Sustainable Residential Village, the Village at Mines Park, Opens at Colorado School of Mines

A renovated and new construction residential village provides 1,058 beds of housing for upper-division undergraduates, graduates and students with families at the Colorado School of Mines

DENVER, Oct. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorado School of Mines, Capstone Development Partners, and design-build team members including, Milender White Construction and SAR+, announced the opening of the Village at Mines Park. Located on the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden, CO, the apartments offer an affordable, modern and sustainable living option to upper-division undergraduates, graduates and students with families attending the University.

The new Village at Mines Park is the redevelopment of the former Mines Park apartment community through a mix of renovation and new construction to create a sustainable community, accommodate Mines' growing on-campus housing needs, and address deferred maintenance in the existing facilities.

"At Mines, we recognize that the residential experience plays a vital role in student success. The Village at Mines Park was designed to provide a safe, welcoming and connected community that aims to enhance both academic achievement and personal well-being. Its opening represents a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to invest in the student experience, made possible through strong leadership and collaboration with our development partner, Capstone Development Partners," said Kirsten Volpi, Colorado School of Mines' Executive Vice President, COO, CFO and Treasurer.

Opened on August 1st, the Villages at Mines Park houses 1,058 students, adding 560 beds to the Mines Park development and housing inventory. Through efficient unit layouts, more students now have access to an affordable housing option located on campus.

"The success of the Village at Mines Park was achieved through a truly collaborative effort across our entire team, and our partnership with Mines formed the bedrock upon which this project was built. We were able to not only deliver on time and under budget, but this project is also a shining example of our team's ongoing dedication of ensuring the best experience possible for the students living at Mines Park," said Yvette Tetreault, Capstone Development Partners' former Sr. Vice President of Development and Mines Park Project Lead.

Phase one of the redevelopment encompassed the renovation of 19 residential buildings and one community center of the existing Mines Park, totaling 140,000 SF and 400 beds of housing in apartment-style units. The renovations brought improved and modern living options to this quadrant of the Mines Park community while maintaining approximately 65% occupancy throughout the renovation period to ensure as many students as possible had access to affordable housing options on campus. The renovation scope was completed in 11 months and fully opened on August 1, 2024.

In the second phase of construction, six of the existing Mines Park residential buildings were deemed inefficient and beyond their useful life and were demolished. In their place, five new residential buildings were built, totaling 284,000 SF, providing 658 beds of apartment-style units offered in studio, 2 and 4 bedroom layouts. Building 5 of the new community offers a 7,000 SF ground floor living room and café, 2,000 SF fitness center and Residence Life and Management Offices. The living room and café provide residents a common area to relax, meet and socialize and grab a coffee during the day or beer and wine in the evening. Additionally, an exterior pedestrian plaza with amphitheater seating was designed to allow for Mines programming of student and community events in warmer Spring and Fall months.

"The Village at Mines Park is the true result of a team moving forward together. Through every challenge and complication, Capstone, SAR+, Milender White, and the leadership at the Colorado School of Mines remained united by a shared vision — creating a community that will not only serve today but will continue to inspire and endure for generations of students," said Principal at SAR+, Jesse Adkins.

The five new buildings of the Village at Mines Park are LEED Gold certified and were constructed with CLT panels. The new community is all-electric, and 18 EV charging stations are placed throughout the property.

"The Village at Mines Park project exemplifies the success that can be achieved when all members of the project team, including our trade partners, MW project team, SAR Design, and Capstone Development Partners, are aligned and working together. By collaborating effectively, we were able to deliver these beautiful buildings to the Colorado School of Mines on time and within budget," said The Village at Mines Park Project Superintendent, Jake Niess.

The project team includes Milender White Construction as design-builder, SAR+ as architect partner and Capstone Management Partners provides facility maintenance, custodial and asset management services for the new student housing community. The residence hall was delivered through a public-private partnership between the University and Capstone. The project was financed by the Colorado School of Mines.

About Capstone Development Partners
Capstone Development Partners, LLC is a leading student housing developer in the on-campus and university-affiliated student housing market. The company holds offices in Birmingham, Alabama and Denver, Colorado. Its principals, Jeff Jones and Bruce McKee, have more than 50 years combined experience as leaders in the higher education student housing sector specializing in the development and management of on-campus student housing through Public-Private Partnerships. Since 1997, the principals of Capstone have partnered with over 70 public and private colleges and universities and delivered more than 47,000 beds of student housing nationwide. For more information, visit capdevpartners.com.

About Colorado School of Mines

Colorado School of Mines ("Mines" or "University") is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science. It has the highest admissions standards of any university in Colorado and among the highest of any public university in the United States. Mines has distinguished itself by developing a curriculum and research program geared toward responsible stewardship of the earth and its resources. In addition to strong education and research programs in traditional fields of science and engineering, Mines is one of a very few institutions in the world having broad expertise in resource exploration, extraction, production, and utilization. As such, Mines occupies a unique position among the world's institutions of higher education.

Capstone Management Partners
Capstone Management Partners ("Capstone Management" or "CMP"), a Capstone Development Partners' company, provides operations and maintenance management for on-campus student residential communities across the nation. The company offers a range of services including operations and maintenance services, asset management, responsive maintenance and custodial services, preventative maintenance programs, marketing and leasing and capital renewal planning. These services are tailored to the needs of each project and provided with unmatched excellence in customer service. CMP leadership is made of individuals with extensive higher education backgrounds and experience. For more information, visit capstonemp.com.

Milender White Construction
Milender White is a general contractor and real estate developer with offices in Colorado and Southern California. MW builds award-winning multifamily, student housing, hospitality, and infrastructure projects throughout the western United States. 

Milender White's Hudson prefabrication facility produces high-quality wall panels and other assemblies that shorten schedules, improve safety, and ensure consistent craftsmanship. MW manufactured large-scale cross-laminated timber (CLT) wall panels for The Village at Mines Park in Golden. By manufacturing CLT wall panels off-site and installing them with precision, MW delivered a sustainable, LEED-certified student housing community to the highest quality standards. 

With hands-on leadership, lean planning, and a culture of innovation, Milender White partners with clients, architects, and trade partners to create enduring places that strengthen communities and minimize environmental impact. 

SAR+

SHEARS ADKINS ROCKMORE (SAR+), based in Denver, Colorado, is an architecture, interior design, and planning firm with a strong reputation for the design of urban projects. Our team approaches each project as a new creative challenge, whether new construction or adaptive reuse, with unique opportunities, constraints, expectations, and contextual demands.

Today, SAR+ operates with a team of approximately 55 professionals, planning, designing and executing urban infill, mixed-use projects across the country. From Golden to Denver, Boulder to San Diego, Kansas City to New York, we've been privileged to help great cities grow creatively – respecting their history and the future environment ahead. The resulting diverse body of work reflects the firm's broad focus on community development, regardless of scale, budget, scope, or complexity.

Our horizontally organized firm structure provides hands-on involvement in every commission we undertake from conception to completion, with a collaborative team staffed to support each project.
SAR+ also recognizes that creating better places requires more than simply designing beautiful buildings. As architects committed to the urban experience as well as a more sustainable future, we commit our creativity to each client beyond the boundaries of floor plans and elevations. We dive in as a partner in the organization's mission and join in creating both ideas and spaces that support that mission.

SOURCE Capstone Development Partners