The individual apartments will have all the amenities, in either two or three stories. They'll have either four or six bedrooms, and they'll likely be co-ed.

It's a first for SUNY Oswego, whose last dorm was built in 1972. Housing director Chuck Weeks says students preferences have changed a lot since that time. He says they expect the same kind of lifestyle they enjoy off campus, at least when they become upperclassmen.

"After they get to be juniors and seniors they like to have more independence," Weeks said. "And typically in an apartment-like living arrangement. Right now, in order to find that, they have to move off-campus and we'd like to keep a lot of them on campus," he said.

Construction on the townhouses will begin this summer with occupancy slated for 2010.