Augustana has partnered with the Rock Island Economic Growth Corp, also known as GROWTH, to begin construction on three villas near the college.
The villas are located in Rock Island’s College Hill Neighborhood off of 30th Street, near 9th Avenue.
The price range for each of the three villas is between $209,000 and $229,900. The project will cost $932,000.
David English, vice president of finance and administration at Augustana, said the college partnered with GROWTH, a nonprofit organization, to better the Augustana community.
“We hope to see the houses get sold, and for the community to continue to grow in a safe and vibrant environment,” said English. “Hopefully . . .there will be more lofts built on outstanding sites.”
Sam Schlouch, public relations director at Augustana, said the college has contributed $20,000 to the project as it continues to encourage more people to move into the college neighborhood.
“In the past several years, the College Hill neighborhood has seen economic growth, with newer businesses like Cool Beanz and Gendler’s Black Ram opening,” said Schlouch.
The villas range from 1,500 to 1,866 square feet. GROWTH is working on the development of the site and Crawford Co. has general contracting. Shive-Hattery is in control of architecture.
Each house will be two stories and will have an open floor plan. Each is expected to have open porches and two car garages.
“We think it’s a great place to live,” said Schlouch. “Our neighbors benefit from having a college close by that offers a wide variety of things to do almost every night of the week.”
English said the villa construction is solely meant to expand the community around Augustana.
“Currently, we are collaborating all the work for the project, but Augustana College has no plans to buy the property,” said English. “It would be wonderful if our employees were interested in buying them, though.”
The villas are estimated to be finished in Fall of 2015.