Two vacant Northern Kentucky University residence halls, along with the 10 acres beneath them, are officially on the market. Callahan Hall and Northern Terrace, both sitting empty in the university's East Village, are being shopped to developers who might turn the old dorms into apartments or senior housing.
The properties sit at 3510 and 3520 Alexandria Pike, according to Local 12, which reports that 3CRE Commercial Real Estate is handling the marketing for NKU. Callahan Hall alone spans about 150,000 square feet, while Northern Terrace covers roughly 77,000 square feet. The station reports that 3CRE is weighing whether to sell the two buildings separately or bundle them together as a single package.
The listing describes the site as fit for market-rate multifamily housing, active-adult communities, or independent senior living, the station's report notes. That framing isn't random — NKU has history with senior housing at this very address. The university bought the building that became Northern Terrace, then known as Lakeside Terrace, from the Campbell County Fiscal Court in 2013, when it operated as an independent-living facility for seniors, according to Northern Kentucky University. After an extensive renovation, it reopened as a suite-style student residence hall in August 2014.
Why the Dorms Emptied Out
The East Village's slide toward vacancy didn't happen overnight. By spring, Northern Terrace was running at less than 40% occupancy and Callahan Hall at roughly 50%, per The Northerner. NKU cited those low numbers, plus the East Village's distance from most campus offerings, as reasons for shuttering the halls starting this fall semester.
Dining access was part of the problem. Callahan Bistro closed back in 2022, and occupancy never recovered enough afterward to justify reopening a dining spot in East Village, according to linknky.com. In the meantime, the buildings were expected to stick around temporarily, serving as storage space for furniture from the university's other housing, per the same Northerner report.
A Housing Market Looking for Second Acts
NKU's predicament echoes a broader trend reshaping college campuses nationwide. The nation's population age 65 and older hit 61.2 million in 2024, representing 18% of all Americans, according to multihousingnews.com. At the same time, the Federal Reserve has floated scenarios in which higher-education enrollment could drop 15% between 2025 and 2029, squeezing demand for traditional dorm space just as demand for senior housing climbs.
That mismatch is already pushing senior-living occupancy higher even as new construction stalls. Occupancy across NIC MAP's 31 primary senior-housing markets reached 90% in the second quarter of 2026, per the outlet, while construction starts for new senior housing have fallen roughly 67% since 2021 to about 10,000 units in 2025. Independent living and active-adult communities are typically the easiest senior-housing types to retrofit into former student housing and amenity spaces, the publication notes, since the floor plans and common areas already resemble what seniors need.
Other colleges have already made that leap. The Newbury of Brookline opened in December 2024 on a former college campus in Massachusetts, delivering 159 units split between independent living, assisted living and memory care, according to the same report. That redevelopment reused a 3.9-acre campus — a fraction of the 10 acres now up for grabs at NKU's East Village.
