What started as a conversation about housing became a much bigger conversation about community.
I’ve been working with the Pi Kappa Alpha alumni at Appalachian State University on the development of a fraternity house campus. We are breaking new ground for the school with a strategically planned campus, housing, and community space just outside Boone.
When I first became involved, the group had the land, a committed alumni network, and a clear vision for a new home for the chapter. My first step through emma + co. was to understand whether that vision fully reflected where student housing and Greek life were headed.
We looked at student housing at Appalachian, broader housing trends, national trends within Greek organizations, and research from architects and planners working in Greek housing.
Rather than planning only around the chapter’s current membership, I encouraged the group to think more broadly about what the site could become over time. We increased the density within the first phase and began planning for a second phase that could support additional housing in the future.
One of the easiest mistakes in development is solving only for the need in front of you. The better opportunity is often in planning for what comes next.
That shift helped create more flexibility, more housing potential, and more long-term value for the property.
As the concept became more defined, David and Jan Shope, The Design Group helped translate that strategy into a residential and gathering environment that could work for both students and alumni.
LandDesign helped us think about the property at the campus level, including how future buildings, outdoor space, parking, privacy, and different uses could all work together over time.
My role through emma + co. was to help connect those pieces and move the project toward execution. That included helping assemble the right team, working through budgeting and underwriting, and helping the group navigate fundraising, financing, and development capital.
As construction planning progressed Trent Woodcock became another important part of translating the planning, design, and budget into something that could actually be built in the Boone market.
A good development strategy is only as strong as the team that can carry it through.
What I like most about the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity Campus is that it was intentionally planned as more than a fraternity house.
There are places to live, study, gather, spend time outdoors, host alumni, and create shared experiences. The site also gives the chapter room to grow and creates opportunities for future students and other members of the Greek community to use the space in ways that mean the most to them.
Community does not happen because you put people in the same building. It happens when you create reasons for them to come together.
That became an important part of the project for me.
The goal was not simply to create housing for the students who will live there now. It was to create a place that could strengthen the connection between current members, alumni, future students, and the broader Greek community at Appalachian with space for all.
One of the things I enjoyed most about the process was getting to know more of the Appalachian community through the people involved in the project and the connections of Pi Kappa Alphas throughout the Carolinas. There is a real loyalty to the university and a desire among alumni to stay connected and continue contributing long after graduation.
The strongest projects tend to have that kind of continuity behind them. People are not only investing in a building. They are investing in what happens there over time.
I’m looking forward to seeing this fraternity campus come to life and seeing how the chapter, alumni, and future students make the development their own.
