NEGOTIATING PIO HALL 2.0
Matt Hoffman
Staff Writer
Carroll University is nearing an agreement with the developers who built Pioneer Hall for a second apartment-style dormitory, to be located where the Grand Ave strip mall currently stands.
Carroll Chief Financial Officer Ron Lostetter said that a lease similar to that of Pioneer Hall’s is being negotiated with Clysmic Properties LLC for the building, which is projected to open in fall of 2011. The lease is likely to be signed in the coming weeks.
The Waukesha Plans Commission approved zoning changes and conceptual plans for the building last Wednesday
“We would hope that everything works out so we can begin the design in earnest,” Lostetter said.
Alan Huelsmann, who owns Clysmic, also confirmed that the company is in negotiations with Carroll.
The new building would have one major change from its predecessor; the first floor would contain 11,000 feet of retail space, which would be managed by Clysmic’s management arm, Berg Management. According to Lostetter, the first floor would also include a separate, secured residential area.
The new dorm is expected to offer 230 beds, most in the four-to-a-unit style of Pioneer Hall where each person has their own room. However, Lostetter said that it is likely that there will be a small percentage of units housing six people, containing some double rooms, which would be larger than single rooms.
The property would add parking spaces above ground and contain another underground parking complex.
The decision to pursue another apartment-style dorm was driven by students’ expectations, especially prospective students’, and wider university housing trends.
“At some point, [housing] is going to have an effect on enrollment,” Lostetter said. “Almost every residence hall that’s been built in the last six to eight years now is apartment- style.”
Demolition of the strip mall is expected to begin this summer, and Clysmic hopes to have the building “closed in” by the winter months to begin interior work.
While the retail space would be under Berg Management, Carroll does have a stake in the businesses that will occupy the space.
“We have some very specific things that cannot go in that commercial space,” Lostetter said. “The remaining lots would be filled by Berg, and likely to cater to students and pedestrian traffic,” Lostetter said.
A Chartwells restaurant-style presence is extremely likely, as well as an Efollete presence.
Lostetter has been pleased with how the Pioneer Hall lease has functioned. Carroll is renting the building from Clysmic for 12 years, with three six-year options to renew the lease after the initial 12-year period.
“It allows us to add additional housing without adding any land,” Lostetter said, adding that Carroll has “…very good relations with Clysmic and Berg.”
Huelsmann agreed. “It seems to be successful. We’re happy with it,” he said.
However, Pioneer Hall’s inaugural year had its hiccups. After being constructed in only seven months, the building’s fire alarm system malfunctioned several times, caused by exposed wiring. The roof also had to be repaired after leaks were discovered and were thought to be part of the fire alarm problems.
Carroll and Clysmic were negotiating a similar deal in the fall of 2008, shortly after the opening of Pioneer Hall, but it was put on hold after the economy took a turn for the worse.
Lostetter said that Carroll is now confident not only in the economy, but in themselves.
“We’ve seen the [economic] recovery begin,” Lostetter said. “We’ve also seen a healthy interest in Carroll through enrollment.”
However, that “healthy interest,” combined with a junior housing residency requirement enacted for 2008’s freshman class, has put Carroll in a housing crunch. This year, the amount of triples in traditional dormitories was up, and Carroll had to rent out extra units from an apartment complex on Grand Ave. Another residence hall would alleviate much of that crowding.
“It’ll provide the beds that we think we’ll need,” said Housing Director Steve Weaver.
Next year, however, Carroll will have to make do with already available housing, while dealing with what is expected to be another sizable freshman class and the first wave of juniors bound by the new housing requirement.
“We’re anticipating that it’ll be another year that’s kind of tight for us,” said Weaver. “It’s hard to anticipate exactly what we’ll get.”
If Carroll should be overbooked, and not have enough beds for students registered for campus housing, Carroll will start looking for solutions this spring.
“We would need to investigate options to be able to deal with that,” said Weaver.