'A bold step forward': FAMU officially opens Venom Landing residence hall. See inside.

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As Florida A&M University gets ready to welcome new and returning Rattlers with open arms this fall, it's also opening the doors to its newly-built residence hall, Venom Landing.
And to celebrate, university officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and conducted a tour of the state-of-the-art building Aug. 12.
'This is more than just a building – it's a bold step forward in our commitment to students to provide a vibrant community that is enriching and supportive,' FAMU President Marva Johnson said during the Tuesday ceremony on Venom Landing's courtyard.
Johnson, who recently stepped into the presidential role as the housing project was being wrapped up, noted that she wishes she 'would've been here to be part' of the building process of the new facility and called the accomplishment a 'major leap forward.'
But as the person who was at the helm of the university during the beginning stages of the housing expansion initiative, former FAMU President Larry Robinson – who resigned last year following a major donation scandal –also attended the ceremony. He joined Johnson in holding a big pair of ceremonial scissors to cut an orange and green ribbon in front of the new building, marking its official opening.
'I'm just moved to be here,' Robinson, who is returning to FAMU as a distinguished professor this fall, told the Tallahassee Democrat. 'Having seen where we were seven to eight years ago, this is a tremendous enhancement in the student life at Florida A&M University.
"I remember where it all started and when we had to develop a strategic plan for housing,' he added. 'We had great students willing to come to the university, but sometimes, housing would be a deal-breaker. And even when it wasn't, we didn't think it was at the level of quality that our students truly deserved, but this is.'
Located on what was formerly the university's gravel parking lot at Osceola Street and South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Venom Landing was funded by a $97.5 million federal loan and is made up of 700 beds – mostly double rooms with a shared bathroom in each similar to FAMU Towers, excluding the resident assistants' rooms, which are singles with their own bathroom. The facility was at 98% occupancy as of Aug. 12, a university spokesperson said.
Third-year FAMU student Nasze West, a York, Pennsylvania native, is among the inaugural group of student resident assistants who will reside in the new residence hall. The university's Vice President of Student Affairs William E. Hudson Jr. says they helped choose the furniture.
'When I started being an RA, I was in (Sampson and Young Hall) a very traditional dorm where we had communal bathrooms, so being here with my own bathroom in a new space is like going from old to new,' West told the Democrat while standing in a suite on Venom Landing's fourth floor. 'You can see the transformation of how far FAMU has come, and it's really nice to be a part of it.'
Besides rooms, each floor of the four-story residence hall includes study rooms, a kitchen and a spacious living area. The new facility is also located north of FAMU Towers and was built by the Central Florida-based company FINFROCK Construction, LLC, which is the same company that constructed the FAMU Towers buildings on campus in 2020.
"It is a general contractor and designer's dream to do what you call a repeat project and build the same building effectively again, because we know all the tricks,' FINFROCK Construction President William Finfrock said during the on-campus ceremony. 'I made a promise at the groundbreaking that we'd be standing here, moving students into a completed building. With the hard work of our team and FAMU, we were able to keep that promise, and I'm really proud of that.'
To accommodate the additional students who will be living in the new residence hall, a Dining Hub Expansion Project is also underway at the university, where a second floor will be added to the dining facility located between FAMU Towers and Venom Landing. The construction began in January and is expected to be completed sometime in the fall, according to Hudson.
Venom Landing takes FAMU's residential housing capacity from 2,700 to 3,400. As FAMU's campus continues to evolve, plans are in the works to also build two additional residential housing facilities, which will be a 500-bed facility located at the former Gibbs Hall and Paddyfote Complex sites on Althea Gibson Way and a mixed-use apartment complex with 800 beds that will be at the university's former Palmetto North site.
'We believe that this will transform our campus, and what counts most is that it will elevate our students' success,' Johnson said. Students will start moving into Venom Landing Aug. 20 ahead of the university's Aug. 25 fall semester start date.
Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida. She can be reached at [e-mail]. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU opens Venom Landing dorm. See photos of inside.
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