A student housing project recently began construction where Hurricane Harry’s, a line-dancing bar that was closed and demolished in December, once stood.
The project, named Legacy Point, is being developed by Austin-based real estate firm LV Collective in partnership with local firm Culpepper Realty Co. and is scheduled to open for the 2027-28 academic year.
Legacy Point will occupy over 10 acres of land on the corner of University Drive and College Avenue near popular restaurants like Taco Bell and Chipotle. The complex will consist of five buildings capable of housing 2,800 students and a variety of amenities.
Prior to Legacy Point’s construction, the land served as a multi-purpose field for residents of The Stack and a parking lot offering close proximity to Texas A&M’s campus.
LV Collective promotes Legacy Point as an attempt to foster community and activity between Northgate and Century Square, two popular entertainment areas currently separated by College Avenue. The new development is part of an ongoing initiative to address the growing student population, as the City of College Station searches for ways to accommodate growing demand for housing.
With another high-rise currently under development on the corner of Wellborn Road and University Drive, the added construction in the Northgate area has some students concerned.
“When you are crossing under the bridge to go onto Wellborn, the construction blocks the traffic,” biomedical engineering senior Michael Chance said. “The cars can’t really see pedestrians, and other drivers can’t see who is coming.”
Many students fear that the development of Legacy Point may exacerbate traffic congestion on University Drive.
“I think it’s going to be a problem,” Chance said. “It’s right off two of the main roads running through College Station, and isn’t particularly close to any main areas around campus. All the construction happening right now in Northgate already inhibits a lot of traffic and walkability, and I don’t think this will be any different.”
Northgate residents also argue the continued development of the area is slowly chipping away at the historical community built over generations. In January, Alabama-based developer Capstone Community placed a $13 million bid to repurpose part of Northgate into a mixed-use residential community complete with apartments and retail stores, prompting a Change.org petition to stop the College Station City Council from developing the plot of land.
The bid was ultimately rejected 5-2, but with the petition earning over 16,000 signatures, it sparked wider discussion on the future of Northgate.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s bad to urbanize the area and build student housing in Northgate,” Chance said. “I’m definitely opposed to huge changes, but having more affordable housing in the area is nice and needs to be a priority. There’s way more students than there used to be, and that unfortunately means Northgate may have to evolve with it.”
The conversation has two sides, however, as some students encourage the development of alternative neighborhoods around campus, reducing the high concentration of students in the Northgate area.
“We should keep the area as it is,” geophysics sophomore Audrey Wertz said. “Northgate is already very crowded. Students should encourage more student housing on other areas of campus.”
With President Mark A. Welsh III’s new enrollment growth cap,, some current A&M students remain hopeful that the decreasing rate of growth will bring down the price of off-campus housing.
“I was unable to live in a dorm as a freshman, which forced me into an apartment lease that was too expensive because it was all that was left,” Wertz said. “There are a lot of apartments in College Station and Bryan, and the fact that admission is decreasing may mean housing will be easier to find, reducing the appeal of these new apartments.”
