UI looking to rent out new apartment building
Facing higher-than-expected enrollment for the next academic year, the University of Iowa is seeking to lease out an entire apartment building still under construction in downtown Iowa City.
UI officials are looking to enter into a one-year lease to occupy 27 two-bedroom apartment units and 20 one-bedroom apartment units in the apartment building under construction at 226 S. Dubuque St., according to documents released in advance of this week's meeting of the Iowa Board of Regents in Ames.
Next year's large incoming class — coupled with the razing of UI's Quadrangle Residence Hall this summer — will displace some returning students who would have liked to remain in the residence hall system, said Tom Rocklin, UI vice president for student life.
The university will be able to house 116 returning students at the location, which is within walking distance to undergraduate academic buildings and the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. UI officials say that no first-year students will be housed in this building.
"By leasing the entire building, we are able to staff and operate it as we do other residence halls, with a hall coordinator and resident assistants providing support and enforcing the same standards of conduct as in our other buildings," Rocklin told the Press-Citizen via email.
The one-year lease will begin Aug. 1 and the annual rental rate will be is $951,036, payable in three installments. The lease will provide a bridge to August 2017, when a new 12-story, 1023-bed, $95 million residence hall will open on Madison Street near the Iowa Memorial Union.
During a campuswide town hall meeting Tuesday, Rocklin said UI's residence system should return to "normal operations" after the new dorm is opened in 2017. For the 2016-17 academic year, however, the university will need to expand the number of leased spaces, create more density in existing residence halls, expand the number of temporary housing options and include fewer returning students in the residence hall system.
Rocklin said UI officials also are forming a task force to discuss the needs for graduate student housing at the university. The group — which will include four graduate students and staff members — is expected to complete a report by this summer.
The proposed academic year rental rates for 226 S. Dubuque St. facility are $8,500 for a shared bedroom and $10,500 for a single bedroom in a 2-bedroom apartment, according to the proposal to the regents. Rocklin said those rates are comparable with those of facilities currently leased by the university.
"We have experience doing this with a number of apartment buildings, and have found that we can provide an environment that supports student success in ways that living in privately managed apartments does not," Rocklin said.
UI officials say they do not expect any significant budget impact to the residence budget as a result of this lease, but any needed funding for this lease will be provided from the university's dormitory bonded enterprise.
In addition to paying utility costs, UI will pay an additional $2,400 per year for two parking spaces for university staff, according to the proposal to the regents. All building maintenance and weekly custodial service to hallways and common areas are also included in the lease and will be provided by the landlord, which is listed as 229 S. Dubuque LLC.
The site previously was the location for West Bank's downtown Iowa City branch, which closed in January 2015. The Clark family, which is the city's largest student housing provider, purchased the property in fall of 2014.
Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at 319-887-5435 or jcharisc@press-citizen.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jeffcharis.