A new University housing development project is underway on Nicholson Drive, but the idea of the project is anything but new.
First proposed to the University  in 2006, the Nicholson Gateway Development Project officially started construction Oct. 3. Once complete, the complex will provide an additional 1,525 on-campus bed spaces for upperclassman and graduate students.
The goal of the project, according to the official project website, is to transform what has “traditionally been the back of the LSU campus into an exciting new gateway district.”
The project, according to Assistant Vice President for Residential Life and Housing Steve Waller, is something the University has wanted to execute for a long time.
“It’s not just a spur of the moment ‘we’re gonna do this this,’” Waller said. “We’ve studied this.”
While the foundation for the development project has been set for many years, the actual details of the project and its goals have shifted over the years.
In 2013, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved a master plan for the Nicholson Gateway Project . The plan included approximately 800 undergraduate bed spaces, 300 graduate bed spaces, market housing for faculty and staff and large retail component around 139,000 sq. feet. Waller said since that over time, the University has constantly shifted and adjusted the project in order to fit the current needs of the University.
“We vetted the market, we studied what would be viable to build over there,” Waller said. “So that we would know, as an institution, what was a viable alternative to do this instead of just going out and have somebody sell us a concept.”
After the 2013 plan was approved, the project was put on hold again in lieu of various administration position changes, according to Waller. At the conclusion of said personnel turnover, the master plan was revisited once again.
One major change in the project’s plan was the scaling back of the retail market space, decreasing from 139,000 sq. feet to 40,000 sq. feet. After revisiting the plan, Waller said the dynamic of the project shifted from a regional focus to a more student-oriented focus. From the data collected over the past two decades, Waller said the demand for on-campus housing is there. He added that with the demand comes a set of standards for typical college student living arraignments.
“We’re trying to do an upscale type apartment, to be competitive,” Waller said.
While specific prices of the units have not been finalized, Waller said units will be rented out by the bed, rather than whole apartment units, keeping in line with national and local market trends.
Graduate housing at the Nicholson Gateway will consist of efficiency, one and two bedroom units, Waller said.  For undergraduates, there will be two, three and four bedroom units. Most bed spaces will include a private bathroom, excluding a small number of two bedroom units with one bathroom, Waller said. Other amenities inside the units will include a full kitchen, possibly with an island, and a full washer and dryer in each unit. 
Many other finite details of the project are still under development as well, including the selection of an “anchor” store. Waller said the proposed grocery store would be about 20,000 sq. feet. He added one of the biggest demands from students was providing a store that could adequacy provide groceries for those on-campus.
“Something along the lines of a collegiate Walmart, collegiate Target,” Waller said.
Some other amenities to be included at Nicholson Gateway will be a casual dining restaurant, a more formal dinning restaurant, coffee shop, and even possibly a phone repair store. Waller said that recruitment to finding stores for the complex is actively ongoing, and he wants to bring something new to the table, per students’ requests.
“The feedback we got from students is ‘we want something different…we’ve got fast food on campus, we want something a little bit different,’” Waller said.
Waller said the overall purpose of the long awaited project is to bring students back on the University’s campus. He said that students who stay on campus are more likely to be engaged in University activities, and therefore see better success in the classroom. 
“And those folks that are on campus and are engaged in the campus, they do better,” Waller said. “They do better both academically, (and) their retention to the next level.”
The Nicholson Gateway Development Project is set to be complete in fall 2018. Total cost for the project is said to be approximately $123 million in total construction, and approximately $149 million in total development, according to the University’s Property Foundation Project Management Committee report.