The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has broken ground on two residence halls that will add more than 1,900 beds to campus housing.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the residence hall being built on Andy Holt Avenue will house 788 students and the hall being built on Caledonia Avenue will house 1,166 students. They have not been officially named. Combined, they'll cost $229.65 million.
The two residence halls, slated to open by fall 2025, are part of at least $1.63 billion of construction in the works on campus.
The housing projects mark the start of the university's use of public-private partnerships to speed up construction on campus and shield the university from risk.
The university also plans to use public-private partnerships to build a third residence hall by fall 2026. The Board of Trustees has has approved the project, but it needs state approval before construction can begin.
The three residence halls will cost an estimated $371.95 million.
Right now, the university has 8,294 beds across 14 residence halls, Vol Condos and the off-campus lease of Lakemoor Station. Adding the Andy Holt and Caledonia residence halls will bring the total up to 10,248 beds.
The new beds will help fill the gap while Tennessee renovates or redevelops other residence halls.
