WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue plans to develop a senior living residential development in the Discovery Park district targeted toward residents in their 60s through their 80s. Critics say the university should be focused on addressing the student housing first.
The developer Varcity is partnering with Purdue University, the Purdue Research Foundation and the Purdue for Life Foundation for the project, according to a Purdue press release.
The development will include ground-floor amenities that anyone on campus can access and is to provide restaurants, wellness services, an early childhood education center, physical therapy facilities, green spaces, pickleball courts, and a lifelong learning center.
Residents will be given Purdue ID cards with access to university facilities and will be able to audit Purdue lecture courses at no cost.
Varcity, a property of McNair Interests, plans to begin construction of similar facilities on a half-dozen universities in 2024, and a half-dozen more in 2026, Senior Housing News reports.
Reception among students online, however, was somewhat critical, with students appearing to be confused as to why Purdue is not focusing on student housing instead.
A post on the Purdue subreddit begged, “please just give us housing.” One commenter wrote, “What I find amazing is that there’s still plenty of space in [West Lafayette] to build housing for students. With the housing shortage being as bad as it is, I’m so lost as to why no developers have planned to build more apartments since every single one is at capacity.”
While apartments in Chauncey, Levee, and Wabash Landing are either in planning or construction, the West Lafayette City Council has also voiced its frustration with Purdue for its inability to provide enough housing for students or to communicate with the city.
There is no word as to when the project will break ground.