After two years of construction, students returning for fall term have begun moving into Russo Hall—the first of several new apartment-style residences for juniors and seniors going up on West Wheelock Street.
Some students who were on campus early moved in on Sept. 3. The remainder of the residents are moving in over the Sept. 12-13 weekend before classes start on Monday, Sept. 14.
At the same time, Fayerweather Hall, which reopened in June after a complete renovation and renewal, will be fully occupied this fall for the first time since renovations began in 2024.
These are the latest milestones in Dartmouth’s ongoing commitment to housing, which is adding 1,000 new beds for students, faculty, and staff within the decade. To date, Dartmouth has raised $142.5 million toward a $150 million fundraising goal by 2027—part of the total $500 million investment in housing announced in 2024.
“The residential experience is central to Dartmouth’s educational mission, so it is gratifying to see students moving into buildings that have been designed with so much care to meet their social and academic needs and to promote our close-knit campus community,” says President Sian Leah Beilock, who has made housing a top priority. “These are investments that will serve Dartmouth students for generations to come.”
“The opening of Russo Hall and the reopening of Fayerweather Hall mark important progress toward our goal of ensuring that Dartmouth’s housing supply supports our educational mission and student well-being,” says Josh Keniston, senior vice president for operations and strategic initiatives, who says Dartmouth is on course to add 783 new beds by fall 2028. “The opening of these two buildings is worth celebrating in its own right, and as a milestone in our broader housing effort. Important work remains, including more housing for undergraduates as well as for our faculty, staff, and graduate and professional students.”
Here is an update on the housing projects currently in the works.
Welcome to the West Wheelock Street neighborhood
The five-story, 285-bed Russo Hall—named for Thomas A. Russo ’77 and Gina Russo ’77, who gave $30 million to launch the development of West Wheelock Street—is Dartmouth’s first new undergraduate residence in more than two decades.
Students are moving into a mix of two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartment-style units featuring full kitchens, living rooms, and storage space as workers complete minor punchlist items and exterior earthwork and landscaping and troubleshoot any issues that arise during move-in.
The building’s common social and study spaces include a speakeasy-style lounge known as the Den, an elegant library space for individual and collaborative work, and a game room. Other amenities include bicycle and ski storage and a bike repair space.
Site work has also begun on three more West Wheelock Street residences—Alumnae Hall, Class of 1989 Hall, and Shonda Rhimes Hall.
Over the summer, teams installed the support systems needed to safely excavate the building foundations, and mass excavation will continue this fall. When complete, the apartment-style residence halls will add 404 new beds for juniors and seniors.
The names of the three halls reflect the generosity of their donors, including the 30 alumnae to date who have given $30 million to fund Alumnae Hall and Riverfront Park and the 593 members of the Class of 1989, plus other supporters, who have donated over $30 million to the Class of 1989 Hall. Shonda Rhimes Hall, named with a $15 million gift from Shonda Rhimes ’91, will be the first Dartmouth building named for a Black alumna.
Undergraduate housing, renewed
The completed renovation of Fayerweather Hall, which is part of South House, is the latest in Dartmouth’s ongoing housing renewal program, which is revitalizing existing undergraduate housing on campus. Fayerweather’s three 120-year-old original buildings are now connected under one roof with efficient heating and cooling systems and a variety of new gathering and study spaces and other amenities.
This summer, work began at 35 North Main St. on the Native American House, a living learning community that has served as a crucial social and cultural hub for Native American and Indigenous students since 1995. The house is being expanded to add gathering spaces as well as more bedrooms and bathrooms for residences. The project will also upgrade heating and cooling systems. Construction is on track to be finished next summer.
Next in line for renovation is Massachusetts Row, which is part of School House. The Board of Trustees in April gave the green light to complete the project’s design phase, with the goal of beginning construction in summer 2027.
Renewals have already been completed in East Wheelock House’s Zimmerman Hall, Andres Hall, Morton Hall, and Brace Commons.
New and renewed rentals for employees and graduate students
Faculty and staff can now rent homes in the new Sugarwood Circle, a Dartmouth-financed, 21-unit neighborhood off of Oak Ridge Road in West Lebanon, N.H., about a mile south of Hanover. The neighborhood is convenient to bus lines, and all units include a single-car garage. More than half of the units, which include three-bedroom single family homes and three-bedroom and two-bedroom duplexes, have been rented to date, and leasing incentives are currently available.
Earlier this month, Dartmouth presented preliminary plans for a townhouse-style development for faculty and staff to the Hanover Planning Board. The proposed community, conveniently located on Teagan Avenue just north of Thompson Arena, will replace three existing Dartmouth-owned residences with 18 one- and two-bedroom units. The units will each feature full basements, porches, and surface parking. Dartmouth will return to the planning board later this fall to complete the permitting process with the intention of starting construction in the spring of 2027.
Finally, for graduate and professional school students, work has begun to upgrade 12 units at Sachem Village in Lebanon, N.H. Renovations include updated kitchens and bathrooms and the addition of in-unit laundry facilities, as well as new sprinkler systems and electric heat pumps for heating and air conditioning.
Dartmouth expects the finished units to be available to rent next May.
