University of Houston Upcoming Campus Improvements

[TheNiche]

Private developers built Cambridge, Cullen, and Bayou Oaks on university land with their own money.

IIRC, Dobie Tower and the Castillian at UT were not built on UT property but were still financed by UT.

UH, like many other schools IS looking to outside developers to sell building rights to. Also, where was it said that ALL of the 3 billion dollars was to "peripheral amenities".

I know that they've traditionally done things based upon a market-driven approach, but it isn't like there's an inexhaustible demand base for student housing. The scale and design of what they are proposing won't be feasible from a market perspective unless they are anchored by a better academic institution with higher enrollment to begin with or if these projects are financed by the school.

And the way that the peripheral amenities seem to have been focused on in the video, I just get the sense that they don't have the patience necessary for the market-driven approach.

[MidtownCoog]

but it isn't like there's an inexhaustible demand base for student housing.

Inexhaustible? Of course not, but how about a little facts to go along with your assumption? UH has been adding dorms for years, and each time they are filled to capacity.

The student body demograpic of Texas' third largest university is changing. Any higher enrollment and UH would have to pass A&M. Mabye you are trying to say students who live on campus.

God forbid UH have some vision. And better academics are part of UH's Tier I initiative.

You come across more threatened than "unimpressed".

[TheNiche]

Inexhaustible? Of course not, but how about a little facts to go along with your assumption? UH has been adding dorms for years, and each time they are filled to capacity.

The student body demograpic of Texas' third largest university is changing. Any higher enrollment and UH would have to pass A&M. Mabye you are trying to say students who live on campus.

God forbid UH have some vision. And better academics are part of UH's Tier I initiative.

You come across more threatened than "unimpressed".

Just because you can fill dorms and small low-end apartments to capacity doesn't mean that someone's getting rich off of owning these things. Effective rental rates once you factor out all the BS (like meal plans and the winter/summer off season) are pretty marginal. There's money being made, but not a great deal of it. Private developers are very careful not to build too many units in any one phase because the margins are too thin to have the threat of nearly any vacancy.

And although enrollment is a big deal, what is really going to matter is the parental/student wealth of those enrolled in order to get these higher-end projects moving along. In that respect, UH doesn't have the kind of wealth that A&M or particularly UT has. Not to say it doesn't have wealth, but the wealth doesn't like the surrounding neighborhood or the perceieved influence upon the safety of the campus...not that it is a necessarily valid concern, but it is a concern nevertheless.

By the way, I have nothing to be threatened by. Having got my degree from UH, it will only appreciate in value if the perception of UH improves. I just don't want to see them throw their money around if there are higher and better uses. I'd rather see their program improve and for them to use the money to keep its identity as a dollar for dollar bargain of a school. I thought that universities were supposed to be where students go to learn in order to become productive members of society, not so much in order to bathe in academic-themed urbanity and live in lofts.