University of Evansville opens new student housing apartment complex
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Two weeks before the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, the University of Evansville officially opened Lincoln Commons, a student housing apartment complex for juniors and seniors. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the four-story building at the corner of Weinbach and Lincoln Avenues was held on Aug. 7.
The new facility will house 123 students and two businesses: Orange Leaf, a self-serve frozen yogurt chain, and Qdoba, a fast-casual Mexican restaurant. Parking is available at the building and the new 87-space parking lot across the street.
Mike Averett, assistant vice president of facilities and operations, said the apartment complex will be fully occupied when the fall semester starts.
“I think [the students will] enjoy the space. It’s certainly a place I would have liked to live when I was going to school,” he said.
Though classes don’t begin until Aug. 21, orientation leaders like junior Austin Landis and seniors Emily Bonenberger and Brynna Waters have already moved into the building. Landis said Lincoln Commons exceeded his expectations.
“Coming in, I felt like there would be some things like, ‘Oh, they forgot about this, or they didn’t think about this.’ But it seems like they thought of everything,” he said.
The facility, which cost approximately $20 million, was paid for by a tax-exempt bond issuance. Averett said the apartment complex is the second phase of a major student housing initiative. A residence hall with four levels of pod-style housing for freshmen and sophomores opened in 2022.
“It started with the build of New Hall, which is on Walnut St., that we finished two years ago,” said Averett. “This is probably going back about three or four years of planning, designing and making it come to life.”
Dr. Rachel Carpenter, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said the university wanted to prepare for increased enrollment and needed to upgrade housing.
“College students are making different kinds of decisions than they did 10, 15, 20 years ago. That’s due to market changes. A lot of institutions have been investing in their residential facilities over the last 10 years. So the university wanted to make sure that part of the master plan involved updating our residential facilities,” she said.
Preparation and feedback
To prepare for the UE Lincoln Commons development, several campus buildings were razed, including the University Apartments, Ramona Apartments, a Hazeart Apartment building and the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house.
“We had purchased and owned some homes on Weinbach, and we owned a small apartment complex. There were some older homes, including the TKE fraternity house on Weinbach. We relocated the fraternity to a house/apartment on Lincoln, and then we demolished the rest of the homes and relocated any individuals that were in those,” said Averett.
Carpenter said renovating the existing structures didn’t make sense because the university was looking for additional capacity.
“We needed to be able to start fresh,” she said. “It’s also a pretty prevalent corner for the institution if we wanted to have a business on that first floor. We wanted to make sure that it was in a location that made sense for the community to use as well.”
To live in the new apartment complex, returning juniors and seniors had to apply for residency and meet a set of deadlines.
“There are some criteria that determine what order they get placed in, so they’re able to indicate what preferences they might have,” said Carpenter. “Especially looking at credit hours, that gives preference order to those students who have more credit hours.”
As Lincoln Commons was developed, Averett said his team took student feedback on prior housing projects into consideration.
“Some feedback was they didn’t want any carpet in the building. So it’s all hard floors, plank flooring, luxury vinyl plank flooring,” said Averett. “We also put doors on all the closets. That was some feedback from the previous building we built.”
The floors are a game changer, according to Bonenberger.
“Carpet gets so dirty so fast. The hardwood’s going to be easier to take care of,” she said. “And it’s a neutral color, so it doesn’t show dirt too much.”
Apartments and amenities
Lincoln Commons consists of one-, two- and four-bedroom apartments with kitchens, washers, dryers, full-size beds, chairs, desks and couches.
“It’s very much set up like if you were renting anything in an apartment complex anywhere in town,” Averett said.
Bonenberger said safety was the main factor in choosing the new UE building.
“If you don’t feel comfortable, then you’re not going to have a good experience because you’re going to be afraid or nervous or worried about something, and that’s not good for your academics or your well-being,” she said. “[Lincoln Commons is] like a bridge between living on campus and having that dormitory life and living in your own apartment. You have one foot in and one foot out.”
Landis was drawn to the apartment complex because he lived in New Hall freshman year.
“That was new housing, and I liked it. It was nice. They thought about study rooms and stuff like that. It just had everything you needed. So I was looking for something similar to that,” he said. “[At Lincoln Commons,] the appliances are nice. I would also say the kitchen is nice. I’m excited. I’ve never had a full kitchen like this where I’ve lived.”
Waters has already picked her favorite amenity.
“Definitely the washing machine. I have washed at least four loads, and I’ve only been here a few days. It’s been amazing,” she said.
Having Qdoba and Orange Leaf on the first level will also be a perk for the new residents as well as the neighborhood.
“It will be something that students, community members and others will be able to enjoy. It won’t just be for students in the building but also students who don’t live there and for the community as well,” said Averett.
‘It’s going to be a good year’
Carpenter said she couldn’t emphasize enough what housing means to students from a wellness perspective.
“It’s not just the place that they live. It’s really important to them that they have a community, that they have the space to be able to either be by themselves or be with friends, because it’s all about their academic, social, professional and personal growth, and it’s a very holistic approach,” she said.
Waters agreed, saying the culture shock from being at home with parents and then going back to college is challenging.
“It’s important to have that space where you can still feel like you have a comfortable, homey place to live at the end of the day, especially when things start to pick up and classes start to get hard,” she said.
Landis is looking forward to having a quiet place to study in his bedroom and being able to socialize during his downtime.
“When I moved into Lincoln Commons, there were so many of my friends on the same floor as me. And I’ve been meeting new people. It’s already building a lot of new friendships in a community that I’m excited for. I feel like it’s going to be a good year,” he said.
As for future housing plans, Carpenter said the university is exploring smaller-capacity buildings with themes.
“If you are dedicated to wellness or international cultures or extreme sports, whatever your interest, being able to have a living-learning community where there’s a faculty component, co-curricular trip opportunities and programming provided by residence life staff,” she said.
Carpenter insisted improving housing should always be on the agenda for any university.
“To be looking at that rotational plan of which residence halls either need to be replaced or are there opportunities to take down a few of the houses and build another style of living?” she said.
“We’re always looking to improve our facilities wherever we can and be fiscally responsible,” added Averett. “Definitely lots of activity, which is good and exciting for the campus.”