Umpteen high-rises and new restaurants later, Campustown still feels like “home,” Chris Hamilton is happy to report.
“Champaign-Urbana was really undergoing an incredible transition during my tenure at the university,” Invesco’s head of portfolio advisory (BA ’05, economics) says from Houston.
“The campus area underwent a tremendous makeover that really brought the university and surrounding area into the new millennium, from the construction of new buildings to the upgraded apartments, restaurants and bars in Campustown.
“It’s even more amazing to see Green Street lined with luxury apartments today, which were almost nonexistent when I showed up to school in August 2001. However, despite all the transformation, when I have a chance to return to campus it has still maintained enough of its character to feel like home.”
Particularly when Hamilton drops by the Lambda Chi Alpha house and The Clybourne, where he met his bride of 10 years.
“I was also fortunate enough to see a Sugar Bowl and a Final Four as a student,” he says, “so I’d definitely say I was at the university during a special period in time.”
