Ruston is about to get a new place for Louisiana Tech students to live. A new project is adding 110 townhomes a short walk from campus.
Project leaders, local officials and supporters gathered Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 1211 Gaines Ave. in Ruston to break ground on Russ Town Crossing, a student townhome community built with Louisiana Tech students in mind. According to Vintage Realty Company, which will manage the property, construction is now underway.
"Russ Town Crossing will feature 110 townhomes designed for student living, providing a new housing option in the growing Ruston market," Vintage said.
What's being built
The project's website lays out the details. The 110 townhomes will have two, three and four bedrooms, with room for 374 students. The planned layouts are:
- Two-bedroom, two-bath: 962 square feet, one story.
- Three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath: 1,676 square feet, two stories.
- Four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath: 1,874 square feet, two stories.
The units will come fully furnished. Plans call for a clubhouse with a recreation and study lounge, a pool and pool deck, a workout room, and a bike and walking path to campus. The community will be pet-friendly.
The site is on Gaines Avenue off Cooktown Road. The website says it's 0.3 miles from the Louisiana Tech campus, about a two-minute walk out of the back pedestrian exit, and 0.8 miles from the school's athletic facilities. The website notes that floor plans and finishes are subject to change during construction.
The site is also about 1.6 miles from downtown Ruston and 5.6 miles from Grambling State, according to the website.
The project is slated to open in summer 2027, and leasing information is expected soon. The website says rental rates will be shared closer to opening.
Who's behind it
Russ Town Crossing is being developed by Sightline Construction & Development and will be managed by Vintage Realty Company. Both are based in Shreveport. Neither company's announcement named a separate general contractor or gave a cost for the project.
Vintage said the City of Ruston, Mayor Ronny Walker and his team supported the project from the earliest stages of planning. "We are grateful for their partnership and for the warm welcome we have received from the Ruston community," the company said. It also thanked the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce for helping celebrate the groundbreaking.
Vintage said the two companies bring "extensive experience in development, construction, multifamily housing, and property management."
This isn't Vintage's first student housing job. In a February post about the project, which it called its newest purpose-built student housing community, Vintage pointed to its recent work at Centenary College in Shreveport and said Russ Town Crossing is "designed to directly address the significant student housing shortage facing the market."
From a builder's point of view, Russ Town Crossing is a townhome job, not a big apartment block. That means a lot of repeated units in three floor plans, each with its own bathrooms. The four-bedroom units alone have four and a half baths, and the three-bedroom units have three and a half.
That's a lot of plumbing fixtures, tile, vanities and finish work across 110 homes. Mixing one-story two-bedroom units with two-story three- and four-bedroom units also means two different kinds of framing and roof layouts on the same site.
Then there's the community side: a clubhouse, pool, workout room and walking path, plus streets, parking, drainage and utilities to tie it all together. And with a summer 2027 opening, the schedule matters. Student housing has to be ready before students arrive for the fall.
Why it matters for Contractors
Russ Town Crossing is a steady run of residential work in north Louisiana, with 110 townhomes and a summer 2027 target. Framers, roofers, plumbers, electricians, HVAC installers, drywall, tile, flooring and paint crews should all find plenty to do, and repeating three floor plans helps crews get faster as they go. The clubhouse and pool bring specialty work for pool builders, concrete crews and landscapers, and site contractors will have streets, drainage and utilities to build. With a summer opening tied to the school year, contractors who can keep a schedule will be in demand. No general contractor has been named publicly, so trades interested in the job should reach out to Sightline Construction & Development directly.