After Fairlawn Real Estate purchased and demolished the former UniPlace Christian Church last fall, it began foundation work in January on a new student housing complex set to open at the northwest corner of Wright Street and Springfield Avenue in August 2027.
According to a press release from Fairlawn, the new complex — named Mosaic as a nod to the web browser developed at the University and released in 1993 — will feature 371 beds across 283 units. The building will be managed by Smile Student Living, the student housing arm of Fairlawn Real Estate.
The project is one of many ongoing student housing construction projects on campus, including one University Group apartment building which encountered delays in opening for occupancy on time this fall.
Fairlawn’s recent projects, alongside Wells and Wells Construction, haven’t faced the same delays.
“We have delivered new buildings on time at 1009 Stoughton, 503 Stoughton, 510 White, 405 Stoughton, 404 Clark, and 608 Chalmers together in the last few years,” Fairlawn stated in an email exchange.
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The construction of Mosaic comes after UniPlace’s 91-year-old building was sold to Fairlawn in March 2025 for $4.1 million. After UniPlace’s congregation moved to the University YMCA in September, Fairlawn had the church demolished to make way for Mosaic.
“We were realizing we don’t need a big, beautiful building to be able to have that commitment to the community and to giving back,” said Isaac Ackerman, UniPlace’s Campus and Community Connector. “We knew the YMCA was willing to accept us, and we thought ‘That is a good place for us to be.’”
Ackerman also remarked that nearly everything from the former church found a new home before the demolition.
“A group of congregants were in charge of making sure that nothing came down with the building that we could give away to the community or sell,” Ackerman said. “We wanted to make sure that everything got put to use.”
UniPlace was the second Campustown church Fairlawn purchased in recent years. Fairlawn formed a partnership with St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in 2024 to build an apartment complex on the church’s plot of land; in exchange, Fairlawn built a new church that sits on the lower levels of the new building, which opened in the fall at 608 E. Chalmers St.
Fairlawn stated in the email that UniPlace decided to relocate before talks began with them on building at the Mosaic site.
Housing shortage
Mosaic and other Campustown housing projects come as Champaign-Urbana faces a deepening housing crisis.
“We have an exceptionally low vacancy rate, both on campus and off campus, at about 2%,” said Eric Van Buskirk, senior planner for the City of Champaign, in an interview. “A healthy vacancy rate is anywhere between 5-10%.”
“We need to see about 600-700 new units of housing built every single year for the next 10 years to even get close to a healthy vacancy rate,” Van Buskirk said.
Van Buskirk stated that this shortage also applies off-campus.
“Most of the development has been in and around campus and in kind of the core of our community,” Van Buskirk said, referring to development trends in Champaign since the 2008 recession. “It’s typically been multi-family or mixed-use buildings, and it’s typically majority renter occupied and not owner occupied.”
Rents are also a rising concern for Champaign residents, with the median rent in Champaign sitting at $1,123 and 55% of Champaign renters facing cost burdens.
“Mosaic will contain ‘micro-studios’ with smaller total square footages and lower rents than typical studios,” Fairlawn stated in the email.
Rents are yet to be finalized, although Fairlawn noted it would be “comparable to nearby buildings with similar amenities.”
Some of the amenities planned for Mosaic include a sky lounge, fitness center, outdoor terrace and study areas, comparable to those at Fairlawn’s 608 E. Chalmers St., where current rental prices range from a minimum of $1,200 in three-bedroom/bathroom apartments to $1,820 in one-bedroom apartments.
“If they meet all of the appropriate zoning rules, then they are allowed to be built by right,” VanBuskirk said, referring to the right of developers to construct new housing. “It’s just very expensive to build anything.”
