PORTLAND, Maine — As students of The University of Southern Maine head back to school carrying the dorm essentials, those taking classes at the university's Portland campus may recognize a new building among the campus skyline.
The university's first residential building on its Portland campus, Portland Commons, will be housing a little more than 500 upperclassmen and grad students this fall.
The $74 million project, which took around two years to build, was created to both address overcrowding at the Gorham campus and to also add a built-in transition for upperclassmen as they continue their education.
"I've been seriously looking at this building since it's like the foundation and now seeing it in fruition is like crazy," Lead Residential Assistant Kam Ali said, who is helping students move into the new spot.
For the past couple of years, he has been making the half-hour commute to campus from Gorham.
"As I transition to this environment, it's clear it's so much more conducive to like being a grad student," Ali added. "Being so close to the metro and [campus] even being more walkable, I find that I'm saving so much more time right? And time is everything for a college student."
The residence hall offers one, two, and four-bedroom dorms and apartments. All bedrooms feature individual closets and desks, with apartments offering amenities like energy-efficient full-size fridges, microwaves, and more. Each dorm room offers individual temperature controls.
A high priority when designing the building was sustainability, abiding by strict Passive House standards. The building uses half the amount of energy than a comparable residence hall.
"Every year we'll be saving around $270K dollars in utility bills," Director of Sustainability Aaron Witham said, who spearheaded the project. "That's money that can funnel back into the university and keep prices as low as possible."
A single suite costs $4,130 a semester, according to the university website. Compared to the Fair Market Rent Value of a one-bedroom apartment in Portland, which averages nearly $1500 a month according to RentData.org, students could be saving about 500 dollars a month on housing.