Brought to you by Scott P. Rogers, Funkhouser Real Estate Group, 540-578-0102, scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com
Brought to you by Scott P. Rogers, Funkhouser Real Estate Group, 540-578-0102, scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com
Monday, July 20, 2026
JMU may soon become an even bigger player in our local housing market.
The university just put out a formal request looking for a private development partner to help plan and build significant physical improvements on the JMU campus, all at once, over the next several years. The RFP page can be found online here, with a link to a campus planning document, and the actual RFP document.
So... what exactly is JMU asking for?
A lot of new student beds. The RFP asks for at least 1,000 new student beds by July 2028... and roughly 10,000 beds total through phased projects after that. That would be a mix of suite-style housing, apartment-style housing, and traditional residence halls, plus some graduate and professional-style housing too. They also want this housing built alongside retail, dining, and student services, not just standalone residence halls.
Why does that matter to those of us watching the local housing market? JMU has been depending on the off-campus student housing rental market for a long time to house students it doesn't have room for on campus. If the university builds thousands of new beds on its own land, that could, over time, reduce demand for off-campus rentals in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. President Jim Schmidt actually said as much... he mentioned that bringing more students to campus could help free up workforce housing in the surrounding community.
Athletic infrastructure is a big piece of the plan as well. JMU wants to expand Bridgeforth Stadium to a minimum of 30,000 seats, up from around 25,000 today, with more premium and flexible seating options. There's also a new field house and athletic performance center in the plan, which would give the football program (and other sports) better training and sports medicine facilities.
And then there's everything else. The RFP also references mixed-use campus districts, student life and recreation facilities, conference and event space, retail and dining, research facilities, and parking and mobility improvements. Basically, a full district built around the stadium and mid-campus area.
The University is looking for a private partner (or partners) to finance, design, build, and in some cases operate all of this... a structure known as a public-private partnership. That's a big deal for a school this size, and it signals JMU likely wants this to move fast.
I'll be watching this closely, especially the housing piece, since it touches directly on what we see and will see happening in our local real estate market for the years and decades to come.
The university just put out a formal request looking for a private development partner to help plan and build significant physical improvements on the JMU campus, all at once, over the next several years. The RFP page can be found online here, with a link to a campus planning document, and the actual RFP document.
So... what exactly is JMU asking for?
A lot of new student beds. The RFP asks for at least 1,000 new student beds by July 2028... and roughly 10,000 beds total through phased projects after that. That would be a mix of suite-style housing, apartment-style housing, and traditional residence halls, plus some graduate and professional-style housing too. They also want this housing built alongside retail, dining, and student services, not just standalone residence halls.
Why does that matter to those of us watching the local housing market? JMU has been depending on the off-campus student housing rental market for a long time to house students it doesn't have room for on campus. If the university builds thousands of new beds on its own land, that could, over time, reduce demand for off-campus rentals in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. President Jim Schmidt actually said as much... he mentioned that bringing more students to campus could help free up workforce housing in the surrounding community.
Athletic infrastructure is a big piece of the plan as well. JMU wants to expand Bridgeforth Stadium to a minimum of 30,000 seats, up from around 25,000 today, with more premium and flexible seating options. There's also a new field house and athletic performance center in the plan, which would give the football program (and other sports) better training and sports medicine facilities.
And then there's everything else. The RFP also references mixed-use campus districts, student life and recreation facilities, conference and event space, retail and dining, research facilities, and parking and mobility improvements. Basically, a full district built around the stadium and mid-campus area.
The University is looking for a private partner (or partners) to finance, design, build, and in some cases operate all of this... a structure known as a public-private partnership. That's a big deal for a school this size, and it signals JMU likely wants this to move fast.
I'll be watching this closely, especially the housing piece, since it touches directly on what we see and will see happening in our local real estate market for the years and decades to come.
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