UMass Boston is celebrating the topping off of its first on-campus residential building just as students return for the fall semester.

Representatives with Shawmut Design and Construction, Capstone Development Partners and Elkus Manfredi Architects celebrated the development milestone earlier this month for the 260K SF public-private project. The two-building development ranges from seven to 12 stories and is expected to open in fall 2018. The 1,077-bed complex will also feature a 22K SF dining hall, study lounges and seminar rooms.

UMass Boston is transitioning from a commuter to residential campus, but representatives with the school have noted it is constrained by how much debt it can take on. The University of Massachusetts board authorizes debt services to only be 8% of a campus’ operations expense.

“We’d rather preserve our debt capacity for academic buildings, so we look at any place where there is a revenue-producing asset to be a stand-alone,” UMass Building Authority Executive Director Patricia Filippone said at Bisnow’s Boston 2017 University Development event in April.

The development will serve as a northern gateway to the campus and is part of the university’s 25-year master plan. Shawmut, the construction team behind the residential hall, has recently completed projects at Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University and Brown University.

“We’re proud to be part of this new and innovative public-private partnership model,” Shawmut Vice President Kevin Sullivan said in a statement. “This partnership is a true collaborative effort and we are excited to contribute to UMass Boston’s goal of adding residence life to the campus.”