During the 1950s, the [[wikipedia:University_of_Michigan University of Michigan]] responded to post-war growth by developing North Campus, ensuring future demand for nearby student housing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://umhistory.dc.umich.edu/mort/north_campus/North%20Campus/|title=The University of Michigan Millennium Project|website=The North Campus|access-date=2016-08-30}}</ref> The ICC persuaded the University to set aside three acres of a hilltop off Broadway for a "cooperative village." When the [[Recession of 1958https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recession_of_1958#Governmental Actions|Government_actions government made low-interest loans available in 1958]], the ICC began planning in earnest. Due to University hesitation to co-sign, however, the project was delayed until Congress removed the co-signature requirement in 1964.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.icc.coop/prospective/houses/escher/eschermore.php|title=Inter-Cooperative Council|website=Escher Cooperative House|access-date=2016-08-30}}</ref> The ICC finally procured a $1.24 million, 50-year low-interest loan from [[wikipedia:United_States_Department_of_Housing_and_Urban_Development United States Department of Housing and Urban Development|HUD]] for its North Campus project in 1968. This was the first-ever HUD loan to a non-profit student-owned housing program, marking a high point of student organizing at the campus which had already helped birth the 1960s student movement through the [[Students for a Democratic Society]]. According to Luther Buchele, the shaggy ICC delegation that traveled to Chicago to accept the loan underscored this unprecedented level of student activity:<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>One middle aged woman in the HUD office noted the long hair on John Atchaz, John Gourlay, Rex Chisholm, and Smokey Geyer. She said haughtily to me "This must be a delegation of visitors." "Would you like to loan a group like this a million dollars?" I asked. She answered, "I certainly would not!" I then informed her that HUD had indeed made such a loan and she looked sour.</blockquote>[[Image:georgia o'keeffe cooperative.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Escher Cooperative House]]Tampold & Wells, an architectural firm which had designed co-ops at several Canadian universities, laid out a complex consisting of eighteen interconnected "houses" arranged around the crest of the hill the ICC had reserved. Although a fall 1970 opening had been scheduled, the building was not ready in time for the start of classes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.icc.coop/story/history/history2.php|title=History - Part 2|website=www.icc.coop|access-date=2016-08-30}}</ref> Prospective residents slept on the floor at the adjacent fraternity house (now the Stearns Building) until the building was finished.