Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/488341
VIE W FROM THE ACADEME STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM MARCH/APRIL 2015 79 plan, which is a few years old, called for us to house about 50 percent of our students. Moving forward, the goal with our stu- dent affairs division is to house well above 50 percent. SHB: That is a signifcant number. Guesman: We are able to achieve that along with our housing partner, American Campus Communities, in addition to our own on-campus housing. SHB: Tell us about that relation- ship. ACC has been on your cam- pus for more than 10 years. Guesman: It is going very well. ACC has four communities on our campus now, which provides a lot of options for our students. ACC has provided housing for our second, third and fourth year students and graduate students. They also provide some addition- al freshman housing for us when demand has exceeded what we could accommodate in our frst year communities. The relation- ship has worked out really well. ACC holds these properties all under its own ownership and property management. The prop- erties are on campus land that is leased to ACC. SHB: UCI is undertaking a major project of its own housing stock with the renovation and expan- sion of the Mesa Court commu- nity. What is involved with that project? Guesman: Mesa Court was the original undergraduate student housing community at UCI when we opened in 1965. At that time, it was 10 two-story residence halls with a total occupancy of about 450 beds. Shortly after the univer- sity opened, we added fve more residence halls to the area, and the growth really hasn't stopped since then. Currently, Mesa Court has 29 residence halls, which con- tain about 1,948 beds. The current expansion of Mesa Court deviates from what has been a relatively low density housing plan. The last expansion we had was in 2000, when we added some buildings that were three and four stories. The new Mesa Court expansion is refective of the demand we are getting for frst year housing. The new expansion is taking the place of a dining commons, academic center and a small recreation cen- ter that were built in 1968 and renovated around 1999. Within that footprint, we are adding a mid-rise building that will accom- modate about 750 beds. The proj- ect will also include a new dining commons, ftness center and 4,000 square feet of study space. We are well under construction now, and the new building will open in fall 2016. It is a $96 million project that JLL provided real estate advisory for the frst P3 portfolio of on-campus student housing in the United States. The University System of Georgia reached an agreement in November 2014 that will result in a long term lease transaction, setting the stage for the next era in student housing privatization, bringing strong benefts to higher education such as student affordability and private sector operational advantages, while remaining integral to the college and university's educational mission. Drawing on its experience and expertise with public private partnerships and higher education, JLL and the University System of Georgia implemented a non-traditional strategy with an innovative, creative and demanding bid process. This unique approach achieved client objectives, while adhering to best practices and exceeding expectations. JLL performs as trusted real estate advisor for the University System of Georgia For more information, contact: Shan Gastineau | 404 995 2442 | shan.gastineau@am.jll.com John Gibb | 202 719 5884 | john.gibb@am.jll.com David Shonk | 404 995 2426 | david.shonk@am.jll.com Patricia Restrepo | 202 719 5754 | patricia.restrepo@am.jll.com