Skip to main content
Portland State University announced plans Friday to build a new $85 million housing complex to open in fall 2028, with 550 beds for students.
PSU’s board of trustees approved moving the project forward during a meeting Friday morning. The new project will require deconstructing two buildings “that fall short of providing optimal living conditions for students,” according to a university statement. Those two buildings are Blackstone and Montgomery halls, on Southwest 10th Avenue between Montgomery and Harrison streets.
The dorm, which is intended for first-year housing, will feature private bathrooms, study lounges and classroom space. The university described it as a nod to how many PSU students experience housing insecurity; in 2023, the university’s student experience survey found 46.5% of students did.
There are currently 32 students living in Blackstone and 134 in Montgomery. University spokeswoman Christina Williams tells WW that Montgomery will stay open during the 2025–26 academic year, and that PSU housing is working with Blackstone residents to help them find new housing. She added that there will be enough space in other campus housing to accommodate current occupancy in future academic years. Demolition is slated for 2026.
“We know that students who live on campus do better in the classroom and this beautiful new housing complex will provide Portland State students a modern and accessible option for on-campus housing,” PSU president Ann Cudd said in the statement.
The build comes even as PSU faces an $18 million budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year. Last month, the university announced it was laying off 17 non-tenure track faculty as part of a four-part financial adjustment plan.
PSU’s American Association of University Professors has been critical of the university’s spending decisions, specifically on infrastructure. In December, PSU AAUP president Emily Ford told WW that “instead of doing the mission-critical work, the university president and the board of trustees are spending their time and energy on investments in infrastructure instead of investments in workers and students.”
The university’s budget deficit also comes, in part, from consistently declining enrollment. Total enrollment has dropped by 21% since 2019, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. At a December press conference, Cudd said the decline was happening well before then, and that the university is “finally grappling” with its lower numbers.
In an email to WW, Williams said the housing project will be paid for by debt financing to be repaid by the operations of the building. Residence hall bonds that PSU secures for the new buildings, she said, are separate from academic budgets. “It has no effect on our education and general fund,” she said. “It’s not a matter of either funding one or the other.”
When asked about building amid declining enrollment?
“Building beautiful new housing in our central campus will be a driver for enrollment that will ultimately enhance academic budgets,” Williams said. “The plans for this new building are aimed at the long-term and very bright future of Portland State.”