Demolition means higher rent for U. Iowa students

AMES, Iowa --- State regents Wednesday approved a University of Iowa plan to enter into a public-private partnership for the construction of new student apartments to replace Hawkeye Court, despite one graduate students concerns that it will result in much higher rents.

The state Board of Regents, at a meeting in Ames, approved the UI agreement with Dallas company Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions to provide apartment housing for students. The vote also gives approval for the demolition of portions of the 45-year-old Hawkeye Court apartment complex.

The university will enter into a 41-year ground lease with the company, which will be responsible for construction and operation of 270 apartment units with 444 beds. The new complex will serve primarily students with dependents, graduate students and international students, as Hawkeye Court currently does, officials said.

UI graduate student Brian Prugh lives at Hawkeye Court with his wife and two children. He pays $435 per month for a one-bedroom apartment -- 30 percent of the salary he earns from a half-time teaching appointment. He told the regents he worries the new apartments will mean much higher rent for students who cant afford it, as the company will charge market rate.

What needs to be replaced is affordable housing, he said. The current plan may successfully replace the current buildings, but it does not replace the function these buildings serve within the community.

UI officials said its unclear what the rents will be, but they said a new one-bedroom on a bus line but not directly near campus might run $750 per month in the Iowa City market.

Its unfortunate there will be an increase for students living at Hawkeye Court, officials said, but this partnership is the best option available to the UI. The university would likely spend more money than a private company if the UI were to build the new apartments. Offering new housing with rates comparable to the current affordable levels of Hawkeye Court just cant be done, Vice President for Student Life Tom Rocklin said.

These apartments are cheap because they need a ton of work and theyre paid off, and we cant replicate that somewhere else, he said. Its something that pains me but I think this is in fact our best option now.

The university and Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions will establish a committee to review rental rates, officials said.

In other news from the regents meeting:

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Demolition means higher rent for U. Iowa students