BYU housing proposed to replace Deseret Towers

PROVO (Deseret News) — What was once a cubist skyline along 900 East will soon become a sleek new housing development.

BYU officials and architects shared floor and site plans Thursday evening with the next-door Wasatch neighborhood regarding four new, four-story residence halls to replace Deseret Towers.

The buildings, with their white stone bases, red walls, peaked roofs and a central green area, will house more than 730 students in two- and three-bedroom apartments, similar to Heritage Halls.

Each apartment will have a kitchen and living room/dining room, bathroom and an extra sink in the hallway. The three-bedroom apartments will have two bathrooms.

The basement will have a communal laundry area with extra storage space for students, said Timothy Thomas, principal with Architectural Nexus.

There will be a large activity room on the first floor, and the four buildings will surround a grassy common area outside.

"Our hope is to have permits this spring, late spring, and early summer go out and get these constructed," said Ray Bernier, director of planning at BYU.

The project, which doesn't yet have a name, should take 14 months to build and hopefully will be finished by fall 2011.

No rent price has been set.

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