Half-dozen projects in wings as WL mulls end of ‘moratorium’ on high-rises, student housing development near Purdue

What’s next for development near Purdue after new report calls for end to ‘pause’ on student housing close to campus? Starting with Chauncey Hill Mall …

Coming soon: Chauncey Hill Mall redevelopment. (Photo: Dave Bangert)

Just to be clear, there never was a formal, signed-into-law moratorium on new high-rises near Purdue’s campus.

But there was, in fact, frequent announcements – from the desk of West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis to more formal student rental reports written each December – that the city should, and dutifully would, wait on new, major student housing projects until a record-breaking, high-rise year of 2019 shook out in the campus rental market.

Two weeks ago, Tippecanoe County planners said it was time to give the unwritten development moratorium a rest.

The rationale: Purdue enrollment continued to set new records each year and stood just shy of 50,000 students at the start of the fall 2021 semester. Near-campus vacancies hovered near 1%. And rents near Purdue reflected that fact. The market, the new Tippecanoe County Student Rental Report said, had absorbed some 2,500 new beds that had opened within blocks from campus during a record-breaking development year in 2019.

The report’s conclusion:

“Given this healthy assessment, the ‘pause’ in new major student housing developments, put in place by West Lafayette after 2019’s historic unit increase, appears to no longer be necessary …”

OK. But is West Lafayette ready to go, again? Does West Lafayette City Hall buy the APC’s conclusion?