Demand for housing is growing to record levels within Champaign County. If measures are not enacted soon, rents could soar, and securing affordable housing will be a sprint for the storm shelter.
From January 2024 to January 2025, Champaign County’s housing stock decreased by nearly a quarter. With a larger-than-ever student class this past fall, and a similar trend expected for next fall, a greater demand will take hold of housing near campus and put a strain on the local market.
For students, this could mean higher rent prices and a harder time finding available rooms. As the county’s largest employer, the University has a responsibility to help alleviate this crisis by increasing the supply of housing.
Just how will the University be able to help this crisis? One solution: redevelop a number of the University’s abundant 40+ staff parking lots into apartments, a process commonly called infill development.
Currently, University parking lots line nearly every corner of campus, right next to some of the most valuable land in Champaign County. A shame that it is utilized by the cars of faculty, because these vast lots withhold massive potential for rent relief.
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Standing solemnly against the backdrop of vibrant campus buildings, these underused parcels of land are used only for a brief moment early in the morning when staff arrives for work and at 5 p.m. when staff goes home.
During the day, however, they stand totally useless, providing no other use than to store cars on valuable land. According to calculations confirmed by the Champaign County GIS Consortium, in just the space of three parking lots near campus, D8, D9 and C9 near ISR and Illini Tower, approximately six Hub apartments could be built, adding an additional 3,414 rooms for students. The added rent stock would reduce the price of rents and alleviate an already competitive housing market in Champaign-Urbana.
The benefits to the community of transforming underutilized parking lots into housing will be immense, meanwhile the loss of parking spots for the faculty who use them will be minimal. There are 37 other lots near and around campus that staff could use.
Additionally, the University’s own 2024 Campus Bicycle Plan champions the goal to reduce personal vehicle usage for faculty and staff to 45% by 2035. It is a feasible mission: develop parking lots for added student housing and switch staff away from cars and onto bikes and buses.
If students can walk, roll, bike and bus to school, then why should we dedicate large amounts of land for staff parking lots in exchange for high rents and a competitive market? The future doesn’t have to look so bleak.
Luckily, this process is already taking off with the new Steven S. Wymer Hall, a previous parking lot between the Business Instructional Facility and the Khan Annex. Although this project will not be used for housing, future developments must be housing in order to meet the rising student population.
At a time with nationwide housing unaffordability and uncertainty, reestablishing the way we think about our campus parking lots will be crucial to ensure housing for all. As an urban studies and planning student, I am challenged to find creative solutions for urban problems like the one we face today, and it is clear to me that converting parking lots into units is a no-brainer.
It is also a no-brainer that the University should not support a comfortable commute for faculty while, at the same time, its own students struggle to afford rent.
The University is admitting more students than ever, and it must also admit that it is high time to embrace its role as a developer of housing. I challenge you, as a member of our community, to hold the University accountable to lower rents and fight for students’ rights to affordable and decent accommodation.
Joe is a sophomore in FAA.
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