Alabama A&M’s plans for a new student amenity building cleared a major hurdle Tuesday night.

The Huntsville Planning Commission approved the location, character and extent of the building.

The 93,000-square-foot building will serve as a hub for student engagement and support services. It will feature dining facilities, meeting spaces, study areas, faculty offices, a gaming lounge and social gathering spaces, all designed to enhance the campus experience. The facility will address the university’s growing enrollment and will provide a state-of-the-art environment for academic and social development.

Christine Jones of Nola Van Peursem Architects said the building will primarily be a three-story brick building with capstone columns. It will be west of Meridian Street and south of Holloway Road near the athletic facilities on campus.

“It will be a beautiful building,” Planning Commission member Kelly Schrimsher said. “It will be a great addition to campus.”

It is one of two buildings the university is constructing. The university is also building a 125,000-square-foot state-of-the-art science building that will house classrooms and laboratories for the physics, biology, and chemistry departments, providing students and faculty with modern spaces for teaching, learning, and research. The building is designed to support the university’s growing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs and will enhance both academic instruction and scientific discovery.

That building had been on the draft agenda for the commission meeting but was not addressed at the meeting. Fuqua & Partners Architects is the architect for the science building.

Freedom Real Estate and Capital is advising Alabama A&M on the two building projects. Freedom is overseeing the general contractor, design team, and construction process, making recommendations in Alabama A&M’s best interest. The company and Alabama A&M have collaborated on several projects.

The two projects together total more than $140 million.

Other planning commission action

The commission approved the location, character and extent of the Port of Huntsville’s equipment storage building at Huntsville International Airport. Rob Van Peursem of Nola Van Peursem Architects said the building will be used to store snow removal and de-icing equipment used by the airport.

The commission also granted final approval for 53 lots in the third phase of the Crowne Creek Village subdivision south of Nick Davis Road and west of Old Railroad Bed Road. Tennessee Valley Communities, LLC, is the developer. 2 The Point, Inc., is the engineer. Previous phases of the homes in the subdivision are from 1,164 to 2,171 square feet and advertise for more than $230,000.

The commission zoned 1.14 acres west of Old Big Cove Rd and north of Knotty Walls Road Residence 2, which will allow single-family homes to be constructed. City Planner Lady Kassama said three or four homes were planned on the recently annexed site. Planning Commission member Ian Harris voting against the zoning out of concerns the proposed homes did not match the character of that part of the city.