SUNY Cortland Announces Renovations to Corey Union; Announces New Residence Hall

SUNY Cortland is continuing their campus improvements with two major projects. The school says Corey Union will undergo major renovations beginning in 2026; a new residence hall is also expected to be built. The last residence hall to be constructed was Dragon Hall over 15 years ago.

According to Chris Maroney, Associate Vice President for Facilities Management, renovation work at Corey Union is expected to be completed sometime in 2028. He added the first floor of the building was already renovated 5 years ago and will not be a part of the new project. The remainder of the building will have a major redesign with a change in the interior layout and exterior facade. The goal is to make the building brighter and inviting.

“A new open stairway connects the lower floor dining to the main entrance floor, which is technically the second floor,” Maroney said. “We’re opening up the interior of the building with a little more of an open floor plan so students can move between different spaces and have their own private spaces that have different purposes but still be engaged in what’s going on in other parts of the building.”

Work is tentatively set to begin Spring of 2026 and take approximately 30 months to complete. Staff and offices will be temporarily relocated to Cornish Hall and Van Hoesen Hall.

Also happening next year will be the construction of a new residence hall on the SUNY Cortland Campus. The hall has yet to be officially named. Construction on the new residence hall is anticipated to finish in Spring of 2028 with an official opening that fall.

As to where the new residence hall will be located, SUNY Cortland says a location was determined after a student survey was conducted. The building will be located at the intersection of Pashley and Folmer Drives, near to Tompkins Street entrance to the campus. The new residence hall will have 200 beds in apartment-style rooms. 

The main reason for a new building is to replace apartments at SUNY Cortland’s West Campus. The school plans to phase out regular use of West Campus entirely, with some of the buildings to be renovated as backup housing when residential renovations take place on the school’s main campus.

“We’ve heard the students out there tend to feel more isolated from the campus, so we wanted to try to find a way to bring that housing on to the main campus proper.” 

The school is actively looking at new locations for parking that will be offset from the construction of the new residential hall. Both the renovation of Corey Union and the construction of the residence hall will utilize renewable energy and have an energy efficient design.

“(It) will include a new geothermal well field, which will be located at the south end of the Bowers (Hall) parking lot” Maroney said. “It will use geothermal heating and cooling … using heat pumps and ground source heating and cooling from the well field.” 

The $70 million Corey Union project is paid for through the SUNY Construction Fund at no added expense to the university. Costs for the residence hall are estimated at around $36 million, with Cortland using low interest state-issued bonds to cover construction costs that will be repaid over time through student room fees.