UConn Hartford will be able to offer student housing near its downtown campus starting this fall, a year ahead of its planned opening of a larger and permanent student housing development nearby.
UConn’s Board of Trustees recently approved plans to lease studio and one-bedroom apartments in The Donaghue at 525 Main St., to accommodate up to 57 students in the 2025-2026 academic year. That newly renovated building is across the street from the Hartford Public Library and just a few minutes from the campus.
The University will offer the apartments for student housing through Residential Life, acclimating students to the concept of living near the campus so they can easily transition next year to the permanent housing under development at 64 Pratt St.
The housing complements the planned opening of a new café this fall in the Hartford Times campus headquarters building, where food will be available for purchase with UConn meal plans or à la carte by members of the University community and the public.
Students who live in the apartments in The Donaghue building will be able to opt for a UConn meal plan that includes either five or 10 meals per week, plus $50 in dining points per semester.
Nathan Fuerst, UConn’s vice president for student life and enrollment, said at a recent Board of Trustees meeting that offering the apartments near UConn Hartford has many benefits both for the students and for the campus itself.
“The housing option will help students develop a strong sense of community and build momentum moving into the coming year as we prepare to open the housing on Pratt Street,” Fuerst said. “We’re very excited to be able to offer a housing opportunity even earlier than we anticipated, and we look forward to strong interest.”
Providing the option also will help ease some space constraints at UConn Storrs, since UConn Hartford students who currently live in Storrs dorms will get first dibs on The Donaghue apartments closer to their home campus.
“UConn Hartford’s new café and its student housing plans are examples of the University’s commitment to partnering with the City of Hartford and adding to its economic, social, and cultural vibrancy,” said Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, UConn Hartford’s dean and chief administrative officer.
UConn plans to offer about 200 beds of student housing starting in August 2026 in a building called The Annex at the corner of Pratt and Trumbull streets in downtown Hartford, not far from the campus.
UConn has been working for the past several years to deepen its ties with the capital city, where the University also recently opened an academic and research facility in a building that fronts the XL Center on Trumbull Street.
UConn opened the Hartford campus downtown in 2017, and has worked since then to position it as a centerpiece of a thriving capital city by bringing people downtown to learn, live, and support the regional economy.
Interest in student housing has grown along with the campus population. UConn Hartford’s undergraduate enrollment has increased steadily since fall 2017, and an increasing number of students are choosing to start their UConn careers there.
