The Northwest Campus Project, which is set to transform Florida State's northwest campus, is now well underway. For Seminoles who frequent this region of campus, the fall 2026 semester was marked by chain-link fences and "No Trespassing" signage.
During the Finance and Business Committee report at an FSU Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 28, FSU Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration Kyle Clark shared that the $365 million project has "the financing secured."
Florida Board of Governors records break down the cost of the project, with an allocated $284.4 million to housing construction, $40 million to dining construction, and $40 million to parking construction.
FSU Senior Director of University Communications Amy Farnum-Patronis told the FSView that this initiative is "one of the largest projects to take place at Florida State University main campus."
The Northwest Housing & Dining project, which represents the first of two phases of development, will introduce a new residence hall, dining facility, and parking garage. Recent renderings also tease surrounding landscaping features in the form of 'Legacy Plaza' and a new green.
The bulk of this construction is situated at the corner of Call Street and Chieftan Way, placing it at the heart of FSU's northwest campus and adjacent to the resident community formed by Salley, McCollum, and Rogers Halls.
More: Housing, dining and parking: How FSU will transform its northwest campus, starting in 2026
According to Farnum-Patronis, the new residence hall will accommodate 1,200 beds, while the dining hall will have a 750-seat capacity. The parking garage will feature 930 parking stalls.
"The improvements to this section of campus will provide facilities needed to support our students," Farnum-Patronis said.
Clark said FSU is a "couple million dollars under budget" for the parking garage construction and operations and that it will open next fall.
The dining and housing facilities are scheduled for completion by June 2028, just in time to welcome its first residents for the fall 2028 semester in August. However, Clark said there have been a lot of disruptions for this portion of the project.
"As you can imagine, the infrastructure in this portion of campus is really old ... even though we have the schematics of exactly where each pipe is and where every electrical line is, there's been far more disruptions than what we could have ever hoped for," Clark said in his report.
For FSU students like political science major William Muniz, early construction around Salley Hall has made it more difficult to traverse that part of campus on foot, especially when walking to class.
"Honestly, I would say that it has been pretty disruptive," Muniz said to the FSView about walking to and from his classes. "I know the campus is going to grow because that's normal for any college campus, but it is … an inconvenience to say the least."
On May 1, an FSU Facilities Communications message notified all students of the permanent closure of Chieftain Way starting May 2. An August Transportation & Parking Services update alerted students to bus rerouting and the relocation of two Seminole Express bus stops to Academic Way.
"The university issues construction alerts to provide notices to campus of construction impacts and works with the contractor, Culpepper Construction Company, and campus leaders to try to minimize disruptions," Farnum-Patronis said.
Salley Hall resident Ava LaCorte told the FSView that, though the construction isn't necessarily loud, it still "adds a sprinkle of adjustment into the mix [she] wasn't quite ready for."
"This new advancement to the campus is super exciting, despite the bumps in the road it may cause," LaCorte said.
Just days before the fall 2026 semester began, Facilities Communications warned of a "planned chilled water outage associated with the Northwest Housing & Dining project" that would likely impact several buildings, including the Kasha Laboratory, Keen Building, and Bio Unit 1.
On Sept. 4, Florida State sent out an email with additional updates, including sidewalk closures between the Stone Building and Academic Way.
Leah Ursini is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU and Tallahassee communities. Email our staff at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on FSU News: Inside phase one of FSU's $365M Northwest Campus Project