Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/488341
WHAT'S ON MY MIND STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM MARCH/APRIL 2015 101 maintenance in their existing facilities in an effort to keep housing costs low, and a per- fect storm began to brew. Schools knew they needed to address these issues, but most were unable to access the funds needed to either renovate or replace facilities that were built fol- lowing World War II or in the '60s. Both developers and institutions came to the realization that a partnership was one way to resolve this issue. In the early years many institutions established or utilized 501(c)(3) non-proft entities to issue bonds that could be used to construct new purpose-built student housing on their campuses. At that time the debt was not applied to the institution. Over time that reality changed and the debt was partially, if not fully, applied to the institutions' debt capacity. As a result, several national and regional developers began offering equity structures to institutions to increase their housing capacity or to renovate existing facilities. While some limitations for both the institutions and devel- opers exist, overall, it is considered a very viable, if not desirable, approach to meeting the housing needs of colleges and universities. One noted downfall of this approach was the "have/have not" experience for students: those who aren't assigned to the newer facil- ities are more dissatisfed with their living situation than before the new facilities were operating. Conversely, some students and par- ents are concerned about the higher cost of room fees in the new facilities due to current construction costs and some level of expected return required by the college or university. It is widely agreed the public/private part- nership approach to increasing or renovating the housing stock on campus will continue to be viewed as the most viable approach, especially for those institutions whose debt capacity needs to be applied to academic and research facilities - which are also aging. Both institutions and developers need to prepare for the next round of students who will begin attending colleges and universities toward the end of this decade. The next gener- ation "Z" will come to campuses with a much different set of expectations than previous gen- erations. This generation is also being referred to as Generation V, for virtual; Generation C, for community and cell phones; the Internet Generation; Generation @, for obvious rea- sons; and the New Silent Generation as they will not be as vocal as either the Boomers or Millennials. "Much as the name of this generation is up for debate, so is an exact understanding of what they will want and the value they will expect in terms of student housing," states Jim Curtin, design principal with SCB. "Designing residential projects in this fast-changing envi- ronment has led to a great focus on fexibility — designing spaces that can serve a variety of purposes now, and spaces that are adaptable to serve future needs." In order to be prepared for this ongoing shift, extensive research must be done to better understand what these students are seeking in terms of space, technology, sustainability and price point, so that schools, developers and design professionals can begin the process of developing the next generation of student housing. If the past is any predictor, the next iteration of housing will need to last for at least two more generations after Z. It's inevitable: change is constant. Is your institution or com- pany prepared? SHB Michael Coakley is the president of Coakley and Colleagues, a consulting frm that assists institutions, developers and design profession- als regarding purpose-built student housing. Prior to establishing his company, Coakley served as the chief housing offcer at sev- eral universities and served on the planning committee of the 21st Century Project of the Association of College and University Housing Offcers – International (ACUHO-i). continued from page 102 Lodgicor ™ Granite | Quartz | Millwork | Sinks & Bowls | Turn-Key | Nationwide 35 2014 Student Housing Projects DELIVERED! Blake Surface Solutions thanks our many excellent partners for a great year! BLAKE SURFACE SOLUTIONS American Campus Communities CA Student Living Chance Partners Core Campus Education Realty Trust University Housing Services Hallmark Campus Communities Multiple State & Local Universities… and the list is growing for 2015… www.BlakeSS.com | 901.380.4675