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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSU SOUTH DORMITORY - SITE PLAN ADVISORY REVIEW - 50-02A - MEDIA -`If we get approval for the project, we would look at groundbreaking at the end of April, early May.' Jim Dolak, director of CSU's Housing and Food Services mul wei u,yo uYFOR THE CLASS OF 2008: An artists rendering depicts a new residence plan Friday to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. If approved, planned for the Colorado State University campus. CSU will present a final the dorm could open by 2004. Below is an aerial view of the facility. Dorm on the drawing board 700-bed facility slated for ropes course site By RAHAF KALAAJI t7N -3- RahafKa laaii@coloradcan.com Colorado State Univer- sity's first new residence hall since 1967 could soon move closer to reality, thanks to a compromise involving the privatiza- tion of the building's con- struction. CSU officials will pres- ent a final plan for the 700-bed facility — which will be located on Pitkin Street where the ropes course currently sits — to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education on Friday. If CCHE approves the proposal, the long - planned dormitory could open in fall 2004. "If we get approval for the project, we would look at groundbreaking at the end of April, early May," said Jim Dolak, di- rector of CSU's Housing and Food Services. CSU currently has enough space for as many as 4,800 students, but its freshman class reached a record 3,829 in the fall. Freshmen are required to live on campus and are guaranteed space in the residence halls. Other stu- dents can choose to live on campus if space is available. A new dorm has been discussed for years as nec- essary to fix CSU's on - campus housing shortage. CSU's governing board initially approved the project in August 2001 and approved it again in December. It has been delayed in part because CCHE asked CSU to consider privati- zation options. "It's taken so long be - _I Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan MOVING, NOT DISAPPEARING: The CSU ropes course will be moved by early May from its current Pitkin Street site to clear land for a planned 700-bed residence hall. cause the CCHE felt strongly that CSU ought to consider privatizing the design, build or other op- erations of it," CCHE spokeswoman Joan Ringel said, adding that the commission felt CSU pursued privatization op- tions reluctantly. "The commission is made up of commission- ers who are enthusiastic about .the market ap- proach to providing serv- ices," Ringel said. "(They believe) the market ap- proach delivers services more efficiently and cost- effectively than the public sector." Dolak said CSU initiat- ed a request for proposals, soliciting bids from ven- dors and evaluating offers. He said the university got a good response from pri- vate companies and con- ducted an analysis on how much operating the resi- dence hall would cost un- der the two best proposals and if the university oper- ated the facility. "We have done every- thing CCHE asked' us to do as we did this process," he said. Operating and main- taining the dorm would cost $1,689J68 and $1,558,894, respectively, under the business propos- als, while it would be $1243386 if CSU fully allo- cated the cost. Using CSU's existing staff and in- frastructure would make the cost about $935,842. "We have economies of scale with existing staff and services," Dolak said, including dining halls at Ingersoll and Edwards halls across the street, where residents of the new dorm would eat meals. CSU would save thou- sands of dollars on city and county development charges, sales taxes and management fees if it operated the residence hall. "It does give a com- pelling argument that the students will be financial- ly best served by the uni- versity financing and op- erating the facility in part- nership with a private firm that will design and build it," said Gerry Bo- mottL vice president for administrative services at CSU. While CSU will operate and maintain the resi- dence hall, a private com- pany will design and build it. Ringel said that agree- ment is a good compro- mise. "The CCHE staff is go- ing to recommend to the commissioners that the design/build part will be done privately and the op- erations will be done by CSU," she said. "It comes out to be the least expen- sive way to do it and prob- ably the best. This has had an incredible amount of analysis and the staff be- lieves we've come to a very solid result." Bomotti said the new residence hall would cost about $17 million and would be funded by bonds. A positive side to the delay is that construc- tion costs and interest rates are lower now than they were in 2001. Plans to relocate the ropes course have been fi- nalized and it will be moved by early May, Bo- motti said.