FAU Diehard Blog - FAU development, news, rumors and photos
FAU Diehard Blog - FAU development, news, rumors and photos
The Big Man On Campus has plans
New Florida Atlantic University President John Kelly talks like a city planner. For Boca Raton, that’s a good thing.
FAU’s main campus isn’t just 850 acres that dispense education, culture, recreation and entertainment. It’s also a key component of the city. What FAU does affects more than just the campus. Example: the decision to change the swath of land on Glades Road known as University Commons from married student housing to outside retail. Traffic to University Commons—Whole Foods, Barnes and Noble, Bed, Bath and Beyond and all the restaurants—has made Glades Road and 15th Avenue the most congested intersection in Palm Beach County.
At the time, that switch—which brings lease income to FAU—came as an unpleasant surprise to Boca Raton. Since then, however, FAU has made more of an effort to work with the city on proposed big projects. The current big thing, if it works out, could bring big benefits for both FAU and Boca.
That would be creation of a college-oriented neighborhood around 20th Street just east of the campus. During an interview Wednesday in his office, Kelly said he wants to create the sort of “college town” district that FAU lacks. It would be a place to get “student food” and find entertainment within walking distance, which Kelly considers roughly one-fourth of a mile from campus. “I found out quickly,” he says, “that if you want to get food around here without waiting long, you’d better get it before you leave campus.”
Such a district also would include apartments to complement the on-campus dorms. FAU, though, would not finance this housing. “I would rather spend our money on academics and athletics,” Kelly says. Private companies would finance the apartments, for which you would assume there would be a substantial market. Apartments north of the 20th Street area already cater to students.
Looking at a map of the campus, Kelly points to the three southern entrances on Glades Road, saying none of them offers a “real” entrance. Doing 20th Street right, he said, might provide that defining gateway, especially since 20th Street leads into the administration building.
There’s also the question of FAU’s northern entrance once the state finishes building the Spanish River Boulevard interchange at Interstate 95. The interchange will take some of the pressure off Glades and 15th Avenue, where FAU commuter traffic backs up on I-95 at the Glades Road interchange on weekday mornings. But more traffic coming in from the north will mean a new look at FAU and the neighborhoods north of the campus.
Kelly has “met with several developers,” and has asked Dennis Crudele, FAU’s vice president for finance, to “get to a decision on 20th Street.” Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie correctly has pointed out that the area has no particular identity within the city, and thus could be an ideal spot for a planned new district.
Redoing FAU’s physical plan fits with Kelly’s review of the university’s academic priority—to improve the graduation rate. Only about 40 percent of FAU students earn a degree in six years. That rate is near the bottom among Florida’s 11 public universities, and the Legislature soon may allocate state money based on performance.
Kelly said getting freshmen on campus, as opposed to living at home, increases the chance of graduation because the students are more involved. That can be tough at FAU and other universities in Florida that began as commuter schools, as opposed to the University of Florida and Florida State. Also, students who live within 30 miles of the Boca campus don’t have to live there, because those students may come from families that can’t afford housing and food costs as well as tuition and fees.
Still, Kelly’s goal of getting more residential and non-residential students to “hang out on campus” is rightly designed to keep all students focused more on leaving the campus—with a degree. Even if FAU doesn’t own off-campus apartments, Kelly wants to “embed FAU” within the apartments, offering students access to career counseling and other services. Eventually, FAU might reserve on-campus dorms for younger residential students, who then would go off-campus but not out of FAU’s reach. Buses, for example, would reduce traffic on campus.
Read more here.
Yet does anyone know how the relationship is between President Kelly and AD Chun?
Soon to be food provider @ChickfilA was at the Boca Campus today visiting with @FAUDining pic.twitter.com/e5em5e3cLj #Tastey
— The Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) July 31, 2014
Drove by University Park the other night. Too dark to take pictures but it's coming along nicely and they've begun painting it.
There's been a concerted effort to advertise these new spaces on campus, as University Park was a sponsor of the last home game and have had a van that was distributing shirts.
Always thought Addison Park should be renamed with something that had "college", "campus" or "university" in the title. I know they wanted to be a little more broad in case students weren't as enthusiastic about living there as hoped but I think that fear quickly went out the window and it's been filled since it opened.
One of the great things about repurposing existing rental properties - like Boca Sol - into student housing is that you don't have as extensive of a process to get it approved through the city. For instance, you don't have to argue about number of parking spaces, request to change zoning, etc. That's where The Grove is at right now: land use amentment, rezoning and site plan modification.
New addition to the landscaping on our beautiful #BocaRaton campus. #FAU pic.twitter.com/rUmmKYzV80
--- FAU SELFIE (@fauselfie) December 8, 2014
Looks like the north side of the library in between there and Fleming hall and what was a refreshment shack.
sigep77 said
^^^^^
Looks like the north side of the library in between there and Fleming hall and what was a refreshment shack.Posted On: Dec 9th 2014, 8:17 PM #339553
+1
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