After recently saving $30 million in debt by pushing forward the demolition date for the Watson House dormitory, UVA Housing is hoping to put some of that money—about $300,000—toward renovating upperclassmen housing, says Housing Division Accommodations Director John Evans.
“It’s the best news we’ve had in a long time,” he says.
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Accelerated construction, while a financial bonus for UVA, is a setback of sorts for the 142 freshman who would have been placed in the Watson House dorm. Instead they’ll live in Gooch and Dillard dormitories, separated from other freshmen in the Alderman Road dorms and Hereford College. |
University officials decided to demolish Watson House along with Dobie and Balz Houses during Phase II of the new freshmen student dorms construction on Alderman Road, rather than during Phase III in 2011. That’s because of a drop in construction prices.
These savings, however, will come at a price for some freshmen students.
A group of 142 students who would have been placed in the Watson House will be placed in Gooch and Dillard dormitories away from other freshmen in the Alderman Road dorms and Hereford College.
“It allows us to expand and accelerate the kind of projects we want to accomplish,” says Chief Housing Officer Mark Doherty.
And University Housing has some stiff competition. Off-Grounds housing is often much closer to Grounds than on-Grounds housing and amenities include washers and dryers in apartments, says Lauren Curley, Marketing Manager of the main Charlottesville office for Management Services Corporation (MSC), the largest property managers in Central Virginia.
Doherty says that the University is hoping to accelerate plans to improve on-Grounds housing with the $300,000.
“We are trying to level the playing field so everything is equally desirable,” he says. The Copeley Apartments are on a short list for renovation. Located near the Law School, they are the least desired housing location along with the nearby Faulkner Apartments. Though the location is ideal for law and business graduate students, Doherty says that many rooms are left empty each year in both complexes, because students choose to live in other locations. As a result, the University does not receive any revenue from those rooms.
In order to remedy the situation, Doherty says the Housing Division will try to do renovations similar to the work going on right now at the Lambeth Field Apartments near the University Art Museum.
“We did a few model apartments at Lambeth and let the students give feedback before we made any decisions,” he says. “If you’re going to do something, you need to ask the people it’s going to affect.”
In order to maintain the dorms and accrue needed revenue, the University’s Board of Visitors recently approved increases for on-Grounds housing prices that totaled as much as $270 per semester for some accommodations. Students can pay anywhere from $4,440 to $5,320 for a single room on-Grounds per semester. Meanwhile, off-Grounds a one-bedroom apartment with MSC can cost anywhere from $605-$890 a month plus utilities.
In order to maintain a competitive edge and low prices, Doherty told C-VILLE the University is renting out some of its dorms to camps, programs and people interested in one-night stays at the University.
This ‘hotel’ system has been in place for a few years now and houses about 100 different groups per summer and 85,000-90,000 one-day stays, he says. That money goes straight to holding down prices on student housing.
“In the end, our facilities need to be brought into the early 21st century for our residents and that’s what we are incorporating into our renovations,” he says.
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