Eastern Michigan University (EMU), in Ypsilanti, Mich., recently selected Gilbane as a development and builder partner to lead a three-year campus housing initiative that will build two new residence halls, renovate existing campus housing, and demolish outdated buildings.
EMU and Gilbane Development Company have agreed to invest more than $200 million to expand campus housing with the construction of Lakeview Apartments, a 400-bed residence hall adjacent to the school’s Student Center; and Westview Apartments, a 300-bed residence hall that will serve as a gateway between EMU’s west and main campuses.
The University is also investing in the renovation of 2,025 existing beds with improvements that include new air conditioning, new finishes in bathroom areas, and the installation of life-safety technology. Shared amenities spaces and upgrades will facilitate social interaction among residents.
This equity initiative, known as the “Welcome Home 2025” plan, represents an acceleration of infrastructure and facilities investment that has been underway at EMU for several years. “It is now time to turn our attention to a leading student mandate—to revitalize University housing to meet the needs of today’s students,” said EMU’s President James Smith, in a prepared statement.
BENIGN NEGLECT IN HOUSING STOCK
The goals of this plan are to keep student housing affordable, to ensure a high-quality resident life experience, and to get students engaged in the design process. In 2018, the University retained Rieth Jones Advisors to coordinate the Master Plan process, which included surveying students about their interests and demands. In April 2019, the University’s student government approved a resolution that noted the majority of on-campus housing hadn’t been renovated in over 50 years. Last July, the University sent RFPs for the housing construction and renovation to four firms, and its Board of Regents approved the partnership with Gilbane Development Company last December 9.
The project team includes a design-build joint venture between Gilbane Building Company and Clark Construction, with Mackey Mitchell Architects as the project’s AOR and Moody Nolan as associate design architect. Gilbane Development Company is the developer and financing coordinator for the project whose construction is scheduled to begin next fall and be completed by the fall of 2025.
This team has collectively worked on 55 student housing projects that delivered over 60,000 beds during the last 30 years.
BOND FINANCING
However, the University is emphatic that it is not interested in privatizing its student housing. “EMU will continue to own all on-campus student housing facilities,” it states on its website. “EMU will also continue to operate all aspects of the residence life operation, including hiring/supervising RAs, processing housing applications and assigning rooms, collecting payments from students, and managing compliance with housing agreements.”
To pay for this project, the University entered into a ground lease agreement with a 501(c)3 tax-exempt entity that will issue tax-exempt bonds underwritten by Barclays. The nonprofit entity is responsible for servicing the debt. Gilbane and Clark will receive $200-plus million for construction activity, plus $135 million for renovations over the term of the agreement, as well as a property management fee to maintain the facilities.
Related Stories
| Nov 9, 2010
Designing a library? Don’t focus on books
How do you design a library when print books are no longer its core business? Turn them into massive study halls. That’s what designers did at the University of Amsterdam, where they transformed the existing 27,000-sf library into a study center—without any visible books. About 2,000 students visit the facility daily and encounter workspaces instead of stacks.
| Nov 3, 2010
First of three green labs opens at Iowa State University
Designed by ZGF Architects, in association with OPN Architects, the Biorenewable Research Laboratory on the Ames campus of Iowa State University is the first of three projects completed as part of the school’s Biorenewables Complex. The 71,800-sf LEED Gold project is one of three wings that will make up the 210,000-sf complex.
| Nov 3, 2010
Seattle University’s expanded library trying for LEED Gold
Pfeiffer Partners Architects, in collaboration with Mithun Architects, programmed, planned, and designed the $55 million renovation and expansion of Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons at Seattle University. The LEED-Gold-designed facility’s green features include daylighting, sustainable and recycled materials, and a rain garden.
| Nov 3, 2010
Recreation center targets student health, earns LEED Platinum
Not only is the student recreation center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, the hub of student life but its new 54,000-sf addition is also super-green, having recently attained LEED Platinum certification.
| Nov 3, 2010
Virginia biofuel research center moving along
The Sustainable Energy Technology Center has broken ground in October on the Danville, Va., campus of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. The 25,000-sf facility will be used to develop enhanced bio-based fuels, and will house research laboratories, support labs, graduate student research space, and faculty offices. Rainwater harvesting, a vegetated roof, low-VOC and recycled materials, photovoltaic panels, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and water-saving systems, and LED light fixtures will be deployed. Dewberry served as lead architect, with Lord Aeck & Sargent serving as laboratory designer and sustainability consultant. Perigon Engineering consulted on high-bay process labs. New Atlantic Contracting is building the facility.
| Nov 3, 2010
Dining center cooks up LEED Platinum rating
Students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio will be eating in a new LEED Platinum multiuse dining center next fall. The 30,000-sf McDonald Dining Center will have a 700-seat main dining room, a quick-service restaurant, retail space, and multiple areas for students to gather inside and out, including a fire pit and several patios—one of them on the rooftop.
| Nov 1, 2010
John Pearce: First thing I tell designers: Do your homework!
John Pearce, FAIA, University Architect at Duke University, Durham, N.C., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the school’s construction plans and sustainability efforts, how to land work at Duke, and why he’s proceeding with caution when it comes to BIM.
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Campus building gives students a taste of the business world
William R. Hough Hall is the new home of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The $17.6 million, 70,000-sf building gives students access to the latest technology, including a lab that simulates the stock exchange.
| Oct 13, 2010
Science building supports enrollment increases
The new Kluge-Moses Science Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College, in Charlottesville, is part of a campus update designed and managed by the Lukmire Partnership. The 34,000-sf building is designed to be both a focal point of the college and a recruitment mechanism to get more students enrolling in healthcare programs.
