The University of Colorado at Boulder is moving quickly on a "pre-development schedule" for Williams Village student housing development, according to Paul Tabolt, vice chancellor for administration, who oversees the campus master planning process.
Tabolt said a financial analysis and implementation plan are being prepared in conjunction with a market analysis to determine if a third-party developer could hasten the project to a fall 2003 completion date.
"Student housing has been a controversial issue in Boulder," Tabolt said. "We suspended planning for additional student housing in l996 following a negative reaction by the city to additional housing at Williams Village. The city now agrees with the campus that there is a need for more student housing. We are eager to move the project forward as rapidly as possible."
The Colorado Commission on Higher Education will vote in February on CU聮s master plan. If it is approved, the campus will then take a formal program plan and master site development plan for Williams Village to the University of Colorado Board of Regents and CCHE. After the Board of Regents and CCHE approve the program plan, the campus will be in a position to seek requests for proposals from third-party developers.
"Using a third-party developer will enable us to complete the new residence halls on a faster timeline," Tabolt said. "We haven聮t done this before, but I聮m hopeful that this will be an idea whose time has come."
It is expected that a private developer would build the housing units on university property, pay a lease fee for the site and retain ownership of the structures and operating authority during the term of the lease.
Details of the proposal will be presented to the Board of Regents Strategic Planning Committee on Jan. 17.
Fact Sheet
Meeting Future Student Housing Needs
University of Colorado at Boulder
Contact: Paul Tabolt, (303) 492-7523
Jan. 17, 2001
The University of Colorado at Boulder follows a campus Master Plan to address future enrollment, research growth and academic initiatives. The new Master Plan was approved in l999 by the CU Board of Regents.
FACTS
- The University of Colorado at Boulder currently has 26,035 students.
- The student body is expected to grow by .70 percent, or less than 1 percent, per year until 2008.
- During this time, high school graduation rates are expected to increase by 10 percent to 15 percent.
- The campus intends to continue housing freshmen on campus. There are 5,900 single beds available and 850 family housing apartments. This is adequate to serve all of the current freshman class but demand for campus housing among the entire student body exceeds the supply.
- CU-Boulder currently houses 27 percent of the student population and plans to maintain or improve that percentage in the future.
- The new campus Master Plan includes plans for new housing. The short-term plan adds about 500 new beds in a "village-style" environment organized around a common green and meeting/recreation spaces. The site has the capacity to eventually accommodate twice that number of beds, should city and campus needs dictate. Planners and architects plan to scale new buildings to minimize the impact on the residential neighborhood east of Bear Creek.
- No student housing is proposed east of Bear Creek, an area that was designated for faculty and staff housing in the l990 master plan.
- Funds to build additional housing are not appropriated by the taxpayers, though the state does grant the authority to use university-generated funds to build new residence halls.
- The university cannot ask the state for authority to build new housing until it has an approved Master Plan. The university聮s new Master Plan has been delayed due to controversies over historic preservation at Grandview Terrace.
- The university hopes to move forward to develop additional housing as soon as it has an approved Master Plan.