Venom Landing, FAMU's new 700-bed residence hall, is on track for August opening

Florida A&M University is closing in on the completion of Venom Landing − a new 700-bed student residence hall on campus − and it's right on track with initial plans for an August opening. 

As students get ready to move onto campus ahead of the fall semester, which begins Aug. 25, the move-in process at Venom Landing is scheduled to start Aug. 20. 

"Our campus continues to evolve, and this is another change in that process," FAMU's Vice President of Student Affairs William E. Hudson Jr. told the Tallahassee Democrat on July 17.

"As we look to recruit, retain, graduate and seek employment for our students, having facilities that are state-of-the-art, comfortable and filled with amenities that students desire is very important in our progression as an institution of higher education." 

Located on what was formerly the university's gravel parking lot at Osceola Street and South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Venom Landing will be north of FAMU Towers and is being built by the Central Florida-based company FINFROCK Construction, LLC, which is the same company that constructed the FAMU Towers buildings on campus in 2020.

A $97.5 million federal loan was signed in February 2024 to fund the new student housing building's construction, and the loan comes from the U.S. Department of Education's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Capital Financing Program, which also funded the FAMU Towers.

Despite major cuts at the U.S. Department of Education that have been a result of Trump's administration efforts, this financing program has not been affected.

The university began on-campus housing assignments in May for students to be assigned to their dorms for the fall, with Venom Landing being part of the process. A mix of freshmen, sophomores and juniors will move into the new building − which is solely made up of double rooms similar to FAMU Towers − but mostly freshmen, Hudson said.

To accommodate the additional students who will be living on campus in the new residence hall, a Dining Hub Expansion Project is also underway at the university, where a second floor will be added to the dining facility located between FAMU Towers and Venom Landing. The construction work began in January and is expected to be completed sometime in the fall, according to Hudson.

While FAMU broke ground at the new residence hall's site in April 2024 to kick off the construction work, the rest of the 700-bed housing project's timeline consists of furniture and technology equipment being installed this month. 

"Work has started on parking, sidewalks and landscaping," FAMU's Associate Vice President of Facilities, Planning, Construction and Safety Kendall Jones told the university's Board of Trustees in a June meeting while giving a report with updates. "The project is still on schedule for substantial completion in July of 2025." 

The remaining steps will then be receiving a certificate of occupancy for final completion in August, Jones said. 

Venom Landing is part of the university's major student housing initiative as FAMU strives toward having 4,000 on-campus beds in the next few years through its master plan. With nearly 2,700 beds currently available on campus, it will increase to 3,400 once the new residence hall is ready.

Also, FAMU's expected fall enrollment is approximately 9,500 students, where up to 1,460 will be freshmen, according to Hudson.

"We're still filling spaces because we have our athletes and our students with special needs, so we don't know what the waitlist is going to look like until we fill up all of the facilities," Hudson said. "But as of now, we've been able to accommodate all students who have applied for housing so far."

More: FAMU trustees to consider construction plan for 2,000 new beds on campus

Despite the 700-bed housing project remaining on track, a bump in the road has been the impact of tariffs on the arrival time of materials that were needed for construction due to slower shipments. 

In April, the Trump Administration announced new 10% tariffs on imports from most other countries . Given the existing tensions between the U.S. and China − both representing the largest economies in the world by gross domestic product (GDP) − the U.S. later imposed 145% tariffs on all imports coming from China, which retaliated with a 125% tariff on imports from the U.S. 

But at the end of the day, the inconvenience didn't prevent FAMU's project from remaining on schedule. "It slowed things down, but they picked back up," Hudson said. 

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Other FAMU housing projects on the horizon 

While Venom Landing is near completion, FAMU also has plans for a new 500-bed facility that will resemble the campus's older halls. The building will be located at the former Gibbs Hall and Paddyfote Complex sites on Althea Gibson Way , formerly known as Wahnish Way. 

But contrary to the future 500-bed residence hall's future traditional brick Georgian style, Venom Landing will have more of a modern exterior, similar to FAMU Towers . FINFROCK Construction Manager Steve Clauss says most of the amenities throughout the new building, including dorm features, are the same as the ones in FAMU Towers. 

"The amenity upgrades are mainly the ceilings," Clauss said. "Contrary to having open ceilings with a warehouse look to it – which was cool back then, I guess – this time we closed that off to give it a different look. We also moved the position of the reception desk to put it in a more welcoming spot for guests." 

Another student housing project on the horizon includes a mixed-use apartment complex with 800 beds that will be at the university's former Palmetto North site.

The university's residence hall projects are replacements of previous facilities Truth Hall, Paddy Foote, Gibbs Hall, McGuinn Hall and Cropper Hall. Construction dates for the future 500 and 800-bed residence halls remain undetermined until funding sources are identified, according to Jones.

Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida. She can be reached at  tjean@tallahassee.com . Follow her on X:  @tarahjean_ .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU residence hall Venom Landing will open in August