URI Flagg Road and Graduate Village Student Housing P3

Gilbane is building a $210.8 million student housing package for the University of Rhode Island roughly 30 miles from its own Providence headquarters. Financial close came in November 2025 and ground broke on January 28, 2026, with more than 150 attendees including state officials and URI trustees.

Project Scope

Three buildings add more than 1,100 beds on the Kingston campus. The north Flagg Road residence hall is about 173,739 square feet with 134 units; the south hall is 135,177 square feet with 105 units. Together they carry 914 beds in two- and four-bedroom apartment-style suites. The reconstructed Graduate Village Apartments on Route 138 total 84,813 square feet across 152 units and raise graduate-student occupancy to 200, in a mix of studio through three-bedroom apartments. Financing runs through a $210.8 million tax-exempt bond issuance with Provident Resources Group, a 501(c)(3), as borrower and Raymond James as underwriter, which keeps the debt off the university’s balance sheet. Gilbane’s role spans plan, finance, design, build and help operate, so this is an end-to-end P3 rather than a design-build contract with operations procured separately. The first residence hall opens fall 2027; all three complete by fall 2028.

Why It Matters

Flagg Road adds expanded study space, community wellness rooms, a grab-and-go cafe and an outdoor courtyard tied into campus walking and bike paths. Graduate Village revives a community garden and expands its community center. Once delivered, URI’s on-campus bed count is up by more than 2,000 since 2012. The demand case is real: record applications in fall 2025 and R1 reclassification in the latest Carnegie ranking. The university is also running a comprehensive Fine Arts Center renovation and a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at the Narragansett Bay Campus at the same time, so three major capital efforts are competing for the same regional trade base.

Project Team & Details