With the cost of housing increasing across the state, U leaders have been working tirelessly to secure additional housing options for students ahead of the Fall 2022 Semester.

As of July 1, 2022, the University of Utah has entered into a sublease agreement with Westminster College for use of The Draw, a 162-bed apartment building in Sugar House. Located at approximately 2100 South and 1300 East, residents will have the convenient option of utilizing the UTA public transportation options that can take students to and from campus.

Securing this five-year lease for The Draw is a vital step in addressing the essential needs of students as they pursue their academic goals at the U. The Housing & Residential Education (HRE) team will begin offering contracts at The Draw to upper-division students on the waitlist beginning Tuesday, July 5.

“We are grateful to Westminster College for their partnership in helping to accommodate U students with turnkey housing close to campus,” said Taylor Randall, president of the University of Utah. “Student housing and community are central to the enhanced student experience we aim to provide. The opportunity to house students at The Draw helps accomplish this as we continue to consider and plan for additional on-campus housing projects.”

While this initial five-year sublease agreement is in place, The Draw will be wholly operated and maintained by the U’s HRE team.

“Living on campus creates such a rich experience, and we are excited for this partnership and the opportunity it provides our upper-division students at the U,” said Sean Grube, executive director of HRE.

Unique solutions like this are borne from the U’s desire to provide housing to as many students as possible. Projected to be the largest-ever incoming class at the U, the waitlist for a space with HRE surged to over 3,500 students this spring. In addition to The Draw, HRE has acquired 275 beds at the University Guest House, with a total capacity of over 5,000 beds for the fall semester.

Additionally, the university is in the process of adding more than 1,700 beds of on-campus student housing to come online in the coming years. These projects include:

• 430 beds in the fourth wing of Kahlert Village, slated to open in fall 2023
• 775 beds in the Impact and Prosperity Epicenter, which will open in August 2024
• 504 beds in the University West Village, opening in July 2023

Another 552 beds in the Ivory University House, which will be privately owned and operated by the Ivory Foundation, opening in fall 2023.

The Draw is an 87,500-square-foot, six-story, mixed-use building that gets its name from the tunnel below the building known as “The Draw,” which connects Sugar House Park to the Hidden Hollow Area along Parley’s Trail. It offers private bedrooms that are integrated into 40 shared apartments, each equipped with a kitchen, shared bathrooms and laundry machines.

The meal preparation company Fed Up Kitchen and clothing retailer Uptown Cheapskate both lease space on the ground level. The building also has an adjacent five-level, 294-stall parking structure, though students may not even need a car.

To meet the demand of the largest freshman class, we are excited about additional housing options to meet the needs of University of Utah students.