As Rick pointed out, FAU officially greenlit the new dorm today that I told you about back in December. Looks like it's going to be in the parking lot south of Parking Garage 2 and open next Fall. 7-8 stories, ~600 beds, freshmen only, four people to a suite, with a new dining facility on the ground floor. They may even incorporate some student suggestions like laundry rooms on every floor.

Proposed cost is $3,351/person/semester for 2-to-a-room, $4,661/person/semester for singles.

Little too rich for my blood, especially if you consider the mandatory meal plan… although it sounds like various groups are fighting to get the "mandatory" label stripped off. Doubt Chartwells is going to give up that guaranteed income any time soon though.

Paying that much is freaking crazy, that's over $1000 a month for a single! You could buy a house for cheaper than that! Maybe FAU should take the "mandatory" meal plan for Freshman housing away but I don't get why any one would NOT want a meal plan. Maybe they could just offer more options, even though there are a few that should suffice. People are too picky, eating caf food is part of going to college, just freaking deal with it!

Paying that much is freaking crazy, that's over $1000 a month for a single! You could buy a house for cheaper than that! Maybe FAU should take the "mandatory" meal plan for Freshman housing away but I don't get why any one would NOT want a meal plan. Maybe they could just offer more options, even though there are a few that should suffice. People are too picky, eating caf food is part of going to college, just freaking deal with it!

Owl2Doc said

Proposed cost is $3,351/person/semester for 2-to-a-room, $4,661/person/semester for singles.

Little too rich for my blood, especially if you consider the mandatory meal plan…

FAUfasho said

Paying that much is freaking crazy, that's over $1000 a month for a single!

Granted it was not as nice as the new digs they have now, and won't be as nice as this one, but I only paid $325 a month for a single in Napsack back in the day…wow.

1K+ per month?

Insane.

Owl2Doc said

Proposed cost is $3,351/person/semester for 2-to-a-room, $4,661/person/semester for singles.

Little too rich for my blood, especially if you consider the mandatory meal plan…

FAUfasho said

Paying that much is freaking crazy, that's over $1000 a month for a single!

Granted it was not as nice as the new digs they have now, and won't be as nice as this one, but I only paid $325 a month for a single in Napsack back in the day…wow.

1K+ per month?

Insane.

Their debt service alone on the $50M loan is $3M per year (for 30 years).

For Year One, they're projecting total revenues of $5,077,400 with operating expenses of $1,287,100. That puts them at $3,790,300 to pay back the loan. So even with the crazy high rent proposal, they're just making it.

Conceivably - if FAU wanted to live on the razor's edge - the total rent revenue for could be $790,300 less, meaning $1,287 less per student a year. But I'm sure they don't like to live that dangerously. In fact, I know they don't.

Maybe $3M was a raw deal. I don't know what kind of deals are out there. Maybe FAU could engineer a better deal so their debt service wasn't so high and their rents could be lower. If the banks wouldn't budge, I assume they could build a dorm half as big (300 beds instead of 614) and cut the cost? Not that they would, but they could?

Their debt service alone on the $50M loan is $3M per year (for 30 years).

For Year One, they're projecting total revenues of $5,077,400 with operating expenses of $1,287,100. That puts them at $3,790,300 to pay back the loan. So even with the crazy high rent proposal, they're just making it.

Conceivably - if FAU wanted to live on the razor's edge - the total rent revenue for could be $790,300 less, meaning $1,287 less per student a year. But I'm sure they don't like to live that dangerously. In fact, I know they don't.

Maybe $3M was a raw deal. I don't know what kind of deals are out there. Maybe FAU could engineer a better deal so their debt service wasn't so high and their rents could be lower. If the banks wouldn't budge, I assume they could build a dorm half as big (300 beds instead of 614) and cut the cost? Not that they would, but they could?

Owl2Doc said

Little too rich for my blood, especially if you consider the mandatory meal plan… although it sounds like various groups are fighting to get the "mandatory" label stripped off. Doubt Chartwells is going to give up that guaranteed income any time soon though.

I always thought the mandatory meal plan was a way for the university to guarantee that there are no starving students (especially first time in college) on campus.  Maybe I'm just over thinking this, but if students don't have money to eat you have more of them turning to theft, selling drugs/sexual favors, etc. just to get a few bucks to get a chicken sandwich at Wendy's.

Owl2Doc said

Little too rich for my blood, especially if you consider the mandatory meal plan… although it sounds like various groups are fighting to get the "mandatory" label stripped off. Doubt Chartwells is going to give up that guaranteed income any time soon though.

I always thought the mandatory meal plan was a way for the university to guarantee that there are no starving students (especially first time in college) on campus.  Maybe I'm just over thinking this, but if students don't have money to eat you have more of them turning to theft, selling drugs/sexual favors, etc. just to get a few bucks to get a chicken sandwich at Wendy's.

FAUtuba said

I always thought the mandatory meal plan was a way for the university to guarantee that there are no starving students (especially first time in college) on campus.

Yep, that's the party line and there's certainly a lot of truth to that because a lot of these kids probably don't have any idea of how to budget appropriately over the course of five months.