The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Dorms to be transformed into private housing

Students living on campus should take note of their surroundings. By 2026, their residence halls could look dramatically different.The Student & Faculty/Staff Housing Master Plan, which has not yet been finalized by UVM?s Campus Planning Services, include some plans for private companies to build and renovate residence halls for University students of all ages.Under the plan for private housing, Jeanne Mance and the ?back five? residence halls on Trinity campus into housing for upperclassmen and graduate students, planning relations and communications coordinator for the Office of Campus Planning Services Lisa Kingsbury said.For years, apartment demand from college students has contributed to an imbalance in the Burlington residential market where demand typically exceeds supply, a 2011 residential report conducted by Allen & Brooks stated. By that year, nearly 2,000 beds of student housing had been built over the previous five years to take pressure off the housing market.Plans to build more housing, and UVM?s decreased enrollment which has been mandated by President Thomas Sullivan, is likely to make more apartments available to students, and hopefully more affordable according to the report.The University is considering the development of apartment-style housing for upperclassman that would be owned, developed and managed by a private developer, she said.As to how these new housing projects would be financed, she said it would be managed privately, similar to the Redstone Lofts that cost about $30 million to build, the Cynic reported in August 2011.?We would have them constructed, financed and managed by a private development company to avoid taking on debt by the University,? Vice President for Administration and University Relations Tom Gustafson said.While the Redstone Lofts have helped with Burlington?s low vacancy rate? which stands at about 1.4 percent according to a city residential report completed in 2011? have faced much criticism since their unveiling in 2011 over issues with flooding, appearance and cost.In a survey done by the Cynic in October 2012, 85 percent of UVM student respondents answered that the Redstone Lofts are ?hideous.?That spring, in a May letter to the editor, David Beitzel, a UVM alumnus, wrote, ?It?s certainly dismaying and problematic to hear prospective parents with their kids in tow wondering aloud at how monstrously ugly this building is.?Negative reaction aside, Kingsbury stressed that these proposed projects would take on a similar approach in construction and not necessarily aesthetics.?We would encourage any developer chosen to conduct market research of UVM students to have a full understanding of what our students want in a housing project. Redstone Commercial Group did extensive research during the design phase of Redstone Lofts,? she said.This time around, the University will complete this aspect of the Housing Master Plan with students? opinions and concerns in mind, and hopefully with better results, she said.Though the plan?s website states it will guide UVM?s housing efforts through 2026, the cost and timeframe of this project is still unknown, Kingsbury said, and will determined after a public Request for Proposal process. For off-campus projects, the private developer would determine the cost and all other aspects of the project, Kingsbury said.Gustafson said he hopes students will want to live in these newly upgraded facilities as opposed to other less desirable housing options currently offered downtown.Additionally, housing projects nearer to downtown would benefit upper-classmen and graduate students because of its proximity to campus and the downtown community, Kingsbury said.?The benefit to UVM students for projects close to downtown would be to provide additional options for housing for upper-class and graduate students in a location that they have indicated they want to live that is also convenient to campus and the downtown community,? Kingsbury said.First-Year Rebecca Watson believes that the newly proposed housing options for upperclassmen and graduate students are a great plan.?It will have benefits for upperclassmen that want to live on campus because it will give them affordable housing options and allow them to form a unified community with their peers? Watson said.

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Dorms to be transformed into private housing