Columbia will end its decade-long lease at the Arc at Old Colony after Spring 2026, eliminating one of the college’s dorms as demand for campus housing continues to fall.
Campus housing occupancy for Fall 2025 is 1,426 students, down about 25% from Fall 2021 when roughly 2,000 students lived in Columbia-affiliated housing.
Director of Housing and Residential Experience Michelle Hunter-Lancaster said details on themed community locations and the housing selection timeline will be shared with residents in January.
“We expect to be able to accommodate all students seeking housing,” she added.
Students who live at the Arc, described a mix of reactions to the decision. Some valued the building because it felt more like an apartment than a residence hall, while others had long been uneasy about its location in the South Loop.
Tanasia Poe, a junior fashion studies major who has lived at the Arc for two years, said she didn’t know yet whether she would remain in campus housing next fall, but she had planned to stay at the Arc. The appeal, she said, is that the Arc feels less like student housing and more like a real apartment.
“It’s very spacious,” Poe said. “It’s just less overbearing when it comes to the staff, and it’s closer to a lot of things.”
But Poe also acknowledged the Arc location came with trade-offs. It sits in a busy part of the Loop, within a block of multiple CTA lines, the Harold Washington Library Center and the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Henry MacDonald, a junior film major who has lived at the Arc for three years, described the neighborhood as “a hub for foot traffic.”
But he said he didn’t like the location because it didn’t always feel safe.
“If there’s not enough enrollment to fill it, this would be the first building I’d cut, just because of safety concerns,” MacDonald said. “For young adults and also people who aren’t from the city and this is their first experience here, it’s kind of a stressful building to live at.”
In the last two weeks, there have been 19 reported crimes within 500 feet of the Arc, according to the Chicago Police Department. That is similar to the number of reported crimes around Columbia’s other three residences. Most were fraud, theft and property damage.
Ellie Mickey, a senior music major and a residential assistant at the Arc, said she is devastated that the building will no longer be leased by Columbia. Mickey has been an RA at the Arc since Fall 2024 and said it differs from the other residential properties because of its centric location in the city and its spacious living arrangements.
Mickey also is worried about how the remaining on-campus residence will accommodate student needs without the Arc.
“I am concerned with the housing application and the competitive process that might unfold in the upcoming semester,” Mickey said. “30 East is much smaller than the Arc, and has always been competitive during housing applications.”
Between all four residence halls, there is a 66% occupancy rate for Fall 2025, leaving adequate vacancy in the other three buildings, Hunter-Lancaster told the Chronicle.
The Arc is owned by DWS, a unit of Deutsche Bank, which purchased the property from a joint venture in 2018 for $76.8 million. The Chronicle was unable to reach the owner to find out what plans were for the building after Columbia vacates. It is not currently listed for sale.
Tekavin Russell, a junior journalism major, who has lived at the Arc for two years, said he was hoping to live there next year.
Although he is sad the building will no longer be a Columbia dorm, he said, “maybe it’s just time for a change.”
Copy edited by Mya DeJesus
