Lexington, KY - University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto announced Monday that not only is the construction of UK's New Central Campus Residence Hall on schedule, but that the University expects to build four more residence halls on campus over the next five to seven years.
The new residence halls would replace the outdated Blazer, Wildcat, Cooperstown and Haggin II buildings. When finished they would hold 2,098 beds.
Speaking in front of the W.T. Young Library, scarcely a line drive away from Haggin Field--the site of student intramural games and now the location of the first new residence hall built in seven years-- Capilouto said, "We're creating jobs today!"
The total project, dubbed Phase II-A, could support nearly 2,900 jobs and generate nearly $4 million in state and local taxes.
New Central Residence Hall alone represents:
· $15.7 million in expenditures for building construction materials, wages and benefits, among other items to date
· 509 direct and indirect jobs
· $500,000 in state taxes and $260,000 in local taxes.
This 601 bed, $25.8 million residence hall will be finished in summer, 2013. It will house Honors students and contain classrooms and office space for faculty. The four dorm Phase II-A project will be voted on by UK's Board of Trustees in October.
If approved, this next phase of undergraduate housing would include $118 million in expenditures. In a unique partnership, EdR of Memphis, the leading national firm in constructing and managing collegiate housing, would build and own residence halls on land leased to it by UK.
"I'm in complete support of this project," said Mayor Jim Gray, noting that "as the university goes and succeeds and takes on its challenges, so, too, does our city."
Gray added, "I routinely say that UK is our city's biggest employer and our city's biggest influencer in the moment and in the future. How? Through its inspiration, imagination, determination, and implementation."
The Mayor praised Capilouto, saying, "It's a big deal to come into a new place, understand the problems, and shift direction."
That directional shift occurred in late 2011, after months of dialogue with faculty, students and staff. The Board of Trustees and Capilouto set two priorities: enhancing undergraduate education and revitalizing campus facilities.
The two priorities intersect in UK's acute need for modern residence halls on campus. The University currently has about 6,000 residence hall beds, but fewer than 700 of them are considered to meet modern standards.
Capilouto is passionate about improving UK's student residences for a simple reason. "Students who live on campus succeed at a much higher level," he said. "As a college student you want to be with your classmates, to have space where you can work together as a creative team."
And despite all of the forms of social media available to them, "students thirst for live contact with their peers, " he said.
Modern on campus living quarters also play a role in the University's long term success and mission. Capilouto explained, "We must and we will recruit the best students in the state and the region. We must produce the kind of exemplary undergraduate educational program that tells students there is no finer experience than at UK".
Keeping those bright young Kentuckians at UK is "another way to uplift Kentucky's sons and daughters." The workforce that results "will build a vibrant, sustainable knowledge-based economy for the future," he noted.
In support of the university’s interest in moving to Phase II, the Kentucky legislature recently authorized the next $175 million for 2014 and 2015 in this public-private partnership.
Capilouto said that such funding "leverages our ability to do all of these things. At the same time, it could pave the way to the creation of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in investment in our community and state."
Pam May, Vice Chair of UK's Board of Trustees, said that the Board "is unified about the direction we must take and take quickly. Despite the poor economy, we could not wait. We had to find a way to control our destiny as an institution."
May acknowledged that "we are entrusted as stewards to safeguard this institution and help guide its progress going forward. We will carefully and thoroughly examine these plans at each stage to ensure that we move forward thoughtfully and strategically."
Randy Churchey, President and CEO of Ed, said the UK-EdR partnership will result in "profits for local businesses, paychecks for Kentuckians, and more funds for city and state coffers."
Noting that his office had received many inquiries from other universities and colleges about the UK-EdR partnership, Churchey said that it is "making a name for the University of Kentucky and its leadership as imaginative, forward-thinking leaders who are smartly moving their university into a brighter future.”
The total project to build 9,000 modern on campus beds will take several years and could cost $500 million, completely funded by EdR. EdR is one of America's largest owners, developers and managers of collegiate housing. For more information see www.EdRtrust.com.