UAlbany Works to Acquire Former St. Rose Residence Hall

By Mattie Fitzpatrick | November 10, 2025

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The University at Albany announced its intent to buy Centennial Hall, an apartment-style residence hall on the former College of Saint Rose Campus last week. UAlbany put in an offer of $12 million for the residence hall which would house upperclassman and graduate housing. 

UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez said, “Purchasing Centennial Hall will enable the University at Albany to expand housing options for our students and meet student demand for apartment-style housing. This is another important investment in the city of Albany. We are very proud to be an anchor institution, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Pine Hills Land Authority and the county executive on this purchase.”

Centennial Hall, constructed in 2012, has 66 units with 225 bedrooms. The decision to buy Centennial Hall would expand housing options for students eligible for residency in the University Apartments. 

The Albany Pine Hills Land Authority currently owns the former College of Saint Rose campus after their acquisition of it earlier this year for $35 million. The purchase follows the closing of the College of Saint Rose in 2023, including the 71 buildings that made up the campus in the middle of Albany’s Pine Hills neighborhood. 

Currently upperclassmen and graduate students have the option of moving off campus, or living on University Apartments, which have three complexes currently: Empire Commons, Freedom Apartments and Liberty Terrace. Centennial Hall would join Alumni Quad as University Housing that is located close to UAlbany’s downtown campus. 

“The building could open to students as early as Fall 2026,” said Director of Public Information Amy Geduldig in a statement released on Nov. 3, 2025.

This would mean that Centennial Hall could possibly be an option on the upcoming Spring 2026 Housing Selection. Centennial Hall includes “campus amenities, such as recreation spaces, study rooms, laundry facilities, parking and more,” according to the press release. 

UAlbany’s downtown campus houses the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, the School of Criminal Justice, the School of Social Welfare, the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering and the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity. Centennial Hall’s location in the Pine Hills neighborhood would make it the only apartment-style housing option offered by the University that is in close proximity for students who take classes downtown.