Housing at Virginia Commonwealth University is managed by VCU Residential Life & Housing. The university currently houses 6,300 residents in twelve residence halls across two campuses.
Some halls are available only to freshmen, while others are available only to upperclass students. Eighty percent of first-year students live on campus.[1] Rhoads Hall, the Honors College, Brandt Hall, GRC III, and the Gladding Residential Complex are the primary freshmen communities on campus. Together they house over 3300 students.[2]
Johnson Hall is the oldest residence hall at Virginia Commonwealth University. Built in 1915, it was originally a high priced apartment building. Each of its upper floors contained four large apartments. VCU bought Johnson Hall in the 1950s and renovated the building into a residence hall while the school was still called Richmond Professional Institute. After a 2011 renovation to the first floor, the only evidence of the original interior is an early 1900s-era gold Letterbox. Johnson Hall was closed indefinitely in 2021 due to dangerous amounts of mold.
Gladding Residence Center was originally built in 1984 as two 3-story buildings, one apartment-style and one traditional. It was named after Jane Bell Gladding, a professor at the school from 1947 to 1973. In 2016, plans were constructed to demolish and rebuild GRC I & II into two brand new buildings, also apartment-style and one traditional, but was merged into one building.
Built in 2003, GRC III was an addition to the two other Gladding Residence Center buildings built in 1984. When the main GRC buildings were demolished, it was decided to keep GRC III as it wasn't as old as the others. It is called GRC III because the old GRC was split into I and II, but plans were changed last minute for the new reconstruction to be built as one building.
Opened in 2012, West Grace South houses the ASPiRE and Lavender House living/learning programs.
Opened in 2013, West Grace North houses the GLOBE living/learning program.
Opened in 2015, Grace & Broad is home to the VCU LEAD and VCU INNOVATE living/learning programs.
Cabaniss Hall, located near downtown Richmond on the MCV campus, is a 10-story high rise building. Most students in Cabaniss hall take classes on the Monroe Park campus, and either drive or take a GRTC bus or VCU Ram Ride the 1.5 miles to classes and other activities.
Many upperclassmen live in apartments in the surrounding neighborhoods to VCU. The neighborhoods include the Fan district, Carver, Oregon Hill, Monroe Ward, Jackson Ward, Shockoe Bottom and Church Hill.
To meet the demands of student housing, numerous private apartment complexes have been built on or next to campus.