings that will house almost 2,000 students.

Sartarelli says by the end of this, there will be more than five thousand students living on campus.

The buildings will go behind the Hub near other housing.

“I think this is very exciting for the university because it’s keeping up with our growth,” he said. “We’re preparing this for the next 10 or 15 years of the life of the university, as we grow and become even more recognized.”

Sartarelli says they hope to have the first two buildings done by fall of 2020 and the final two by spring of 2021.

He says these buildings will be able to better weather storms like Florence.

A UNCW spokesperson also says the University Apartments have been completely torn down after suffering major damage from Florence.

UNCW says thanks to some students graduating in December, any displaced student who wanted to move back on campus was able to do so for the spring.