The newly constructed grad student housing on South Hills, now being called “Vandal Village” is expecting to wrap up during summer of 2026, with doors expected to open for residents on Aug. 1.
Vandal Village is a part of the University of Idaho’s massive $162 million construction project. Along with the new housing, the project also included renovations for current student housing, including Theophilus Tower and the Wallace Residence Center.
A major topic of discussion has been pricing for housing.
“UI hired a third party, which took some research about cost of construction, and the amenities being given, and they were able to give us a good number of our rates,” said Nicholas Cress, assistant director of marketing and student outreach.
Vandal Village is built to house undergrads (sophomores, juniors and seniors), graduate students, married students and students with any dependents. The rates for these apartments include $1,339 a month for a studio apartment, $1,432 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,154 per room a month for a two-bedroom apartment for graduate and undergrad students. Family housing begins at $1,275 for a one-bedroom flat, with townhouses priced at $1,940, $2,440 and $2,920 for two, three and four bedrooms respectively.
“The marketing research was intense. It wasn’t just talking to people on the lawn, it was in depth and detailed,” said Director of Housing and Residence Life Corey Ray. “We focused on rates for utilities, and cost of the utilities. What we needed to know [from the third party] was how do we start from scratch without having the past and history that was brought by the renovations from the project.”
Ray says the pricing, based off of the market research, is consistent with other housing available to students for the amenities offered.
In Vandal Village, there are 91 family housing units, 72 bed spaces for graduate housing and 142 bed spaces for undergrads. Included amenities are fully furnished apartments, wireless internet, in-apartment washer and dryer, a full sized kitchen, a dishwasher and air conditioning. The housing is also pet friendly.
With the village comes a communal building called “The Lodge,” with study rooms, hang out spaces, monthly activities, reservable space for student activities and events and a fireplace lounge.
“Overall, construction has been super smooth. Even outside, I’ve heard people say it was like they were being built with LEGOs. Starting with empty ground and going up.” Cress said.
Austin Kieckhefer can be reached at [email protected].