Dorm to be UH Manoa’s second housing partnership

A newly approved University of Hawaii student housing project on Dole Street will be a landmark in a couple of ways, becoming the second public-private student housing project on the Manoa campus and housing a child care facility supported by the state’s new preschool initiative.

The public-private partnership with Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar Real Estate Partners for the yet-­unnamed project “is just the latest example of the UH’s goal of developing alternative revenue streams to affordably build modern educational facilities without raising tuition and being overly reliant on taxpayers,” said Kalbert Young, UH vice president for budget and finance and its chief financial officer, in a news release.

Construction is set to start in September after the UH Board of Regents on Thursday approved an amended agreement with the private developer. The $156.9 million facility on Dole Street across from Frear Hall is scheduled to be completed in time for occupancy for the fall 2025 semester.

The facility will consist of two buildings of 18 stories and 12 stories, and will include 316 units with 558 beds in a mix of studios and two-, three- and four-­bedroom units. Other features include the child care facility, retail/cafe space, bike storage, study rooms, laundry facility, mail and package room, outdoor amenity decks and on-site management.

The project is being designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — or LEED — Silver Certification to help the 10-campus UH system reach its goal of net-zero energy by 2035, the release said.

The project will receive an additional $10 million from the state School Facilities Authority for the child care facility, which will be operated by the UH Manoa Children’s Center. The authority is the agency charged with creating 465 classrooms for the state’s Ready Keiki initiative so that all Hawaii 3- and 4-year-olds have access to preschool by 2032.

The Children’s Center currently operates out of Castle Memorial Hall and will relocate to the new facility when it’s ready. The child care facility will include eight classrooms and serve about 128 youngsters.

The student housing development is “a priority project for UH as it will provide our students with new and additional housing opportunities right here on campus,” UH Vice President of Administration Jan Gouveia said in the release. “This new student housing facility will have a long-lasting impact on our campus community as it addresses multiple needs, including providing more quality and affordable housing options, on-campus child care and additional retail services.”

The university has been actively pursuing public-­private partnerships, known as P3s, as a way to monetize UH-owned lands to generate another revenue stream beyond tuition and state funding. The university “continues to find alternatives to state funding to improve facilities and the student experience,” the news release said.

UH’s first public-private partnership, The Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs, nicknamed RISE, is an innovation and entrepreneurship center/student housing facility at University Avenue and Metcalf Street. It is scheduled to open this fall with about 370 students in residence.

In this latest privately financed project, Greystar and UH have assembled a team of private, nonprofit and commercial partners for the project. The developer executed the facility design and final environmental assessment, and obtained the discretionary approvals to launch the project, the release said.

The project will be privately owned, operated and maintained by Collegiate Housing Foundation, based in Fairhope, Ala. The foundation bills itself on its website as “the country’s first and most experienced non-profit student housing provider,” with 65 projects in 25 states, and financing more than $3.8 billion worth of student housing facilities.

Financing for the UH project will be underwritten by financial services firm Raymond James, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla. It is expected to be obtained in July, the release said.