Maddie Wolgen 

Upper-classmen trickled into the 55^th on Friday, February 16th as they awaited the promised reveal of the Townhomes at 11 am. Student government hosted the event, which consisted of a 3D look at the Fourth Avenue Townhomes given by Robert Taylor and the Residence Life staff. This was also an opportunity for students to ask questions about the upcoming Townhomes and other general housing inquiries. 

Robert Taylor took the stage and began to speak to the crowd of roughly forty people. He began by explaining the placement of the new housing building, which is scheduled to be finished Fall of 2024. He and other masterminds behind developments at Dordt wanted to build it on the edge of campus because they were unsure of how or if they wanted to change anything in the center of campus.  

“When you have to make decisions that will be there possibly 50 to 60 years, you have to make the right ones,” Taylor said. He believes that he and his team have made one of those right decisions with their development of the townhome design.  

Derek Buteyn, a member of the design team, played a short video that walked through what the new Townhomes would look like, both inside and outside. According to the video, there will be two large buildings connected in the middle by a storage space and 5 apartments in each building. Three of the apartments will be two stories, and two of them will be single stories.  

The layout of the apartments is similar to that of the Squares. There will be a living room, kitchen, and space for a dining room table on the first level. Stairs will be set directly in front of the door leading to the two bedrooms and the bathroom. The apartments will have a front and back door to make them feel more like a home, Taylor said.  

The one-level apartments have similar layouts, but the two bedrooms will be placed beside the dining area rather than upstairs. Both apartments hold a large kitchen with an island and stools and seat up to six people. The bathroom has a double sink counter, and the two bedrooms will hold three beds in each. 

The Townhomes will not only carry a clean and modern look on the inside but also the outside. They will face Fourth Avenue and be primarily red brick with black accents in certain areas. One of the major aesthetics of the buildings will be their connecting point where an outdoor study space will reside on the rooftop. The video showed outdoor furniture around the space, with hanging lights for a cozy touch. 

Although the new building seems to check every box in terms of what Dordt needs, it does have a few downsides. According to Robert Taylor, one of the downfalls to the exterior of the building will be the parking situation. With the buildings intended for 6 students in each, that accounts for 60 parking spaces, but housing 6 students in each apartment is not the long-term plan according to Taylor and the design team.  

“We’re hoping that these apartments not only help with student housing but also faculty housing in the future,” Taylor said. He plans to have the Townhomes begin as only resident student housing, but eventually become faculty housing as well.  

“With the housing market in Sioux Center the way it is, one of our biggest challenges when hiring new faculty is finding them a place to live,” Taylor continued, “we’re hoping that the Townhomes can act as a transition while young families search for a more permanent home.”  

Since the average young family only uses roughly two cars, it will be difficult for the design team to decide how much parking to put in front of the Townhomes without creating more than needed.  

As parking can be a deal-breaker for some students wanting to live in the Townhomes, Robert Taylor assured the audience that they would come up with a solution that works well for everyone, but they have not gotten there yet.  

Robert Taylor and six others on the design team have been working hard to develop the design for the Townhomes. Although the team has limited time to accommodate the growing campus, Taylor says that he loves the process of figuring out new ways to fit everyone where they need to be.  

“This is my 25th year here, so it’s been really fun to see all the ways that the campus has changed in that time,” Taylor said. “With the incredible minds that we get to work with, we’re pretty confident that we’ve got a good path.”