Loyola University announced they will begin construction next year for a new residence hall that is set to open in 2025.

The new building will accommodate more apartment style living and will take over the space where Mercy Hall sits, according to an email sent out to students today by Carol Markowitz, the chief operating officer at Loyola.

Offices and classrooms are planned to be relocated from Mercy Hall after the spring 2023 semester, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2024 and be completed by fall of 2025.

Markowitz said that the construction will allow time for the current residential halls to be taken offline for “much-needed” renovations, including new windows in Founders Hall and replacing the plumbing in Buddig Hall.

The new building is in response to the lack of housing options available for students, both graduate and undergraduate. According to an email sent to faculty and staff of Loyola this morning, roughly half of undergraduate students live off campus and there is no dorm living for graduate students, leaving more than 2,000 students in search of off campus housing each year.

“Currently we do not have enough housing to meet the needs for our two-year housing requirement,” Markowitz wrote in the email.

The email also said that having students live on campus longer will yield benefits for retention.

“Students will be safer living on campus, will have fewer obstacles to attending classes, and they will have more opportunities to form friendships and build closer ties to the university,” the email said.

The email said that the new residence hall is predicted to have an immediate positive impact for Loyola. Not only will it offer new on campus housing, but it will also produce $7.5 million annually, according to the email.

Loyola is planning on using fundraisers, Loyola’s capital campaign, and bond financing- a type of long term loan- to pay for the construction of the new building and renovations for existing residence halls.