Suite-style dorm on hold due to cost

UNC has scrapped its plans to build a new apartment-style residence hall on South Campus.

The new residence hall would have been located on Ridge Road between SASB North and Ram’s Head Deck, said Rick Bradley, associate director of Housing and Residential Education.

The cancellation of the construction plans for the building, which was set to open in 2017, came as a result of a major spike in the project’s cost, said Sam Pranikoff, a student adviser for the project.

“I think it was the fact that we expected more money than we actually had, and going through the planning process I can tell you that we made every conscious effort to cut costs,” he said.

Bradley said the cost of the construction nearly doubled since its proposal about two years ago.

“It escalated from the start of the project, (which) was $21.3 million, then by the time we pulled the plug, it was $37.4 million.”

The cost of rent from students who would have lived in the building would not have been enough to subsidize the rising construction costs, Bradley said.

“Rarely when we build a building does the student rent cover the cost of the building. In this case, of the $37 million that the project escalated to, we would have had to have $18 million of that from debt,” he said.

Pranikoff said it’s highly possible that an outside donor could choose to fund the rest of the project in the future with the promise that the currently unnamed building would be named after that person.

“There’s a whole naming committee here, and it’s an interesting process. You can take a few different routes,” he said.

Bradley said the new residence hall’s construction was supposed to come around the same time as the closing of other student housing options.

“The plan to build this building was connected to the fact that Odum Village will not be used for student housing beyond the next academic year,” he said.

Freshman Catie Armstrong said the addition of more super suites on campus would have been a welcome change because of the gap between how many students want them and how few there are.

“Also a big draw for super suites was then your dorm becomes the social hub for friends because everyone wants to come for the common area,” she said.

“They make these decisions then take them back kind of last minute, which I think is kind of annoying.”

The cancellation of the new residence hall construction shouldn’t pose an issue for accommodating students, Bradley said.

“We have more empty spaces right now than Odum Village’s total bed capacity is, so we do not anticipate a problem,” he said.

Pranikoff is confident the plan isn’t cancelled for good.

“It’s a good location. I think it will happen in the future,” he said. “It’s not an ‘if.’ It’s a ‘when.’”

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