Rutgers University is preparing to open its new $92M "front porch," a lawn surrounded by shops and student housing at the corner of Hamilton Street and College Avenue, a former university parking lot.

The mixed-use space will give Rutgers a central meeting space the New Brunswick campus has lacked, according to the university's administration, reports NJ.com.

One of the nine shops will be a location of RU Hungry, one of the food trucks that used to be in the parking lot. Other restaurants include Jersey Mike's, Krispy Pizza, Bella’s Burger Shack, and Surf Taco, which will open next month. Over the weekend, 465 Rutgers undergraduates moved into The Yard @ College Avenue’s 160 apartments for the first time.

The "front porch" is part of the larger College Avenue Redevelopment initiative, undertaken to transform a significant part of the university's historic campus into a modern, accessible one. Toward that end, Devco partnered on the initiative with Rutgers, New Brunswick Theological Seminary and Rutgers Hillel. [NJ.com]