Park West is the biggest student housing project under development in the country. Located within 47 acres on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, the project will encompass 15 buildings, 2.2 million sf and 3,406 beds. Nearly 1,000 construction workers have been this jobsite daily, and another 100-plus offsite designers, managers and engineers have worked on this project, whose developer, Servitas, with its design-builder and joint-venture partner Weitz Company, have pumped $300 million into the local and state economy.
Last August, Weitz delivered the first 144 beds at Park West, a year ahead of the project’s August 2017 completion date. “On a project of this size, having beds open early can be a tremendous asset,” Michael Short, Servitas’ COO, explains to BD+C. “It starts to set the culture for what it will feel like to live at Park West, and builds awareness and interest among the student body.
“When Weitz came to us,” he continues, “and said that by moving a few things around, we could have these beds ready earlier than planned, of course we were excited.”
The one- to- four-bedroom studio, apartment, and garden-style units are renting for between $600 to $1,000 per month.
But Short acknowledges that opening part of a student housing project that early is risky because “if we pre-leased these beds and then construction slipped by even a day, it could ruin the reputation of the entire project.”
When a student housing project can’t open when the school year begins, it loses the opportunity to lease those apartments for at least another seminar, or more.
Aside from Weitz, the Building Team includes the Boca Raton, Fla., and Houston offices of PGAL (design partner); Power Design Inc., Kilgore Mechanical, Coleman & Associates Landscape Design, Moss Construction, and Godfrey Construction. Subcontractors include Larry Young Paving and RSL Contractors Ltd.
Park West is the university system’s fifth student housing public-private partnership in Brazos County, joining White Creek Apartments, U Centre at Northgate, Easterwood Airport and Century Square.
Its $368 million development and construction cost—which Short believes is the largest single new-build student housing P3 to this point—was financed upfront with tax-exempt bonds. The project is expected to generate $600 million for the university system of the life of its 30-year ground lease to its owner, the nonprofit National Campus and Community Development-College Station, which paid $18.5 million upfront, and will give back $20 million in revenue per year to the system.
Servitas’ initial management contract is for five years. But Short hopes his company will prove itself to the university so that the service contract would be extended at least the life of the ground lease, and possibly beyond.
Part of the amenities-rich Park West opened a year early, with the goal of drumming up interest in this project among students and the community. Image: Weitz Company, courtesy of Servitas
Related Stories
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
| Nov 26, 2013
Construction costs rise for 22nd straight month in November
Construction costs in North America rose for the 22nd consecutive month in November as labor costs continued to increase, amid growing industry concern over the tight availability of skilled workers.
| Nov 25, 2013
Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'
"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.
| Nov 15, 2013
Greenbuild 2013 Report - BD+C Exclusive
The BD+C editorial team brings you this special report on the latest green building trends across nine key market sectors.
| Nov 15, 2013
Metal makes its mark on interior spaces
Beyond its long-standing role as a preferred material for a building’s structure and roof, metal is making its mark on interior spaces as well.
| Nov 13, 2013
Installed capacity of geothermal heat pumps to grow by 150% by 2020, says study
The worldwide installed capacity of GHP systems will reach 127.4 gigawatts-thermal over the next seven years, growth of nearly 150%, according to a recent report from Navigant Research.
| Oct 30, 2013
15 stellar historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovation projects
The winners of the 2013 Reconstruction Awards showcase the best work of distinguished Building Teams, encompassing historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovations and additions.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
| Oct 8, 2013
Toronto Maple Leafs arena converted to university recreation facility
Using steel reinforcement and massive box trusses, a Building Team methodically inserts four new floors in the landmark arena while preserving and restoring its historic exterior.
