By Brian Bohl

Construction progress for the residence hall that will house graduate students could lead to the sale of the Twin Oaks residence hall on Hempstead Turnpike.

The University is holding discussions with potential buyers for the site, said Melissa Connolly, vice president of University Relations. Any potential move would not impact students this academic year and would not alter any current housing arrangements in Twin Oaks, which holds 225 spots for the fewer than 200 students living there, mostly graduate and law students.

"Anyone who wishes to remain in University housing will have the opportunity to do so," Connolly said. "The new graduate residence hall is scheduled to be open for the fall [2008] semester. So there'd be no decrease in the number of available housing units."

Twin Oaks is located on Fulton Avenue, and is adjacent to the University's special collections library. That building could either be part of the sale or remain at its current address. Currently, the West Campus library contains the Hofstra archives along with a rare books and manuscripts collection.

Some of the prospective buyers of Twin Oaks may offer to rent living quarters to students, though no proposals have been accepted yet. The University's legal and finance departments are also involved in the negotiations.

"Nothing is definite yet," said Connolly, who labeled the discussions "preliminary but substantive."

The new graduate dorm, being constructed on the north campus, will hold 225 beds, said Joseph Barkwill, vice president of Facilities and Operations, in an October interview.

"It's more of an apartment style," Barkwill said at the time. "It can be a two, three or four-bedroom suite."

Connolly said about the new dorm's location: "It's a desire to make the main campus the focus of everything we do, and to put all our resources into the main campus so everything be contiguous to one another, creating a sense of community."

Twin Oaks Complex could be sold due to construction of the new graduate student dorm. (Steven D'Ambrozio)