MTSU officials hosted a ground-breaking ceremony for the new Womack Commons and its corresponding parking lot and garage, adding 554 beds and 593 parking spots.
Faculty, staff, students and guests gathered in the Health, Wellness and Recreational Center to celebrate the university’s first housing project in more than 25 years. The $83 million project will be completed in the summer of 2027. This comes as Murfreesboro rent prices rise 3.4% month-over-month, signaling an upward trend.
Womack Commons will be more expensive than traditional dorms on campus, according to Michelle J. Safewright, the Executive Director of Housing and Residential Life.
Housing and Residential Life often receives minimal attention, but is, nevertheless, essential to the ability to foster student satisfaction, engagement and success, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said.
“Countless studies have linked the student experience with on campus residence … to their overall perception of their institution of choice,” McPhee said. “This experience is correlated with greater college persistence and higher graduation rates.”
The new building will be a five-to-six-story suite-style residence hall with several community living areas and some single-person rooms.
Tom Tomaszewski, president of The Annex Group, the private partner in this project, highlighted the people who came together on the project and the community it built.
“[Projects like these] take a whole lot of people coming together and a whole lot of support,” Tomaszewski said. “What we have here is something special.”
The project also includes a garage to be located right beside the new Womack Commons, as well as a parking lot adjacent to the housing facility.
“When this university was established in 1911, there were complaints about parking on campus,” McPhee said. “So I’m sure our students are going to be really excited for this new parking garage.”
Both the garage and the spots surrounding the new Womack Commons will be available only to residential students, according to Jimmy Hart, the director of news and media relations at MTSU.
Residential students are able to park in green parking lots, or areas where commuters are able to park. Commuters, however, are unable to park in residential areas. Commuters make up roughly 85% of MTSU students.
Student Government Association President RJ Ware said this project is more than a new building on campus, but a commitment to listen to students for what they need and want at MTSU.
“Students want to feel like they belong here,” Ware said. “That sense of belonging doesn’t happen on its own; it takes shape from the spaces we create.”
Oppman further expressed enthusiasm for the new project, highlighting the 161,00 square-foot structure with pod-style and semi-suit style housing with six, four and two-person occupancy units, study lounges, kitchens and laundry facilities.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Oppman said. “This is going to be the bomb.”
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