The City Council voted Tuesday to approve the referral of the Plan Commission regarding the UW Hillel Foundation’s new building project, which triples the size of the current 50-year-old facility at 611 Langdon St.

Hillel’s project has been embroiled in some controversy regarding the size of the building and the restrictions of “air and light” to the nearby Campus Inn. Dahlmann Hotels owns the Campus Inn and is pushing a public nuisance lawsuit against Hillel.

Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, said the city attorney’s office found Hillel’s project reasonable and with the Council’s approval, construction is set to begin next semester.

Judge said construction of the facility could coincide with the reconstruction of the 500 and 600 blocks of State Street, which is set to begin no later than March 31. Still, he said once everything is completed the beautification of the area will be enhanced immensely.

“It’s been through some interesting hurdles,” Judge said. “But it’s pretty obvious not only to city staff, but the Council as well, that it’s really a phenomenal project.”

The $14 million project aims to serve more than 5,000 UW-Madison students and faculty. Officials expect the project to be completed by January 2009.