Developers Pack East Campus Forum
Over 120 people representing real estate development companies packed Richie Coliseum this morning to hear about the university’s plans for the East Campus Redevelopment Initiative. The presentation, covering a variety of information contained on the university’s East Campus project website, was similar in content to the poorly promoted public meeting held Monday which drew about a dozen community members. (Pictured below)
University officials told the developers they were interested in designs creating a “urban district of streets and blocks” as envisioned by a student architecture studio conducted in 1999 that included at least 1.4 million square feet of construction. Officials said they hoped to see proposals including graduate student housing and “some undergraduate housing” not because they desired it, but because they thought it might be necessary to reduce costs for graduate students. John Porcari, the vice president of administrative affairs, told the group they desired retail as being a “small jewel” of the project. Under plans currently discussed Old Leonardtown would be demolished but it would be up to the developer selected to decide whether to preserve the 400-bed New Leonardtown complex.
The university plans to release the first of two Requests for Proposals to developers on September 25 with more details about their requirments for the project. They also said they would post the results of a market study on the East Campus website within the next two weeks. We think housing and a large amount of retail including a supermarket are both important to students. What would you like to see on the site?
Click here to view our interactive project map
September 14th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
At the sparsely attended Monday unveiling, I noticed little mention of undergraduate housing in the redevelopment plan. Does the administration intend this to be a graduate-only enclave? Are they afraid that undergrads have no desire to live there or are they afraid that the presence of undergrads would soil the atmosphere and marketability of the plan?
September 15th, 2006 at 12:28 am
You know, they didn’t go into this in depth at the developer meeting. Basically, they said they were interested in graduate housing primarily, although would be interested in a small amount of undergraduate. I’m not sure why undergrads would be a bad thing - perhaps they don’t want them right next to the fancy conference center?
September 15th, 2006 at 5:46 am
I’m really having a hard time understanding why they don’t want more housing (especially undergrad) in the area. If you can build and fill an 1100 bed tower like university view and leave the on campus wait list untouched (at 1000 people) - this should be an indication of a nearly insatiable demand for student housing. More housing = more feet on the street and a more vibrant ‘town center’ type environment (+ less peak hour traffic). If they don’t build a critical mass of residential space, then no one is going to feel safe walking in the area at night. You could liken it to walking in the present day engineering district at night. Really if the demand isn’t there for this type of development then the university should leave swaths of east campus vacant and wait for it to become practical as they build up other portions. The school has been around for 150 years - why rush to build in a matter of 4?
September 15th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
There is more demand for affordable graduate housing than undergraduate housing right now–as crazy as that may seem, but it’s even harder to find a close place to campus as a grad student. Still, I think you are all completely correct, we do need a lot more undergrad housing, there is really nothing off campus between the expensive View and the shockingly overpriced Towers, other than rental houses. And we all know the Council is not too fond of rental houses.
Love the website!
Completely unrelated, Emma and I really stand out in that photo. Or sit out.
September 18th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
It’s not too far-fetched to consider that graduate students demand quality–or, at least ‘better’–housing that undergraduates.
Generally speaking, graduate students are more likely to have spouses and children, and less likely to consider living in typical college group environments, in contrast to average undergraduate.
With that said, quality affordable housing for the graduate cohort should be a paramount concern of this University, especially considering the fierce competition abound for graduate talent.